Straus’s steps to wine and food pairing

Saturday, 14 December 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

1. First look at the colour of the wine to see if it is in condition. If a young wine is dark, it’s probably off. Most are pale in colour. Tilt the glass against a white backdrop, like a napkin, and look for colour and clarity.

2. Next, smell the wine. Take a gentle sniff to see if it is in condition. If it is off, don’t drink it. If it is okay, swirl it and then take a deeper sniff, where you look for the different things you can find in the wine – fruits, spices, etc. 3. Then taste it. Take some wine into your mouth and then draw some air into your mouth. See if the wine is dry, medium or sweet and see how long the aftertaste goes on for. Then look at the match. You cannot drink dry wine with too much sugar in the dish.