Why we drink what we drink

The choice of wine with a meal, whether taken at home or in a restaurant, continues to bedevil consumers. On 5/20/22 at the Commanderie de Bordeaux Educateurs’ Forum, Richard Warren Shepro (Educateur, Chicago) gave an erudite presentation on the historical origins of food and wine pairings in France. Whereas, in the US, “fear of pairing” causes levels of anxiety often spoofed humorously in literature, in France the choice of wine is taken more seriously and without undue anxiety. Wine is not considered elitist, for instance, and is almost entirely consumed at meals. The pairing of food and wine is often referred to as a “marriage.” Shepro reviews cultural myths regarding this pairing, for example the dictum of red wine with red meat, and other rules, which in the end may simply boil down to matching depths of flavor and color. Historically, other factors have applied. Geographical pairing (serving regional dishes with local wine) was important only in the respective regions, but the concept caught on after the advent of automobile travel broadened exposures. Analytic, intrinsic or alchemical pairing, addressed in publications such as Larousse Gastronomique, was further developed by modern chefs such as Alain Senderens and Ferran Adria, who encouraged the pairing of certain dishes and wines with specific characteristics. Finally, with sequential pairing, as promoted by Brillat-Savarin and others, lighter-bodied or less precious wines were always served before heavier or more precious wines. This practice coincided with a break from the previous French style of serving all dishes at one time, to the sequential service of dishes (“Russian service”) in the 19th century. At various times in history, wine has been paired not with the food served, but with the person consuming it: for example, red wine was once said to be “too rough for women and aristocrats;” or wine choices were dictated by doctors’ orders, without any mention of food at all. Shepro wonders whether the finding in the 1980s that consumption of red wine was associated with longer lifespan, the so-called French Paradox, had a greater influence on wine choices than did trends in cuisine.