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The Italian Sommelier Association has created this valuable business tool that allows a graphical summary of the sensations of food and their balance, according to the characteristics of the wine that we paired. This is to be considered, however, only a tool assisting us, since the ideal parameter to pair food and wine is our taste.

The card consists of:

• 10 concentric circles.
• 6 lines with, in red, with the organoleptic characteristics of wine.
• 6 lines shown in black to indicate the feelings of the dish.
• a box showing the structure of food and wine body.
• the final summary with the outcome of the pairing

Every sensation is considered as opposed, except the sweetness of the wine that is compared with that of food and the olfactory intensity and taste-olfactory persistence of wine made in analogy with the taste-olfactory persistence of taste aromaticity of food.

Acidity, salinity and effervescence of the wine is made in opposition to fatness and sweet trend of food.

Acidity and effervescence are degreasers, while salinity balance the sweet trend of the dish, resulting, the latter to some insipid.

Alcohol and tannins in the mouth have the effect of reducing the liquid, and are therefore opposed to succulence and greasiness. Alcohol helps us to better balance the succulence, while tannins mostly offset the greasiness.

The sweetness of the wine is made in relation to that food, because if it is true that a sweet wine can balance well very hard sensation of food (if the softness is insufficient), it is not equally true that we can pair a dry wine to sweet food: in fact, the contrast exalts bitter taste.

The softness balances and brings harmony to a food with hard feelings or savory, with a sour or bitter trend. As we said, sometimes when tastes are particularly strong, as aged or blue in cheesse, we need a sweet wine to bring armony. (Mind you, because these cheeses are often accompanied by honey or other sweet preparations, in which case a sweet wineunbalances the dish in favor of sweetness).

During analysis of food is evaluated every sensation on a scale from 1 to 10:

The board of sensory analysis of wine uses 5 adjectives to describe each taste-olfactory sensation. We can then assign a numerical value to the assessments:

To each sensation perceived is then assigned a value that is shown on the graph starting from the center.Higher values are outside than lower values.

For values that are on the same scale, such as for olfactory intensity and taste olfactory persistence, we report on the chart only the highest value still indicating others.

With the help of a ruler join the points marked on the chart, to draw a polygon for a food and one for wine. The greater the size of the polygon drawn, the greater the structure of the food or wine analyzed.

We could classify the food structure as as:

• low.
• medium.
• high

while wine's body will be:

• low
• medium
• full

Analyze any irregularities in the polygon, a symptom of imbalances or prevailing sensation over others. As we said, an imbalance is not necessarily a flaw, as it can be balanced with the pairing: a food with a clear tendency to fatness, may be easily paired with a slightly acidic or sparkling wine.

The proportions of the polygons of wine and food should be similar, and in case of irregularities, we should find some matches.

At last we assess the pairing as:

• not harmonic.
• quite harmonic.
• harmonic.

In any case keep in mind that the graph is only a usefull help used for pairing food and wine, but it cannot be the sole basis for it. Being a " cold and aseptic" instrument it ca be misleading.

Always trust your taste.

Not lacking, examples of winning pairings on paper, but with disastrous effects in the mouth.

Food and wine Pairings according to WSA Sommeliers - (4) Pairings

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