The dangers of pairing wine to food

1 April 2024

Pairing wine with food is all about finding the perfect combination. The wine and the food together should enhance your dining experience.

There are lots of books and apps out there ready to tell you what you should and shouldn’t be drinking with a particular meal. There is no harm in reading them and taking the advice they offer, but if you don’t agree with the advice, that is absolutely fine.

It is all too easy to get wrapped up in ‘the rules’, but everyone should be free to make their own choices based on their own personal tastes, without feeling that they are in some way wrong. Otherwise, something which should be a pleasure becomes a stressful situation.

There is a myth that to enjoy wine, you should be able to ‘understand’ it. That takes years of experience, which most people don’t have. The good news is, it’s not actually necessary to understand wine on any sort of deep level. The only thing you should understand about wine is enjoyment.

By tasting lots of wines and combining them with lots of foods, you will come to understand the really important thing – which wine is best for you.

a group of people are toasting with wine glasses

Pairing wine and food

If you are confused about food and wine combinations, speak to us here at Three Choirs Vineyard or at a wine shop rather than the supermarket for some advice to get you started. Tell them your budget and what you are planning to cook and they will be able to come up with some suggestions.

This will give you ideas to use in future, as you start to understand the right pairings for you and the people you are cooking for.

Food tends to affect the taste of the wine more than the wine affects the taste of the food.

If the food is sweet, the wine might taste more bitter, more acid, less fruity and less sweet. If the food is salty, the wine will taste less bitter, more fruity and less acid. If the dish is acidic, the wine will taste less bitter, less acid, more fruity and softer.

There are some general rules that many people follow, which seem to work well. In short, full-bodied wines tend to go well with full-flavoured dishes, while lighter wines with less alcohol tend to complement food with more subtle flavours.

Some of these basic rules are:


  • Salty foods, such as fish, work well with white wines. Champagne and sparkling wines also complement seafood.
  • Spicy foods can be overwhelming with some wines, but a sweet white wine can help reduce the heat of the food. Others might prefer a fruity red wine with a spicy curry.
  • Red meats work well with red wine, while white meats, such as chicken, tend to work better with white wine, including sparkling wines.
  • Sweet foods should be paired with a wine which tastes sweeter than the food, or the wine will be overwhelmed by the food and lose its flavour.

several bottles of three choirs wine are lined up on a table

No rights or wrongs

The danger with food and wine pairings is that there is so much information out there, that it can become overwhelming and take all the pleasure out of drinking wine.

Enjoying wine with dinner should be one of life’s pleasures and the feeling that you’re drinking the ‘wrong’ wine can take away some of that pleasure. But there are no rights or wrongs, and nobody should judge you for your choices. If you prefer a white wine, there is no reason why you can’t drink it with red meat.

A wine you love combined with food you love will generally taste amazing. But that might just be because it’s good food and good wine, not that it is some magical combination which is greater than the sum of its parts.

Sometimes you might pair a wine and food which aren’t the right combination for you. That isn’t a great problem, because you will know not to pair them again in future, and you can continue to experiment with better combinations.

Variable factors

When you drink wine, there’s lots of factors going on which influence how you personally taste that wine. And that will be different for everyone.

There are lots of variables which influence how we each perceive a wine. These range from how well rested and hydrated you are to what you ate or drank before the first sip of wine, what kind of emotional state you are in and even the influence of knowing the price of the wine. And that is before we take into account that everyone tastes things slightly differently.

A sour tasting meal will taste much sourer for some people than for others. So, a wine recommended to pair perfectly with that meal will taste great for some people but may taste unpleasant for others. That means even an absolute sure-fire combination of food and wine will still be a ‘failure’ for some people because there are just too many variables to take into account.

When it comes to pairing wine to food, there is no ‘wrong’. There is no shame in choosing a combination which isn’t recommended by the experts or that your friends and family don’t think is right. The only important thing is to enjoy the food and to enjoy the wine.

If you choose food you like and wine you like, you can’t go wrong. You can take and follow advice from books or apps or from a waiter in a restaurant, but you shouldn’t expect it to be something more magical than it actually is.

And if you do choose a wine which really doesn’t work at all with what you’re eating, simply put the cork back in and put it away in the fridge to enjoy tomorrow on its own or with a different meal! What is so bad about that?

The danger of pairing wine to food is that pursuing the perfect combination takes away some of the joy of just eating and drinking. The truth is that there is always more than one right combination of food and wine. In fact, there are generally many bottles of wine that are right for a particular dish and very few that are wrong.
And if you’re drinking a wine you like with food you enjoy, but the combination isn’t perfect, does it really matter? You are still enjoying good food and good wine, and that is a win in most people’s eyes.

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Meet the varietals at Three Choirs Vineyard

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A varietal is a wine made completely or predominantly from a single grape variety. The word varietal is used uniquely for wine. There are a huge number of grape varieties grown all over the world, with some only grown in certain areas – from the northern hemisphere in Canada through to the sunshine of California, the temperate climate of Germany or the traditional wine making regions of France and Italy, down to the southern hemisphere and Australia and New Zealand. When the wine industry in the UK began, vineyards like Three Choirs Vineyard started out with German grape varieties, because we share a similar climate. These varieties include Schonburger, Reichensteiner and Siegerrebe, which have all grown successfully in England. Thomas Shaw, managing director of Three Choirs Vineyard, said: “The problem with German grape varieties is that German wine had a bad reputation. Things like Liebfraumilch and Black Tower were pretty poor quality wines. The Germans did produce some good wine, but they never exported it!” Over the years, the English wine industry has moved away from German varieties to trying to grow more traditional grape varieties like Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. These are seen as more desirable than a lot of the German varieties, but will grow in slightly cooler climates like ours. Thomas continued: “That’s where the English wine industry is now. A lot of what is produced in England is sparkling and is made from traditional French grape varieties and in the traditional French style.” Here at Three Choirs Vineyard, we currently grow Seyval Blanc – a hybrid which has been designed to grow in cooler climates and to be relatively disease resistant. We’ve also got Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and some of the old German varieties like Schonburger and Reichensteiner. The vineyard has been on a rolling replacement programme over the last 10 years. We have 75 acres of vines and over the last decade we have replaced 50 acres of vines – mainly replacing German varieties with traditional grapes. In recent years, there has been a big push, particularly from the New World (countries like USA and Australia) to produce wines from one grape variety like Chardonnay or Pinot Noir. But the classic way of making wine in Europe (the Old World) was to have blends of two or three grape varieties to create your wine. At Three Choirs, we make both single variety wines and blended wines. And visitors to the vineyard can try both. Contrary to the view of many, Thomas believes the best wines in the world today are blended wines. He concluded: “All the grape varieties have different characteristics, which will vary from year to year depending on growing conditions of that year. If you’re making a single variety Chardonnay and it’s not a very good year, you’re not going to make a good wine. “That’s the beauty of the blend – if it’s not a good year for one, it will probably be a good year for another, so you can tweak your recipe.”

Spring in the vineyard: New growth, new promise

27 March 2026
Spring in the vineyard here at Three Choirs Vineyard is an exciting time of year, as we look forward to the bud burst on the vines. It is a relatively quiet season on the vineyard. All the work of the winter has been completed. The pruning must be finished before the vines start to show signs of life, and everything around the vines is tidy, to help reduce disease later in the year. As we move into spring, we hope the pollinators, like bees and insects, have wintered well and will be ready to start their work pollinating around the vineyard. Bud burst can happen any time from mid-April to mid-May and is the time when the vines, which have been dormant through the winter, first begin to produce new shoots. These shoots will become leaves or flowers. During the bud burst phase, the vines are quite susceptible to frost damage. Thomas Shaw, managing director of Three Choirs Vineyard, said: “It’s lovely to see the trees coming into bud in early spring, but we don’t want the vines to be doing that in March. “We don’t like spring to be too early, because we worry about the vines coming into bud and then being damaged by a late frost. “We prefer cold, sunny, dry winters to keep the vines dormant until the risk of frost has passed.” The bud burst is gradual, because all varieties of grape are different. Some varieties come into bud earlier than others, while some are more resistant if there is a late frost. As the buds burst and the leaves start to appear, that’s when we will get a hint of what we might expect in the harvest. The number of buds will indicate the number of potential fruit at harvest. With the excitement of the summer yet to start, spring at Three Choirs is a time to reflect on the beauty of the vineyard. Thomas concluded: “For me, spring is the time I like the most. It is the prettiest time of year. The vines are neat and tidy and there is a little ribbon of bright green new growth across the vineyard from the end of April and into May. “You see it all, full of new hope. Let’s hope it looks like it’s going to be another good year, with everything growing beautifully!” As the vineyard awakens for another promising season, spring is the perfect moment to experience its beauty firsthand. Why not join us for a relaxing break in one of our Vineyard Lodges and see the bud burst for yourself, or settle into our brasserie for a delicious Sunday roast while enjoying the beautiful views across the vineyard under the gentle warmth of the spring sunshine. We’d love to welcome you - come and enjoy the season with us.
winter grape vines at Three Choirs Vineyard

What happens in the vineyard over winter?

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People often assume a vineyard is dormant in winter, but here at Three Choirs Vineyard it’s actually the beginning of the year and a very important time.
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Choosing your wine for Christmas

25 November 2025
With the festive season just around the corner, thoughts turn to Christmas dinner, parties and celebrations. And whether you’re getting the party started or relaxing in front of the TV on Christmas Day evening, you may want to enjoy the festivities with a glass or two of wine. But how do you choose your wine for Christmas? Well the good news is, while you might want to splash out and choose something a bit more special than your usual tipple, there are no rights and wrongs when choosing wine for Christmas. Thomas Shaw, managing director of Three Choirs Vineyard, said: “Don’t feel as though there are any rules to follow. The most important thing is to drink what you enjoy. If you don’t enjoy red wine, don’t drink red wine, drink white instead!” Some people like to enjoy sparkling wine on Christmas Day. When it comes to sparkling wine, people tend to fall into two camps – those who love it and will drink it on every occasion and those who really don’t like it! If you’re someone who isn’t keen on sparkling wine, but you’ve got guests coming round who might enjoy a glass of something fizzy before Christmas dinner, there are a range of options. Thomas continued: “There’s no need to go crazy and buy something expensive. There is a big range of prices from Cava and Prosecco up to top of the range Champagne, so you can spend as much or little as you want. “If you’re going to mix it with orange juice for buck’s fizz, definitely buy something cheaper!” While it’s not usual to have sparkling wine with your Christmas dinner, if you or your guess fancy some fizz with your turkey, just go for it! Alternatively, you might want to enjoy a refreshing white wine at lunchtime, then move to drinking red wine in the evening. Red wine is served warmer and feels like something to be enjoyed when you’re wrapped up warm in front of the fire. But there are no rules that say you have to move from white to red if you don’t want to and there are no rules which tell you exactly when you should make that change. Just do what feels right for you and don’t worry about what anyone else thinks! Whether you’re looking for red, white or sparkling for Christmas, if you want some advice and good value for money, go to a local independent wine retailer. They know all the wines on their shelves and should be able to help you choose something which is just right for you, your family and friends. Don’t be scared to ask for help! Most people will know the names of some popular wines, but won’t know, for example, whether a particular year was a good year. Asking someone who knows wines can be a real help when you are faced with so much choice. In the run-up to Christmas, local wine merchants and vineyards will sometimes hold evenings where you can go along and taste some wines to help you choose. It’s true that the price of a bottle of wine does generally reflect its quality, so when you go to a wine merchant, have a realistic budget in mind and try to stick to it! Unfortunately, wine has got more expensive in recent years, due to poor harvests in Europe, as well as inflation and the rising costs of energy and labour. Because the Christmas period is more than just one day, if you’re interested in trying new wines and finding out more about them, it is a great opportunity to learn more about what you like. Thomas said: “If you buy several different wines and taste them over a few days over Christmas, hopefully you will really like one or two of them. Having a variety over a short period of time means you’re less likely to forget what you like and what you were less keen on. And it’s good fun!” Could there be a better way to choose your wine for Christmas? 

After the harvest…

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After the earliest harvest on record, brought about by the warm summer, the last grapes of 2025 were picked here at Three Choirs Vineyard on 9th October. The harvest is the biggest and most important event every year on the vineyard calendar. And the key thing for us is the quality of fruit, rather than the quantity. Thomas Shaw, managing director of Three Choirs Vineyard, said: “If we have a lot of fruit, we generally don’t get such good quality. This year we’ve got very good quality grapes! “It’s not such a good year for making sparkling wines because the acidity in the grapes was low due to the high temperatures, but 2025 is an excellent year for making still wines.” Now the grapes have all been picked and pressed, they are in tanks in the winery and fermentation is taking place. By the end of November or early December, fermentation should be complete, and the winemakers will start to taste the individual tanks and decide how that wine is going to be used – whether it is going to be a blend or a single variety. Those decisions will be made before Christmas this year, rather than afterwards, as is often the case.