Matching Food & Wine

Food and wine are ideal partners

While taste may be subjective, they can bring out the best in each other if well matched. More often than not our most memorable meals are made memorable by wine...

Nothing beats a plate of oysters washed down with a glass of chilled, crisp Muscadet or a juicy rump steak with an equally juicy Malbec.

Recommendations

We all like an element of choice but wine can be a baffling subject for even the savviest consumer.

By matching your food offering to selected wines on the list, you can:

  • Steer customers towards special offers
  • Promote lesser known wine styles/regions that may normally be overlooked
  • Improve your wine credentials and help you sell more wine
  • Encourage your customers to experiment and trade up on both food and wine
  • Gain customer loyalty by improving their overall experience
  • Feel a nice warm glow knowing you have matched the perfect wine to each dish

Result – everyone’s happy!

Training

Staff training is an essential part of matching food and wine in an on-trade environment. Organise a wine training session with staff and include some dishes from the menu so that they can decide which pairings work best. If your staff can confidently recommend a certain style of wine with a dish then you will soon reap the rewards.

Promotional Examples

There are various ways of matching food and wine in an on-trade environment, including:

  • Staff recommendations
  • Lunchtime or early evening chalkboard ‘specials’
  • Tasting menus offering a different wine with each course
  • Wine suggestions on the food menu
  • Winemaker dinners or food and wine festivals
  • Tent card promotions