Fruit platters are summer classics especially during holidays, and because they are easy to prepare, you commonly serve them. The secret? Choose the right wine to accompany them.
Every summer, those fresh and crisp fruits require wine that completes the taste. When you find the perfect pair, the wine and the fruit bring out the best in each other.
How to Match Wine with Fruit
The principle is simple: light fruits with light wines, while stronger and strongly flavored fruits require something with more body. Think about that as when you match wine with meat, light with light, dark with dark. One important comment: skip oaked wines when you serve fresh fruits.
If it is possible, choose local wines and local fruits; that makes the whole expeirence much better.
Here where the sweetness becomes key. Because fruits carry sugar and acidity, you want the wine be equally sweet or even sweeter than the fruit itself. If you match tart berries with dry, tannic wine, you will only feel bitter notes that do not suit.
The wine must be sweeter than the food… Otherwise it will taste too thin and acid. For very sweet fruits like mango or pineapple, off-dry Riesling or dessert-wine from last harvest is the best choise.
Take pineapple, for instance. That tropical sweetness matches well with the flowery and fruity character of Riesling, especially if it is slightly sweet. Riesling usually is quite acidic, which keeps the tastes balanced.
Bananas? sweeter rosé works surprisingly, and if you want to try something new, choose a sparkling version.
Strawberries and grapes; with that gentle sweet taste, shine beside dry champagne or Sauvignon Blanc. Even so, darker berries like blueberries and blackberries are another story. You require something rich, full-bodied red wine.
Tempranillo from the Rioja region of Spain is perfect here (it is juicy and aromatic), and matches well with the deep tastes of raspberries and blackberries.
Chardonnay is genuinely one of the most versatile grapes. The unoaked versions, that are very popular now, work superbly with fruits, especially with seasonal lemons. Figs have tender taste and match surprisingly with Port as a drink after dinner.
The fig season is short, but that honey-sweet character works divine with Pinot Noir. Burgundy will bring Mediterranean notes, while California Pinot gives a bit more fun and fruit-forward energy.
Gala apples have gentle, slightly spicy profile, that matches well with light wines as Chianti. For red wines with fruits, light and fruity Pinot Noir match nicely with berries, or you can use Zinfandel if you serve something bolder, like cherries or plums. Forreds with fruit, light fruity Pinot Noir match nicely with berries, or you can use Zinfandel if you serve something bolder, like cherries or plums.