Food Wine Pairing Guide 2026
At UMAMU Estate we are all about Balance & Contentment. When I think of wine pairing, I think of the food and wine as two characters having a conversation, both joining in, with neither party over powering the other. They are in harmony and balance.
Food & Wine pairing – UMAMU Estate style - texture and weight
Balance is the philosophy we harness in our wines – from grape growing so that the fruit is balanced at harvest, to winemaking where the oak and the fruit are in harmony. Then, when we’re tasting the wine, we strive for the wine to be balanced on the palate – in terms of texture, longevity and mouthfeel. When pairing wine with food, we like both to be in balance with neither overpowering the other so we have this beautiful harmony.
There are infinite factors at play when pairing food and wine. As a guide, we like to think of the texture and body/ weight of both food and wine to exist on a spectrum from light to light plus, and then from medium to medium plus.
We have mapped this out above taking into general account: base fish/ meat, cooking preparation, sauce/richness, spices and then recommended wines on the same spectrum. The effects of the growing season, oak, age of wine also contribute to the attributes of a wine and are well worth taking into account. The whole map goes from light at the top to medium in the middle to medium plus at the base of the chart, where I have also tried to instil lightness via the colour and deepening of colour for understanding.
Of course, we all have different palates and taste things differently – but this is a guideline for you to explore with. Check out the tips below for food and wine pairing to spark some fun conversations with your friends and family.
Bon appétit and Santé. Cheers!
1. Fish or meat?
Think of the different foods that you have eaten – more specifically, think of the texture and weight they have as you chew on them.
Fish typically has a more delicate texture compared to meat, i.e. there is a general increase in body and texture from fish to meat.
Some fish have more delicate flesh, such as whiting, which lends itself better with a light bodied (younger vintage) wine like Sauvignon Blanc or a Sauvignon Blanc Semillon. While a fleshier fish like monkfish has more texture and will pair with a light plus bodied wine like an older Sauvignon Blanc Semillon while an oiler fish like mackerel has more body and richness and can pair with a medium wine like or younger Chardonnay.
Chicken or pork also have medium texture – and pair well with Chardonnay or an elegant Cabernet Merlot Blend from a cooler vintage.
Beef or lamb have much more body and texture and thus pair well with a medium plus bodied wine such as a Shiraz or Cabernet Sauvignon.
2. Cooking method
How you prepare a dish makes a great difference to the weight, richness and body of the base ingredient (fish/meat).
Light cooking methods, like steaming or poaching, pair best with lighter-bodied wines.
Once you add butter like buttered seafood eg dover sole, then the richness increases. So a slightly more bodied wine works.
Our UMAMU Estate Sauvignon Blanc Semillon with pan-fried dover sole is a example of how a light plus-medium bodied cooking method lends itself to a more light plus-medium bodied wine such as a youthful Sauvignon Blanc Semillon. The wine has solid good acidity which works well with how the fish is seared and and cuts through the oiliness of the fish.
Then if you fry, again the richness increases so you need a wine that can pair with that weight.
And like a stew eg oxtail, has so much going on, lots of umami so you need a wine with lots of character to match it like a Cabernet Sauvignon.
3. Sauces/richness
Sauces add richness to a dish. A light sauce will pair with a lighter wine while a medium sauce such as a tomato-based one, which has more body, will pair well with a medium bodied wine like a Chardonnay. Creamy sauces have more texture and are heavier, so go well with a medium plus bodied wine like a Cabernet Sauvignon.
Our UMAMU Estate Chardonnay with bouillabaisse seafood stew is a good blend of medium well-seasoned fish stew with a medium bodied wine.
4. Spices
In Asia, I have seen a roast Turkey marinated tandoori style to give it a spicy Asian twist. This spice will pair well with our Shiraz which has a little touch of spice to it from the grape variety.
Curry Laksa is much richer with medium plus flavours, so needs a wine that has complexity and richness yet fresh with acidity to pair with the coconut milk and spices. Our chilled aged intense Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2005 has the horsepower to stand up to the dish. The wine has developed good intense flavours with time and the acid levels are solid and have kept the wine fresh. This wine also pairs well with thai curries (not overly spiced ones but with some spice).
Then you add into the mix, a mature Sauvignon Blanc, like our 2011 vintage that has had 10 months in oak - the age and oak both give it alot more complexity so it is able to pair with heavier dishes as well like a curry laksa or satay. We were surprised and rationalised it from the oak and age
Our UMAMU Estate Cabernet Sauvignon with spiced red wine braised short ribs is a great blend of spices with a medium plus red wine.
5. Wine Acidity
Acidity of the wine within the same varietal/ blend varies and contributes to wine pairing ability. More acid means more ability to work with more weighty food styles. So for example pan frying the dover sole added weight to the fish (and note the fish is solid enough to be pan fried, it didn't fall over with that method of cooking) and the acid component of the wine works with the oiliness and the SBS joins in with just the right horsepower to work together.
6. Varietal/ blend of wine
Some grape varieties are lighter bodied than others. What I have done is to chart in general the varietal/ blend in the map above, starting from a light bodied wine such as a Sauvignon Blanc to a light plus Sauvignon Blanc Semillon or Semillon Sauvignon Blanc Blend to a medium bodied Chardonnay or Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Merlot to medium plus Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. This helps the wine pairing process when considering accompanying foods and their textures.
7. Winemaking style – with or without oak
Oak gives a wine more texture and weight, and therefore the more time in oak the more a wine moves from light to medium bodied. We strive for the use of oak to be in balance with the fruit. So for any of our wines, see if they have had any oak treatment. If so, how long for? And what kind of oak is used, French or American. We use French which is more delicate and pairs better with our fruit weight.
For example, a Sauvignon Blanc that has had no oak treatment will be lighter bodied versus one that has been in oak barrels. Our Sauvignon Blanc has spent 10 months in French oak barrels. For our SSB/ Sauvignon Blanc Semillon we put about 10% of the blend (depending on the season) into oak barrels for a few weeks to give the wine more texture. So for our 2005 SSB, it has had oak and is Semillon dominant so the wine has really good potential for ageing and it is now 21 years and a rockstar.
Our UMAMU Estate Sauvignon Blanc with cheese platter is a great display of how texture (another form of weight) enables the wine to sit up and be on the same table as the cheese (which is a pretty rich) and the acidity of the wine, cuts through the richness of the cheese and wraps the palate together well. Try it out!
8. Growing and ripening season
In choosing your wine, one factor to bear in mind is the vintage and where the wine is produced. This adds another interesting dimension. All things being equal, cooler seasons will see a wine tighter and generally lighter in alcohol and body. Warmer seasons give the vines/ grapes the capacity to ripen more and build up more complex flavours, and hence body.
Within any one region, there will be varying seasons. And similarly, there are cooler climate and warmer climate growing regions which impact the body of a wine. So, for example, the coolest season Margaret River has seen would be 2006, 2019 – the whites are very fresh from this vintage. The reds are also lighter than the following warmer season of 2018.
9. Age of wine
Time in the bottle mellows a wine and gives the wine time to balance up. That is a core reason why we release wines when we feel they are ready, i.e. in balance with no screaming parts. And as the wine mellows, it technically becomes more gentle so for example you wouldn't go pairing a First Growth Bordeaux from 1982 e.g. Chateau Mouton from Pauillac France (a more gentle terroir) which to me is the definition of delicate beauty without anything too overbearing as you would then loose the wine completely.
Our UMAMU Estate Cabernet Sauvignon with Lamb Shank Stew is a great example of how an aged and already medium-plus-bodied wine Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon from 2011 pairs well with the umami flavours.
10. Explore…
The wonderful thing about food and wine pairing is there are so many possibilities, and therein lies the fun of the journey. Based on these tips, along with what you have tasted, you can trial and find (new) pairings. Just think back to the various meals you have enjoyed, was there a pairing you thought worked and one you thought 'yummy'? One can always test the pairing in advance… I tend to think through the dish or wine and then find the match mentally then I test it out. So think of these tips and see how you go.
Also as you explore, you may come across certain pairings that bring out another flavour in the pairing, note these and share them with us.
11. For deserts
Loving the exploration. I discovered how well our Shiraz pairs with chocolate - I recall an event in Jakarta participating in a wine & food fair with our local agent. A neighbouring stand was exhibiting chocolate… the great thing about these fairs is you chit chat and try each others products. I got to sample various chocolates with our wines and viola, choc & UMAMU Shiraz goes together! This has all gone together in our amazing UMAMU Shiraz with rack of lamb with Shiraz & chocolate sauce.
Also try out our UMAMU Estate Cane Cut with raspberry ruby chocolate panacotta with hibiscus flower, sesame tuile and balsamic toffee.
Do you have a favourite pairing? We'd love to hear from you.
When creating the name for our wine brand, one of the prongs was having an affinity with umami, the fifth flavour of food… Our goal is to produce wines that drink well on their own but also pair well with food.