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konraddelipair

Assistant Cook
Joined
Apr 5, 2016
Messages
5
Location
Edinburgh
Short introduction: for last two years I worked on wine and food pairing algorithm, science based and automated. I was inspired by Francois Chartier book ‘Taste Buds and Molecules’. Started with tests on friends and family. Next read a lot of scientific publications on wine and food aromas. Last, worked with a laboratory to analyse wines on GC/MS equipment and compiled food ingredients / aroma compounds database.

As a result, after some more work on algorithm and data transformation, Delpair was born. In this topic, I would like to use my insight into Delipair’s results to help with wine pairing to your recipes. And hear your opinions after you try wine with the recipe.

Please post recipes, which need wine pairing, in this topic (as list of ingredients and cooking method, or as link to a web-page with recipe). For each recipe I will compile TOP10 wines, according to Delipair's algorithm, and publish the wine pairing curve, plus comments if needed. Sample recipe below.

For more information on Delipair method you may watch this short explanatory clip: https://youtu.be/7kmT45fDWTA

Recipe: Spaghetti with Meat Sauce from http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Spaghetti-with-Meat-Sauce-1196277

TOP10 wines:
recipe01top10.png


Wine pairing curve:
Explanation: best pairing - oaked Pinot Noir from California has 100%, worst pairing - blended French Sauvignon Blanc from Bordeaux has 9%. With this type of curve every wine above 90% is a good pairing, above 70% is a decent pairing, tried to show that with colours. Last wine from TOP10 - partially oaked Chardonnay from California scores above 80%.
recipe01chart.png


Waiting for your recipes and questions,
Konrad
 
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The link to the recipe doesn't work. I'm assuming it's a tomato based sauce. If so, your algorithm needs some work. I would NEVER pair a riesling or chenin blanc with a tomato based sauce.
 
Corrected link to this recipe: Spaghetti with Meat Sauce Recipe | Yummly

About the pairing. From my experience medium-dry German riesling and medium-sweet or medium-dry South African chenin blanc are quite versatile in terms of food pairing. It was a big surprise at first for me, but then tests proved it.

However other wines from these grapes (riesling or chenin blanc) won't be a good pairing for this recipe, as you can see in table below.

recipe01cbrs.png
 
I would pick the straw wrapped bottle of chianti before anything on that list to go with an Italian meat sauce.
 
Agreed. Although it probably wouldn't be a bad pairing, I sure wouldn't drink Pinot Noir with a plate of spaghetti. For one thing, the wine would undoubtedly cost more than the food I was eating it with.

Give me a decent (and cheap) Barbera or Dolcetto from Piedmont any day. It would be a much better choice.
 
Agreed. Although it probably wouldn't be a bad pairing, I sure wouldn't drink Pinot Noir with a plate of spaghetti. For one thing, the wine would undoubtedly cost more than the food I was eating it with.

Give me a decent (and cheap) Barbera or Dolcetto from Piedmont any day. It would be a much better choice.

Although they are not cheap, they are more than decent, IMO-
Banfi Classico Riserva or Ruffino Riserva Ducale. They are my personal favorites for pairing with Italian type red gravy/meat sauce.
 
@CraigC, Steve Kroll
I understand your preferences here. With one food you may have very different wines (Chianti Riserva vs Dolcetto vs Barbera) and be happy with your choice when you simply like the wine you choose. Myself I wouldn't mind one of those Chianti either. However from molecular perspective, if we talk about Italian wines, best fit is achieved with Valpolicella Ripasso.

And from price perspective, correct me if I'm wrong, isn't decent Chianti Classico Riserva similarly priced to Pinot Noir from California?

Where things get interesting, is the moment you skip geographical key in wine-food pairing, and try wines which have the right aromas, not the right birth place. Asian cuisine is the easiest starting point, as it's exotic, and you don't feel wrong with pairing wines from any region there.

@jennyema

Medium sweet, or medium dry, Chenin Blanc is a versatile wine, and nicely pairs with many recipes. And for people who are new to wine, it's a great starting point to enjoy wine with food. Cause in many pairings, food bonds the sweetness nicely, and reveals interesting aromas in this undervalued wine.

And all those pairings are neither wrong or random, sorry to say. Would have thought that goal of the forum is to exchange experiences to broaden our knowledge, not make strong, unfair opinions, just because someone experience is different than yours.
 
@CraigC, Steve Kroll
I understand your preferences here. With one food you may have very different wines (Chianti Riserva vs Dolcetto vs Barbera) and be happy with your choice when you simply like the wine you choose. Myself I wouldn't mind one of those Chianti either. However from molecular perspective, if we talk about Italian wines, best fit is achieved with Valpolicella Ripasso.

And from price perspective, correct me if I'm wrong, isn't decent Chianti Classico Riserva similarly priced to Pinot Noir from California?

Where things get interesting, is the moment you skip geographical key in wine-food pairing, and try wines which have the right aromas, not the right birth place. Asian cuisine is the easiest starting point, as it's exotic, and you don't feel wrong with pairing wines from any region there.

@jennyema

Medium sweet, or medium dry, Chenin Blanc is a versatile wine, and nicely pairs with many recipes. And for people who are new to wine, it's a great starting point to enjoy wine with food. Cause in many pairings, food bonds the sweetness nicely, and reveals interesting aromas in this undervalued wine.

And all those pairings are neither wrong or random, sorry to say. Would have thought that goal of the forum is to exchange experiences to broaden our knowledge, not make strong, unfair opinions, just because someone experience is different than yours.

I would never pair wine with most Asian cuisine, preferring beer from the region. I'll go sake with Japanese and maybe soju with Korean, but with the rest it's beer. Heck, now there are craft brews that pair with dark and white chocolate. The bottom line is, you can drink what you like with anything you want. BTW, how do you justify our opinions being unfair? After all the are just that, opinions. So, what wine would you suggest to pair with a Cajun crawfish boil? Also what you claim as the best fit for the red sauce is nothing more than your opinion/preference, no matter how you arrived at it.
 
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The ranking seems as if you'd never tasted the dish or the wines. The only wine that makes remote sense is barbaresco. Valpolicello ripasso would do in a pinch.

For red-sauce spaghetti, watching the budget, I'd order a bottle of Italian primitivo or California zinfandel. Other choices would be a sangiovese or sangiovese/cabernet sauvignon blend. Another good bet might be a neprica (Negroamaro, Primitivo, Cabernet Sauvignon) blend.
 
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Another older post, but amusing to read.

Seems many people post things and "asking for your opinion" when what they are really looking for are accolades/applause and 'Wow that's great' kudos.

LOL Unfortunately those opinions are viewed as criticisms.
 
I key on the origin of the dish and the wine. So for lamb chops, Australia seems a good start. For a red sauce with spaghetti, I look for a wine from Italy or one made from a grape that originated there.

The claim that the algorithm was validated by "tests" makes me ask the nature of said tests.
 
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