Drink what you like: red with fish; white with lamb; rose with whatever you want. But listen to me about chocolate and cheese.

I read a book that I think everyone who cares about what they eat and their (and their children’s) health should read: It’s called Ultra-Processed People by Chris Van Tulleken. There’s a section about how appearance sets expectations and can create disappointment: we’ve all heard about people who take an olive thinking it’s a grape and they never eat another olive (does this really happen though? who knows)

Genuine wine experts were set a blind tasting starting with some white wines. They used white wine adjectives like “zesty”, “fresh”, “dry”…

Then the “full-bodied”, “fruity”, “complex” reds were offered. Only at the end were they told that the red wines were warm versions of the white ones but with food colouring added.

This doesn’t mean they are frauds or that they don’t know what they are talking about, it is the psychology of “eating with their eyes”, but it does demonstrate that if you insist on red wine with, say, beef, you could happily drink dyed white wine and enjoy it as much.

You also don’t really mix the food and wine together: Nobody takes a sip of wine while they still have steak in their mouth.

But I’m going to slightly contradict that with a few specifics that I think matter. Find what you like and stick to it, but I think it’s worth trying these three combinations to see what you think.

Port and Cheese

I don’t think they go together that well. There, I’ve said it! I mean they work OK but I don’t think port gives you anything better than red wine does. I don’t think dry white wine does that much for it, but the game changer is dessert wine.

Next time you are having cheese, especially blue cheese, pair it with a sweet dessert wine and see what you think.

Desserts and Dessert Wine

Again, sure, they work, especially with things like meringue, fruits and sweet sauces. But chocolate desserts, which even when they are sweet have that choccie bitterness in there, go with port.

I personally think that ordinary red wine works with chocolate, but port really goes.

The good stuff

By which I mean salty and really savoury things like anchovies, olives, pickles... Of course you can drink any colour of wine with them, but they really work with a chilled dry sherry (manzanilla or any fino work), or a very cold vermouth.