When we close our eyes and imagine ourselves tucking in with a loved one to a charcuterie board paired with wine, we immediately envision ourselves in a dimly lit room, popping lactic pills with -- you guessed it -- a glass of red on the table.
Red wine has earned itself a pretty strong reputation over the years for its health benefits and antioxidant properties. And let's face it: it looks dang sexy in a glass.
However, some research has slowly but steadily been demonstrating that white wine itself has vindication -- possibly even superior -- qualities.
Per Munchies, the Centre for Taste and Feeding Behavior has released an article titled "Use of Multi-Intake Temporal Dominance of Sensations to Evaluate the Influence of Cheese on Wine Perception."
Essentially, the researchers confirm that anybody who chooses a glass of white wine to sip on with their cheese is doing it right, because apparently, it appears to pair better with our favorite dairy product than does red wine.
Thirty-one participants took three sips each of Pacherenc, Sancerre, Bourgogne and Madiran wines. Next, they were instructed to imbibe those same wines, only to intersperse their sipping with bites of Epoisses, Comte, Roquefort and Crottin de Chavignol in between.
Ugh. What we wouldn't give to have been participants in a study such as this one…
The scientists then used a method called multi-intake temporal dominance of sensations (TDS), which prompted participants to first associate the taste in their mouth with a word projected on a screen, and then redraft their associations as the taste evolved. Next, participants subjectively rated the wine, by itself and then paired with the cheeses.
The results? White wines were perceived as more refreshing, pleasant, and less astringent than reds were when consumed with cheese. The cheeses also apparently tasted better when paired with the white wines than they did all on their own (although we would never turn down cheese… ever…)
"This protocol could be a first approach toward developing an interesting tool for the food sector which would help to better understand perception of the impact of one food product on another, leading eventually to a better description of a whole meal," states the article, according to Munchies.