In the continuity of our first post on the French history of Wine & Food pairing, to help you succeed your own pairing, we present the reflections and some advices that Gaëtan Bouvier, best Sommelier of France in 2016 and elected one of the Best Workmen of France in 2022, gave recently in an interview.
«Two ways to explore»
Which wine should you offer when you sit down to dinner? That’s a tricky question. The wrong bottle can turn your meal sour. Beyond considerations of taste, there are a few rules, which sommelier Gaëtan Bouvier reveals to you.
What are the main rules for pairing a dish with a wine?
“It’s customary to say that there are two paths to explore: the ‘accord de raison’, in which the smells, aromas, flavours and textures of the dish and the wine would be similar; and the ‘accord d’opposition’, in which we try to create a balance between the sensory profiles. These are the two approaches to consider when starting the exercise. After that, you realize that an infinite range of paths emerge as you practice the discipline. The path I prefer is that of tasting the wine first and then tracing the technical cooking routes and products in a second stage. This stimulates those who are passionate about cooking, who find themselves challenged by the wine.
Can we rely on the color match between red wine and red meat, white wine and white fish?
If we speak basic color, we can add the rosés, clairets (clear red wine), yellows and orange wines, and, for muted, garnet, tuilés, ruby, tawny. Then, each color offers its gradient. The former cook that I am has explored this path, even going so far as to be inspired by paintings made by painters. Neuroscience shows that what we see conditions our organoleptic sensations. I recognize that a rosé on salmon works very well. This changes when the wine is served in a black glass.
What do you think of local pairings, such as Sancerre with a crottin de Chavignol?
The origin of products often creates this taste effect that reveals a region. It’s one of the simplest approaches, but also one of the most effective. Leonardo da Vinci said that simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. I find this quote inspiring.
With a dish in sauce, what would you rather focus on?
I think the sauce is a unifying element that brings together the components of a dish. It cements the dish. Great chefs like Yannick Alléno, 3-star Michelin chef at the Pavillon Ledoyen restaurant in Paris, have worked in depth on this subject. In my sommelier case, I always have a mocha spoon to taste the sauces of the chefs with whom I work. Cooking a sea fish like a civet and serving it with a powerful red wine has helped me win the loyalty of many customers.
And champagne, with what should it be paired?
Champagne is the most beautiful sparkling wine in the world. It benefits from an exceptional terroir and know-how. In Champagne, the soil, made up of chalk, marl and limestone, has the memory of water. A poached sea fish, or with short-stewing cooking, leaves its mark in the memories of those who try this art.
The Cuvée Blanc de Blancs by Bruno PAILLARD – a family house whose Champagne is now imported and distributed in Thailand by BACCHUS GLOBAL – and a piece of the chalk floor that saw it born.
It is worth remembering that 96 million years ago, the sea invaded most of France. Over 30 million years, it deposited several hundred metres of limestone, calcareous sandstone and marl deposits, composed of the skeletons of marine micro-organisms. These deposits now form the bedrock of the Paris Basin. They are the ones that now surface in Champagne.
The memory of the ocean, its imprint on the intimate texture of the vine that sinks its roots into it, and then on that of Champagne, is there. This is what makes the Terroir of Champagne so unique.
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“When I hear the pop of the champagne cork, it inspires me a poached turbot in a clear wine (a very acidic wine before the champagne foams), a very frothy Dutch sauce, for the reminder of the bubbles, and unctuously rich in butter, which evokes the milky flavors of the different fermentations. This sauce could be twisted with a drop of ratafia Champagne added raw for reminiscences of the dosage. A hint of iodine and fresh vegetal flavors would add sophistication with sea hyacinth leaves. I admit that when I taste a wine, immediately the desire to cook starts in my head.
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Is a dessert with a mutated wine a good idea?
Yes. However, when I serve a mutated wine for dessert, I recommend moderation, because these wines – Banyuls, Muscats Fortifiés, Pineaux des Charentes, Portos and others – have a strong ethyl alcohol content due to the addition of Eau-de-vie. All you need is 6cl, and the persistent mouth aromas invite patience and moderation.
What are the mistakes to avoid?
Only one: cooking without thinking about what will be drunk. The drink served during the meal will always be the last ingredient on the technical file. Knowledge of the fundamentals of cooking and oenology are a major asset to create truly great pairings that are really applicable and that can offer pleasure to our guests.
What products are difficult to pair with wine? And what would be the alternatives?
Fishes very rich in omega 3 like sardine, lisette or mackerel gave me a hard time. Beer, cider, sake, for alcoholic beverages, or kombuchas, for those who don’t want alcohol, can be alternatives to accompany this type of product.
In my own environment, I have also often heard sentences, affirmed as truths, according to which asparagus, eggs, soups, would be enemies of great pairings. I prefer to think of them as challenges to be met. And, honestly, between the immense diversity of wines in the world and the many possibilities that exist in the kitchen, there are often multiple gourmet solutions.
Can we make pairings with other drinks than wine?
For guests who don’t drink alcohol, tea is a very good solution. I have been practicing this type of pairing for over 18 years. With tea, the notions of terroir are quite similar to those of wine. Here again, I have some cooking secrets with my friends chefs to adapt the culinary preparations with the watery character of tea.
I’m also testing some pairings with non-alcoholic drinks produced by Alain Milliat or slightly carbonated plant-based drinks from the brand Henri Marie, which has just launched its activity in the Ain prefecture. The results are excellent.
As alcohol provides a structure in a wine and food pairing, the challenge is always to fill the gap created. I consider that the wine is often like the ridge of a roof structure that supports the whole roof. To achieve pairings, a well-structured wine is still the beverage with the most multidimensional qualities in terms of aromatic balance, purity, flavour, alcohol balance, minerals and fermentation.
Gaëtan Bouvier, Best Sommelier of France competition in 2016.
With a father who was a cheese producer, Gaëtan Bouvier already had a taste for good things in his veins. After studying in the hotel-restaurant industry with a complementary option in sommellerie, he then works in many establishments such as the Royal Evian Resort or the Majestic Barrière in Cannes, before spending 10 years at the Villa Florentine, in Lyon, as head sommelier.
He then started to train young talents by teaching at the Lesdiguières hotel school in Grenoble, and then at the Institut Paul Bocuse, renamed Lyfe (Lyon for Excellence). In 2013, he was named Best Sommelier of the Rhône-Alpes by the Gault & Millau guide. In 2016, he won the 29th Best Sommelier of France competition, before becoming one of the Best Laborers of France in 2022.