The best place to start is always the beginning, so let’s look at how you greet your guests as they arrive. Sparkling wines are synonymous with celebrations, and it’s traditional to offer as a welcoming drink. Sparkling wines are generally lighter, fresher, and more crisp and therefore commonly served before still wines.

Sparkling wines are also a great palate cleanser, so you know your guests are primed and ready for the meal to come. The Wine Flyer has a great range of sparkling wines, prosecco and champagne to choose from, so be sure to choose one that fits with your overall menu.

Moving on to the courses with a little more substance, the decisions get a little trickier. Having a good knowledge of the food you’ll be serving will help you make the right choice and the key here is to balance the flavours. The primary flavour profiles to be aware of to attain that balance are salty, acidic, spicy, fatty (creamy, buttery, or oily), umami (literal translation from Japanese is ‘pleasant savoury taste’), and sweet.

Contrary to what you might think, one of the ways to achieve balance is to pair wines and foods of similar flavours. This is because the two will cancel each other out and balance the flavour in the mouth. This means that acidic wines go very well with citrus and other acidic flavours, or an earthy wine will negate the earthiness in a mushroom stroganoff and allow the other flavours to come through.

For a rich, fatty dish, maybe something with a lot of butter or cream in the sauce, this rule of like-for-like plays out well. Pair that delicious butter sauce with a luscious and rich white wine, maybe a Chardonnay, or a Semillon, or maybe even a white Burgundy.

This matching of like and like isn’t always a safe bet, however, and it’s just as important to know which pairings don’t work. Spicy foods paired with the wrong wine can boost the spice sensation and knock your socks off, which is great if that’s what you love. However, if you’re looking to cut down the punch of spiciness then avoid wines with high ABV, it may be better to pair that curry with an off-dry white wine or rosé.

If you’re serving up rich, red meats, the tried and true pairing is bold red wine. Think of your Argentine steakhouses with piles of seared steak and a carafe of full-bodied Malbec and you’ve got it nailed. Alternatively, a fish dish with more delicate flavours is more likely to be complemented with a chilled, light white wine, a Sauvignon Blanc or a Pinot Grigio.

The Wine Flyer has put together a few perfect pairing suggestions for you to serve at your next dinner party below.

To further arm you for your next soirée, it’s best to be aware of pairings to avoid as well. As well as the aforementioned high-alcohol wines with spicy food, it’s best to stay away from combining Pinot Noir with vinegary dishes, Cabernet Sauvignon with fish, Pinot Grigio and roast beef, and the surprising Champagne and chocolate cake combination. Mixing any of these is likely to result in flavours being lost or overwhelmed as they compete against each other and leaving an unsatisfactory taste in your guest’s mouths.