When wine meets food, several things can happen;
The food can exaggerate a characteristic of the wine. For example, if you eat walnuts (which are tannic) with a tannic red wine, such as a Bordeaux, the wine tastes so dry and astringent that most people would consider it undrinkable.
The food can diminish a characteristic of the wine. Protein diminishes tannin, for example, and an overly-tannic red wine – unpleasant on its own – could be judged delightful when you drink it with a rare steak.
The flavor intensity of the food can obliterate the wine’s flavor or vice versa. If you’ve every drunk a big, rich red wine with a delicate filet of sole, you’ve had this experience first-hand.
The wine can contribute new flavors to the dish. For example, a red Zinfandel that’s gushing with berry fruit can bring its berry flavors to the dish, as if another ingredient had been added.
The combination of wine and food can create an unwelcome third-party flavor that wasn’t in either the wine or the food originally; we get a metallic flavor when we eat plain white meat turkey with red Bordeaux.
The food and wine can interact perfectly, creating a sensational taste experience that is greater than the food or the wine alone. (This scenario is what we hope will happen every time we eat and drink, but it’s as rare as a show-stopping dish.)
