Acidity is important as it gives a wine a bit of lift and provides brightness to wine that might otherwise be flat or uninteresting. However it also helps to balance out a wine’s residual sugar content, this can stop the wine from coming across as tasting too sweet. But probably the most important aspect of wine that is high in acidity is that it will be excellent with food. For example, pairing a wine with high acidity alongside an acidic food, such as tomatoes, provides a nice complement by softening the taste.
Rich and decadent foods like meat, fish or anything that contains lots of cream and butter are also a great pairing with high-acidity wine. The wine cuts through the fat and allows you to taste both the food and drink in perfect balance. That should be your primary objective when it comes to choosing wine – it must work with the food rather than against it; this maximises your ability to enjoy both.
Acidity isn’t the only element of taste that you should consider when choosing your combination of food and wine. Other factors include a wine’s fruit flavours and sweetness. But acidity is, without question, a very important element in your ability to enjoy the food and drink and it should certainly weigh in on whatever pairing decision you make. There are a number of great high-acidity white wines including riesling, sauvignon blanc, chenin blanc and pinot grigio.