Vital elements to matching food and wine

First of two parts.

The key to matching wine and food isn't merely "red wine with red meat" or in keeping both the wine and type of food from the same region (pizza with Chianti, for example). The key isn't to be found in so many of the rules that we've inherited about pairing wine with food.

The key to matching wine and food is about what's already in the wine and in the food.

Wine and food pairings work (or not) because elements in the food or wine — things such as acidity, sugar, fat, alcohol, salt and tannin — pair well together or don't.

There's a reason beyond "because it tastes good" why you squeeze lemon on an oyster or grate Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese atop a marinara sauce. These combinations appeal because of the interaction of the lemon's acidity and the oyster's saltiness, or the fat in the cheese and the acidity in the sauce. And so it goes with wines and what's in them and the foods with which they're paired.

When we prepare food, we choose or set the dominant elements. For example, if chicken breasts are seasoned with capers and olives, the dominant factor is salt. If a grilled swordfish fillet is covered in a mango salsa, the primary element will be sweetness.