University of California, Davis

Wine Tasting: Food and Wine Pairing

University of California, Davis

Wine Tasting: Food and Wine Pairing

John Buechsenstein

Instructor: John Buechsenstein

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Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
Beginner level

Recommended experience

4 hours to complete
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace
Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
Beginner level

Recommended experience

4 hours to complete
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace

What you'll learn

  • Apply flavor profiling to adjust a wine or dish and improve a pairing

Details to know

Shareable certificate

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Recently updated!

July 2026

Assessments

1 assignment¹

AI Graded see disclaimer
Taught in English

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This course is part of the Wine Tasting: Sensory Techniques for Wine Analysis Specialization
When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.
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  • Gain a foundational understanding of a subject or tool
  • Develop job-relevant skills with hands-on projects
  • Earn a shareable career certificate

There are 5 modules in this course

What's included

1 reading

Can you drink red wine with fish? In this course, we’ll discuss the often perplexing question of how to pair wine with food, and the physical, structural, textural, and aromatic aspects of both the "wine side" and the "food side" of the equation. We’ll discuss ways to improve your ability to make flavorful choices and determine the structure and "weight" of a wine. To help you predict a good food match, we’ll talk about the process of flavor profiling and how to decide whether to change a wine or food to make a pair work.

What's included

9 videos1 reading

In this module, we’ll discuss the "seven deadly sins" of wine and food pairing, and you’ll develop a personal wine and food scoring system.

What's included

2 videos2 discussion prompts

This assessment evaluates your understanding of wine and food pairing principles, including wine structure, flavor profiling, pairing strategies, and common pairing mistakes. Learners will apply key concepts used to create balanced and complementary wine and food combinations.

What's included

1 assignment

In this module, we’ll conclude our journey into wine tasting with a project that will demonstrate your understanding of the physiological process of wine tasting and the sensory techniques required for accurate wine analysis. You’ll apply the skills you have developed to making a critical evaluation and description of a specific wine. Working with fellow learners in this peer review process, you will demonstrate your ability to describe the appellation, climate, winery, varietal and winemaking style as well as describe the visual, and tactile aspects of the wine. You’ll also describe the flavor and aroma of the wine, and make decisions about the best and worst food pairings for the wine.

What's included

1 video1 peer review1 discussion prompt

Earn a career certificate

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Instructor

John Buechsenstein
University of California, Davis
1 Course81,920 learners

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¹ Some assignments in this course are AI-graded. For these assignments, your data will be used in accordance with Coursera's Privacy Notice.