An imperfect match: the perils and pitfalls of pairing Thai with wine

The world fell in love with Thai food several decades ago and the passion seems in no danger of diminishing.

Even farangs - or Westerners - have been getting in on the act with Michelin stars for Australian David Thompson's Nahm in London and Henrik Yde-Andersen at Kiin Kiin in Copenhagen.

No single wine will work with every Thai meal due to the many contrasting flavours, textures and fragrances. Although often treated as a single cuisine, Thai food is better described as four regional variations, corresponding to distinct geographic areas.

The mountainous north has a relatively cool climate; the northeast sits atop a vast plateau flanked by the Mekong River; the central region is a large area of rich soils dominated by the Chao Phraya river; while the south stretches down the Malay Peninsula between the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea.

Each region's cuisine shares similar roots to its neighbours: Laos and China's Yunnan province to the north, Myanmar to the northwest, Cambodia and Vietnam to the east and Malaysia to the south.

The food is known for its balance of three or four different aspects of taste, not only within each dish, but also within whole meals. The order of preference is usually: sour, sweet, spicy and then salty. Thai dishes frequently have powerful flavours from the many fresh herbs, spices and other ingredients the country is famous for, including lemon grass, chilli, garlic, ginger, kaffir lime, basil, mint, coriander and the pungent nam pla - or fish sauce.

Even so, you could do worse than follow the basic principles of wine matching laid out by the Wine & Spirit Education Trust.