While the words pairing and matching are generally interchangeable, wine and food “pairing” can be defined as the art of determining an appropriate wine selection to serve with a certain food (or vice-versa) while wine and food “matching” is the practice of using descriptive elements that are common to both the wine and the food; e.g. spicy, herbal, cherries, heavy, complex, etc. The rules and/or guidelines for wine and food pairing and matching are highly subjective, frequently contradictory and even polarizing when taken to extremes. Overplaying the wine and food card may also have unintended negative consequences in the mind’s eye of the consumer. It is most important to never lose sight that flexibility
and working within the personal preferences of your guests is more important than any hard, fast wine and food pairing rule. Pleasing your guests is the most immutable and time-honored of all principles of true hospitality and connoisseurship…
Complete article from WSET can be read here.