A meal without wine is like a day without sunshine. Brillat-Savarin
Can you imagine the French or the Italians sitting down to a meal without wine? No? So how come Aussies do? We watch food shows like MKR from time to time, and are often surprised that wine plays no role in the lives of people who are great cooks and love good food. How do we know?
Black wine glasses are a dead giveaway, aren’t they? You can see Pete Evans staring at them in disbelief, can’t you?
I can’t believe that serious foodies deprive themselves of the extra pleasure that the right wine contributes to a great meal. On the reverse side of that coin, I don’t know any wine lovers who don’t care about the food they eat.
When the Experts Get it Wrong
That spells serious trouble, because they really should know better. Here’s a Wine pairings for chicken list from US magazine Wine & Food:
- Sautéed Chicken with Olives, Capers and Roasted Lemons – Rosato
- Herb-and-Lemon-Roasted Chicken – a crisp, citrusy Sauvignon Blanc
- Chicken and Cheese Enchiladas Verdes – a spicy, dark-fruited Malbec
- Chicken Breasts with Potatoes and Mashed Peas – a dry white sparkling wine
- Basque Chicken with Sweet Peppers and Tomatoes – a red with bright flavours and soft tannins
- Chicken Chow Mein – a fruity, sparking wine, like a Prosecco
- Pan-Seared Chicken Breasts with Jamaican Curry – a low-alcohol, off-dry Riesling
- Chicken Sofrito, a rosé sparkling wine
- Chicken with Slow-Roasted Tomatoes and Cheesy Grits – a rosé sparkling wine
- Mexican Chicken Pozole Verde – a rich but unoaked white wine such as an Alsace Pinot Gris
- Thai Chicken Stew with Potato-Chive Dumplings – a lemon appley Chardonnay.
You see what I mean? Herb and Lemon roasted chicken and crisp Sauvignon Blanc? Chicken and Cheese Enchiladas Verdes with a dark-fruited Malbec? Thai Chicken Stew with Potato-Chive Dumplings with a lemon appley Chardonnay? And the only time Riesling gets a look-in is with a Jamaican curry? I’d probably drink beer with that dish.
For almost all of the above, a full-flavoured, dry Riesling of the style made in Oz and Alsace is the best fit. There is a case for red wine with chicken in a red wine or tomato sauce, such as Chicken Cacciatore or Coq-au-Vine, but I’d pick a light red like a Beaujolais or Pinot Noir or a basic Montepulciano. I rest my case.
It’s Pretty Simple Really. There are 3 simple ways to match Food and Wine: Like & Like, Contrast and the Unexpected.
Like & Like
This is pretty simple, self-evident even – like white wine with white meats and red with red:
| Like & Like | |
| Cold meats and salads | Riesling, Chardonnay, Rosé |
| Light chicken & pork dishes | Riesling 1 – 5 years old |
| Bigger, fancier poultry | Older Riesling |
| Rich pork dishes such as pork belly | Big, dry Pinot Gris or Riesling |
| Oysters | Crisp Sauvignon Blanc, young, steely Riesling or Semillon, modern Chardonnay, crisp, dry bubbly |
| Most seafood | Sauvignon Blanc & SB Semillon blends |
| Veal dishes | Chardonnay |
| Paella (mixed seafood, chicken, pork) | Marsanne, Roussanne, Viognier (in one wine) |
| Duck | Pinot Noir, Beaujolais, light Grenache |
| Lamb – racks and similar | Merlot, Cabernet Merlot/Cabernet Franc |
| Lamb roasts | Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Merlot |
| lamb casseroles | Grenache Shiraz Mourvèdre (GSM) |
| Steak | Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Shiraz |
| Roast Beef | Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Shiraz |
| Beef Casseroles | Cabernet Shiraz, GSM, Robust Shiraz |
| Pizza, Pasta in tomato-based sauce, Tapas | Italian and Spanish bistro / lunch reds such as Montepulciano and Tempranillo |
| Desserts | Sweet whites |
Contrast & Unexpected
A lot of Asian food is cooked in sticky, often slightly sweet sauces, and the common pairing is off-dry whites (Like & Like). IMHO, contrast works better here. Also, some foods just don’t go with wine and you’re better off drinking beer with them.
The unexpected pairings include cheeses, which most people would match up with red wine when old whites work much better.
| Contrast | |
| Asian Food | Crisp, dry whites to cut the sweetness |
| Indian Food (Curry) | Beer |
| Mexican Food | Beer |
| Unexpected | |
| Pâté de Foie Gras | Botrytis Semillon, Sauternes |
| Very ripe, runny, soft cheeses (Brie and Blue) | Old sweet whites |
| Mature, crumbly cheese (cheddar, parmesan) | Mature Semillon, rich old Chardonnay |
| Dark chocolate, nuts, raisins | Rutherglen Tokay |
Please Don’t Follow these Rules Blindly
With Pizza and Pasta, match the wine to the main ingredient, i.e. seafood or salami, white or red. Dishes like Paella can be tricky to match because we may have seafood mixed with chicken and chorizos. Here I’d suggest a middle course: a big Chardonnay or a white Rhone style – Marsanne, Roussanne, Viognier – with a bit of age. That’s also the best option with a Salade Niçoise.
These subtleties can make a big difference. Recently, we had rack of lamb with a rich Barossa Shiraz which was all we had handy other than a Pinot Noir which would’ve been too subtle. The chunky Shiraz overpowered the lamb, and a medium-bodied Cabernet blend or straight Cabernet would’ve been a much better match.
Kim