The Ultimate Wine and Food Pairings Guide 

Having a cocktail or a glass of wine at dinner is an elevated and delicious experience. Whether you are having someone over for dinner, throwing a dinner party, or even just cooking for yourself a nice glass of wine is always a nice perk to add to your dining experience. 

One of the hardest things to figure out is what wine goes with what. There are so many different dinner options, so many different wine options, it’s hard not to get overwhelmed and just want to give up. But don’t worry, here’s a guide for all of the questions you need answers to. Let’s get started! 

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Why is Wine Pairing Important? 

Pairing specific wine with different food groups has been around for generations and perfected through every decade. Wine pairing allows chefs and sommeliers to enhance the flavours of both the wine and their culinary dishes. The beautiful part is that there is plenty of room for creativity with every dish. A chef who can play around with their dishes and wine parings creates a magical experience in flavour. The full concept of wine and food pairing is to allow the textures of the dish to come alive with the unique flavour palettes of the wine. Since each wine has a different profile it’s easy to find the perfect match for a dish. Pairing is meant to enhance your dining experience and leave you wanting more. 

How Does Wine Pairing Work? 

When choosing the perfect wine to go with your dish you are looking for a wine that has that same intensity as the food, that way it serves as a complement to the meal instead of you tasting two completely different things. Since red wine is bolder it’s paired with meats that have an intense flavour, such as red meat. With fish being a little more on the mellow side in the flavour spectrum you would pair this with a mellow white wine. Everything with pairing comes down to the art of balance.             

When consuming the alcohol your palette is expanded and releases flavour molecules in food. When this happens, the alcohol is helping dissolve the fat in the food and lets the rest of the ingredients shine the way they were made to. 

What Wine Goes with Lamb?

Lamb is the most wine-friendly meat you could choose to pair with. There are so many options depending on how you decided to prepare and cook your lamb. The top choices for wine to pair with lamb would be a red Bordeaux, Rioja, or even a Cabernet. No matter how you prepare your lamb, you really can not go wrong with any of those wines. For maximum flavour, how you prepare the lamb will be a factor in which wine you should ultimately pair with it. 

What Wine Goes with Chicken?

Oh, the many things you can do with chicken! The options are endless, which makes the wine pairing endless as well. Long gone are the days of white meat/white wine ease. So there are a couple of the major pairing groups to work with. 

If you are making something light such as a Caesar salad or a chicken paella you will need alight bodied wine such as a rosé. For a slightly heavier dish like chicken piccata, chicken alfredo, or even chicken and mashed potatoes you’re going to want to go with a rich white blend or a Chardonnay. For dishes like roast chicken or a chicken risotto, this is where you want to bring in your Cabernets and your Merlots. Lastly, if you’re feeling a little bit more adventurous with your chicken dishes, such as chicken tacos or a lemon and herb chicken dish you will want to pick yourself up a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc or a white wine with most citrus notes to it.  

What Wine Goes with Salmon?

The options are endless for salmon dishes. Since salmon is more of an oily fish it pairs wonderfully with oak-aged Chardonnay, White Burgundies, White Pinot Noir’s, Viogniers, even White Rioja’s. As a rule of thumb, salmon is perfect to pair with white wines in general. If you are cooking your salmon with citrus then a Sauvignon Blanc is the perfect wine to go with your meal. 

What Wine Goes with Steak?

Call in the red wine lovers because steak is the perfect pairing for red wines. Cabernet is the perfect go-to for any steak dish and perfectly compliments the bold flavour profile that the steak has to bring to the table. If Cabernet isn’t your favourite then go with a Malbec or even a Shiraz in to enhance your night. Since red wines are higher in tannins they are the perfect compliment to the cattiness that red meat has. 

What Wine Goes with Turkey? 

Turkey is one of those meats that can go either way in terms of wine. You can either choose a full-bodied white wine such as a Chardonnay or a Riesling or you can choose a medium-bodied red wine like a Pinot Noir or a Red Zinfandel. Turkey allows red and white wine lovers alike to be able to enjoy to their preference. 

What Wine Goes with Curry?

The wine you choose to pair with curry goes with what kind of curry you choose. For creamy curries, you are the best pairing with a dry, rick wine like a Chardonnay. In the case of tomato-based curries you are going to need a fruity red to balance it out, so make sure and pick up a bottle of Pinot Noir or Shiraz for this dish. If you like your curry on the spicy side, grab a sweet white Riesling to offset the fire on your taste buds.  

If you are interested in understanding more about the fascinating world of food & wine pairing, you ight like to check out the below books.