What wine to pair with curry - my top 5 picks

If you’re wondering what wine goes with curry, you’re not alone. There are probably more opinions about the matter than there are types of curry. The word ‘curry’, of course, can encompass a whole range of dishes from a mild, creamy korma to a spicy vindaloo so you need to focus on what kind you’re dealing with. In this guide to wine with curry you’ll learn:

My 5 top wines with curry that don’t just hold their own, but shine alongside your favourite curries.

Top wine pairings for popular Indian and Thai curries.

The best red wine for curry.

Wine pairings for 5 popular chicken curries.

3 things to bear in mind when you’re pairing wine and curry

*How hot the curry is. Clearly it’s easier to match wine with a mild curry than a searingly hot one.

*How many other dishes you’re serving and how hot they are. It’s easier, in other words, to think about a wine that will go with the whole meal rather than one element of it

*and what type of curry you’re talking about - Thai and Malay curries, for example are different from Indian curries with their warmer spices. And home-made curries tend to be hotter and pokier than shop-bought ones or ones made from a bought curry sauce.

Pairing wine with curry is all about offsetting the heat

What you need with curry - and this is why cold lager and lassi work so well - is a refreshing contrast to the heat of the food. A touch of sweetness helps, particularly with hotter curries as does a fresh, palate-cleansing acidity.

What doesn’t work so well  - in my opinion at least - is tannin and high alcohol which can emphasise and unbalance the spice in a curry. So although ripe fruity reds can work - especially with meaty curries like rogan josh - you don’t really want a 15% oaky monster.

It’s also worth bearing in mind that some Indian restaurants don’t have brilliant wine lists so it’s a question of what will pair best rather than what’s ideal. Here are 5 good all-rounders that I think do the job.

5 wines that almost always work with a curry

A fruity rosé

Fruity rosés have consistently come out best in the tastings I’ve done for the What Food, What Wine? competition in the past. Think Spain, Portugal or South America rather than Provence. See for example this Andhra Curry-leaf chicken that would pair well with a dry-ish Portuguese or Chilean rosé.

Off-dry riesling

Off-dry riesling generally work with chicken, fish and vegetable curries, if not with very meaty ones or ones with a powerful tomato sauce. German, Austrian, Australian and New Zealand rieslings would all do the trick.

Pinot gris

This speciality of Alsace - also found in New Zealand and Oregon - has a particular affinity with Thai green curries but pairs well with mild to medium-hot Indian curries too

Other aromatic whites

Such as fragrant Hungarian whites, dry Muscat, Sylvaner/Silvaner and Torrontes from Argentina

Chardonnay

Yes, chardonnay! Particularly fruity styles or blends with grapes such as semillon, chenin and colombard. Good with mild, creamy or buttery curries, especially with chicken. (Viognier is good with this sort of curry too.)

Incidentally you may find Gewurztraminer an odd omission from my top 5 as it’s often paired with curry but it can easily overpower milder curries. Great with a spicy duck curry though

Does red wine go with curry?

Not always but it can. I’ll probably go for a juicy, fruity but not too oaky Shiraz or a Chilean Carmenère (similar to a Merlot which would also work well). Pinotage is surprisingly good match with hotter curries and rioja crianza or reserva for rogan josh.

Wine pairings for five popular chicken curries

Chicken is one of the most popular types of curry but think about the sauce and level of heat when you’re choosing your wine

Chicken korma
A mild creamy curry that goes particularly well with viognier. Chardonnay is good too.

Chicken katsu curry
Try an aromatic white wine like an off-dry riesling or a feteasca regala from Romania, a great pairing I discovered recently  

Chicken tikka masala
A strong fruity Portuguese rosé works particularly well with this curry

Chicken Jalfrezi
Slightly hotter with a spicy tomato sauce. You could try a light red wine like a grenache with this one

Thai chicken curry
Goes well with Australian riesling, New Zealand sauvignon blanc, pinot gris or a fruity rosé. (That applies to a Thai prawn curry too as you can see from this post)

See also Six drinks you might not have thought of pairing with Indian food

Top image © I Wei Huang at shutterstock.com

Which drinks pair best with Thai food? (updated)

The predominant flavours of Thai cuisine are sweet, sour, hot and salty - slightly different from the warm spicing of many Indian curries or the more fragrant, herbal notes of Vietnamese. So which which drinks pair best with a Thai meal?

As with other Asian cuisines dishes are served at the same time rather than in succession - a typical selection being a salad, a soup, a deep-fried or steamed dish, a stir-fry and a curry - which can make it difficult to find one drink to match all.

(Thais themselves would not typically drink wine with food - traditionally green tea or jasmine-infused water would have been served either side of rather than during the meal.)

Authentic Thai food can be really hot but tends to be modified in most Western restaurants. The pairings that I think work best are aromatic or fruity white wines and light, cloudy wheat beers but there are a few surprises in the list below.

Alsace - and other - Pinot Gris

My favourite pairing overall. Alsace Pinot Gris has the requisite touch of sweetness but also an exotic muskiness that tunes in perfectly with Thai spicing. New Zealand pinot gris, particularly the off-dry styles, also works well.

Spätlese and other off-dry Riesling

Again, a touch of sweetness really helps, giving German and Austrian spätlese Rieslings and Alsace vendange tardive Rieslings the edge over their dry counterparts. A fruity Clare Valley, New Zealand or Californian Riesling can also work well too especially with Thai-spiced seafood, salads and stir-fries as you can see from this pairing with stir-fried pork with Thai basil. 

Gewürztraminer

Many people’s favourite with Thai and other oriental cuisines but in my view it goes better with some dishes such as Thai red curries than others (I find it slightly overwhelming with more delicate dishes like Thai spiced crab cakes or green mango or papaya salads).

One good compromise is an aromatic blend that includes Gewürz. (Domaine Josmeyer produced a very attractive one called Fleur de Lotus which included Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris and Riesling though I’m not sure they’re still making it) Vendange tardive Gewürztraminer can be very good with intensely sweet Thai desserts.

Sylvaner

Quality is on the up with this overlooked grape variety which performs well with Asian food, Thai included. May possibly not have the power to deal with hotter dishes but worth a try.

Sauvignon Blanc and other intensely citrussy whites such as Rueda

If you’re not a fan of aromatic whites Sauvignon Blanc is the best alternative though may get overwhelmed by hotter dishes. Best with Thai-spiced seafood, salads and stir-fries.

Torrontes

The quality of Torrontes has much improved since I first made this suggestion a few years ago. A good budget option with Thai.

Rosé

A surprisingly good pairing with Thai food that isn’t too hot. Even English rosé works. Take a look at this pairing with a Thai green curry.

Orange wine

Again maybe a surprise but I’ve foiund that lighter more aromatic orange wines with a short period of skin contact can work really well especially with pork. I had a dish in Kiln recently of grilled pork with soya bean relish and a kumquat salad which was spot on with a skin contact Austrian field blend. 

Witbier/bière blanche

Top wine pairings with asparagus

Whenever anyone talks about foods that are difficult to match with wine, asparagus always comes up but I reckon the problem is overstated.

Just like any other ingredient it depends how you cook and serve it and how many other ingredients there are on the plate. Few people serve asparagus totally unadorned.

The most popular pairing is with Sauvignon Blanc which can have a marked asparagus flavour itself so you need another ingredient on the plate such as salmon, chicken or goats cheese to revive those flavours in the wine.

Wines that can be tricky are wines with a touch of sweetness as asparagus can accentuate that. Oaked whites are generally not too successful (except with rich buttery sauces - see below) nor are wines with pronounced tannins.

Here are my suggestions with different asparagus preparations:

• With a vinaigrette - Needs a wine that can cope with the vinaigrette and won’t compete with the asparagus. I prefer an earthy, dry, unoaked Italian white such as Verdicchio or dry Orvieto to a Sauvignon Blanc here. Or a light, dry rosé without too much upfront berry fruit

• With melted butter or mayo - Where the asparagus is offset by the richness of butter or mayo but there isn’t anything else on the plate: an unoaked or lightly oaked Chardonnay such as Chablis

• With hollandaise or soft-boiled or poached eggs - Here the sauce or accompaniments begin to take over so go for a mature oaked Chardonnay (one in which the wood is well integrated but which is still fresh-tasting), traditional white Rioja or Champagne

• With goats cheese or prawns and salad - here’s where to drink Sauvignon Blanc, especially minerally Sauvignons from the Loire like Sancerre. The goats’ cheese accentuates rather than knocking out the asparagus flavours in the wine. English whites like Bacchus are also good.

• With grilled salmon - Semillon-Sauvignon blends, especially from Bordeaux or Western Australia generally work well

• With crab - a very dry Riesling, from e.g. Austria won’t overwhelm the crab

• With sautéed or fried chicken - Here asparagus is likely to be the vegetable so go for a wine that will match the chicken such as a light or moderately oaked Chardonnay

• Asparagus risotto - You’re matching the creamy risotto not just the asparagus. A crisp, fresh Italian white such as Pinot Grigio from the Alto Adige is the ideal option in my view or other dry Pinot Grigios

• Asparagus quiche - Alsace Pinot Blanc or Italian Pinot Bianco is a generally reliable choice with quiches. Alternatively go for a light, unoaked Chardonnay

• Chargrilled asparagus with mushrooms/roast asparagus with pancetta - Here’s where you can go for a light Loire red such as Bourgeuil or Saumur-Champigny, inexpensive red burgundy or other light, unoaked Pinot Noir

• In a stir fry - the sauce is likely to be the determining factor here. Assuming it’s something reasonably light to preserve the flavour of the asparagus I’d go for an off-dry Riesling from e.g. Germany

• White asparagus - Popular in central and southern Europe. My favourite pairing is young Grüner Veltliner, though others will go for dry Riesling or even dry Muscat (though the latter is not to everyone’s taste). Dry Spanish rosado is also good.

Image by Elena Veselova at shutterstock.com

The best food pairings for dry (or off-dry) riesling

It’s sometimes hard to predict what type of food will pair well with riesling because they’re all so different - some being bone dry, some ultra sweet, some positively floral, others zingy and citrussy.

But let’s concentrate on dry and off-dry rieslings in this post - the sort you’d have with starters and main course dishes - and focus on the sort of dishes and ingredients that tend to go with them best.

The good news is that there are a lot of them!

Good pairings with dry rieslings

Raw, cured and smoked fish

Particularly salmon and trout though any selection of smoked and/or cured fish should work well as you’ll see from this pairing for cured salmon. Also sushi, particularly with the slight touch of sugar you get in sushi rice (riesling is rarely bone dry)

Fresh or lightly dressed shellfish

In fact riesling is the perfect match for a prawn or seafood cocktail - especially with a Washington State riesling like the Kung Fu Girl riesling or, back in the day, the Bonny Down Pacific Rim riesling. In fact prawns (or shrimp) generally, with their slight touch of sweetness, are a good pairing for riesling as is fresh crab, particularly the white meat.

More surprisingly oysters and riesling can work well too, particularly when accompanied by other riesling-loving ingredients such as apple and pork.

Creamy sauces

You might think of a smoother, creamier white like chardonnay which certainly works but riesling offers more of a contrast. It’s a pairing they’re fond of in Alsace where you’ll find coq au riesling or riesling served with fish dishes with a creamy sauce.

Pork

Particularly fatty cuts like pork belly, better still if accompanied by some kind of apple* purée or sauce. And I love a glass of riesling (Alsace, again) with choucroute.

*Speaking of apple this match with an apple and smoked haddock salad was spot on

Lightly pickled veg

Which are appearing on restaurant menus all over the place right now. A good accompaniment to a riesling aperitif.

Goats cheese

Young riesling with young goats cheese but an aged riesling with a mature goat cheese is possibly even better.

Good pairings with off-dry or medium dry rieslings

photo Huahom from Pixabay

Just. Think. Spice.

So many spicy dishes work with an off-dry riesling - Thai, Vietnamese, even Indian. The hotter the dish the sweeter the riesling, basically.

Personally I find Australian and New Zealand rieslings pair really well with Asian food but try rieslings from other countries too.

Asian-style salads with coriander and lime go really well with limey Clare and Eden Valley rieslings as do Thai fish cakes

You’ll see I’ve often flagged up a good riesling pairing in my Match of the Week slot, for instance with

Thai beef salad

Crisp duck salad

Fish sauce chicken wings

Spicy noodles

Prawn laksa as in this German riesling food pairing

When it comes to Indian food I think street snacks work better than curries but I’ve drunk off-dry riesling right through an Indian meal with great success. And with a multi-course Chinese new year feast.

Goose

You may instinctively want a red (in which case check out this post on what to drink with goose) but a grand cru or spätlese riesling is a really spectacular pairing especially, as with pork, with an apple sauce or stuffing.

See also

Top food pairings with Clare and Eden Valley riesling

Asian food isn’t the only way into German riesling

Top pairings for dry and off-dry Alsace whites

Top image ©New Africa at Adobe Stock.