Top pairings

What wine to pair with gazpacho

Posted by Fiona Beckett on June 19 2025 at 12:34

If there’s one dish more difficult to pair with wine than already tricky tomatoes it’s gazpacho, the chilled Spanish summer soup that includes raw onion and peppers as well. So what wine should you pair with it?

White rather than red I suggest and make it young, crisp and fresh without any oak influence.

Bear in mind that if you’re in the mood for gazpacho you’re in the mood for a refreshing drink

6 of the best wine pairings for gazpacho

Rueda or sauvignon blanc

Good Rueda (and I wouldn’t buy the cheapest one you can lay your hands on) is a great match with the same bright citrussy flavours as a sauvignon blanc which of course would work too. I suggest one of the more restrained styles such as Reuilly from the Loire rather than a full-on New Zealand sauvignon blanc

Albarino

Galicia’s elegant versatile white is always a good option

Picpoul de Pinet

As is Picpoul from the south of France (good value too)

Dry Italian whites

Always spring into life with food - anything from a good pinot grigio from the Alto Adige to a Falanghina, Pecorino or Greco di Tufo from the south

Manzanilla sherry

You might be surprised to find sherry so far down the list given it’s a go to match with soup but that’s because it’s unpredictable, depending on the sherry and the recipe. When it works it’s brilliant but it just might misfire. My favourite style would be well chilled manzanilla from a freshly opened bottle though with white gazpacho (ajo blanco) I would go for a fino - or even a dry moscatel.

Provence rosé - which is more like a dry white wine - is also a pretty good option if it’s not too fruity which generally would be the case.

And read about this surprise pairing with smoked vodka!

6 of the best Spanish wines to pair with tapas

Posted by Fiona Beckett on May 24 2025 at 10:36

It shouldn’t come as a massive surprise that Spain can provide any style of wine you might fancy to drink with tapas.

Which, if you’re not familiar with it, it’s the Spanish word for the assortment of nibbles you get in a Spanish-style bar.

Which one to choose depends of course on your own personal taste and on the type of food you’re serving.

Tapas can embrace everything from a few nuts and olives to more elaborate hot dishes such as mushrooms and meatballs but here are the six wines I think work best.

Sherry*

Being a sherry fan I was bound to put it at the top of the list but in my view you can’t beat a good, freshly opened, well-chilled fino with the basic tapas of almonds, olives, manchego (cheese) and jamon. (Especially jamon!) Though with hot tapas like chorizo, mushrooms and meatballs (albondigas) I’d choose an amontillado. Waitrose has got a particularly good range under the Solera label.

Cava

Spain’s sparkling wine has suffered a bit of a hit since consumers switched to prosecco to the extent that it’s now both under-priced and underrated. It’s also a really good match for fried tapas such as chipirones (squid) and croquetas.

Rosado

Rosado is the Spanish name for rosé. Most comes from Rioja and neighbouring Navarra and is generally stronger and deeper in colour than those from Provence, which means it can cope with big flavours like spicy chorizo and allioli. Another good all-rounder.

Rueda

If you like sauvignon blanc you’ll like Rueda - in fact that’s what it’s sometimes contains although it’s more often based on the local verdejo which tastes very similar. Not all are good - they can have a coarse, catty taste about them - but the best are deliciously fresh and zesty. (Beronia does a good one which is stocked by Waitrose)

Rioja

I’m not talking about aged rioja here but young vivacious joven and crianza riojas that haven’t spent much time in barrel. They’re cheaper than the more mature reservas and gran reservas too. A good option for meatier tapas and for winter drinking.

Mencia

Perhaps the only one of these wines you might not be familiar with. It comes from Bierzo and Ribeira Sacra in the north-west of Spain and has a similar fruity character to Beaujolais. A good quaffing red for summer drinking, it would be good with cecina (cured beef), jamon iberico or indeed anything porky. (If you like it you’ll probably enjoy Bobal too)

*If you’d like to know more about sherry pairings download my book 101 Great Ways to Enjoy Sherry

Top photo © marcin jucha at shutterstock.com

Which drinks pair best with Thai food? (updated)

Posted by Fiona Beckett on May 10 2025 at 18:53

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.

Thai grilled pork with orange wine

Witbier/bière blanche

If you’re going to drink beer with your Thai meal make it a witbier (bière blanche) such as Hoegaarden or Celis. Fragrant, citrussy and spicy it’s wonderfully refreshing with the heat and sourness of Thai food

Jasmine tea

As already noted, Thais wouldn’t traditionally drink tea throughout the meal but if you’re not drinking alcohol it can be a refreshing accompaniment. Alternatively serve it at the end.

Exotic fruit juices

With their intense sweetness most tropical fruit juices go well with Thai food especially those made from or including mango, papaya, passion fruit and lychee.

Wines that don’t pair easily with Thai food:

You will notice there aren’t any reds which I find really difficult with Thai food although chef David Thompson, author of the seminal Thai Food, holds that they do have a place at the table. “I like Pinot Noir, a light Shiraz, Côtes du Rhône, Grenache or an elegant sparkling red wine . . . but then I like these wines with almost any food” he writes. Light reds like Trousseau from the Jura can also work quite well.

Oaked whites such as barrel-aged Chardonnays can also struggle.

Top wine pairings with goat cheese (chèvre)

Posted by Fiona Beckett on April 1 2025 at 14:30

Since goats cheese and Sauvignon Blanc is such a great match it might seem redundant to think of anything else but despite its reputation for being . . . well . . . goaty, goats cheese is easy to pair with other wines.

Unless you’re slathering it on a cracker as a sneaky snack the chances are you’re going to be eating it with something else - in a salad with asparagus, say, with roast red peppers or beetroot or on a cheeseboard with other cheeses - unless you’re in Provence where they don’t seem to serve any other kind.

With all those dishes it helps to have a wine with some fresh acidity of its own so here are my suggestions:

Sauvignon Blanc - you know that already. Doesn’t matter hugely where it’s from though I personally think the white wines of the Loire like Sancerre, Pouilly Fumé and even Sauvignon de Touraine work especially well. (The classic pairing is a Sancerre and a Crottin de Chavignol.)

Wines that taste like Sauvignon Blanc so other citrussy whites such as Bacchus, Côtes de Gascogne, Rueda and other crisp whites such as Albarino, Alvarinho, Chablis, Picpoul de Pinet, Pinot Grigio and other unoaked Italian whites, dry Riesling, Gruner Veltliner . . . (See what I mean about it being versatile?)

Crisp dry rosé especially Provençal rosé. Provence-style rosé and goats cheese is a great pairing (think summer picnics!)

Fresh, fruity reds such as Beaujolais and other gamays, inexpensive red burgundy and Loire cabernet francs like Chinon, Saumur and Saumur-Champigny

So basically any wine - white, red or rosé - that’s young, fresh, unoaked and lightly chilled will go with goats cheese. Which makes it the perfect summer cheese.

PS If you’re a cheese aficionado you may be a fan of more mature goats’ cheeses in which case I would go for an aged white like a Chablis or a mature Alsace riesling too as you can see from this post.

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Photo by Nailia Schwarz at shutterstock.com.

6 of the best matches for fish and chips

Posted by Fiona Beckett on March 28 2025 at 10:36

Now that fish and chips can found in every posh fish restaurant, wine has become as popular a pairing as a nice mug of builders’ tea (good though that is). But which wine (or other drink for that matter)?

There are a few factors to consider—it’s not so much about the fish more about the condiments you serve with it. If you’re someone who insists on adding vinegar to your chips, it might steer you away from wine entirely.

And let’s consider the sides - mushy peas and tartare sauce could also inform your match.

Read on for my top 6 wine (and other) pairings for fish and chips:

* sparkling wine is always great with deep-fried foods

Champagne or a good bottle of English bubbly if you’re feeling extravagant, cava or crémant if you’re not. (Champagne’s wicked with fish fingers too!)

* a crisp Sauvignon Blanc is always a winner. So are similarly citrussy whites like Rueda, especially if you have a very sharp, punchy tartare sauce with your fish.

* smooth dry whites like unoaked Chardonnay (especially Chablis) or Chenin Blanc go particularly well if you’re serving your fish with mushy peas.

* dry perry - or cider - but I personally prefer perry (pear cider) with fish as it tastes more like a white wine. Sparkling perry is good too - on the same basis as Champagne.

*best bitter or pale ale - depending on what you call it. I’m not sure this isn’t the best pairing of all.

*black tea - with milk, of course. Another great British favourite.

Photo by Robert Anthony @shutterstock.com