Top pairings
What wine to pair with hummus
If you’re wondering what wine to pair with hummus or houmous you need to take account of the fact that it’s rarely served on its own.
It’s a regular part of Greek and middle-eastern appetizers that may include other dips like taramasalata or muhammara, stuffed vine leaves, olives or pickled chillies.
That said, the combination of chickpeas, tahini and garlic is particularly wine-friendly though there are flavour variations that may push you in a particular direction with your pairing
Here are the four types of wine I think go with it best.
Dry rosés
Probably my all-round favourite pairing. A pale dry rosé from Provence or elsewhere in southern France, for preference - you don’t want one that’s too sweet or fruity. For me pinot noir rosés are just too aromatic.
Crisp dry white wines
Such as Greek assyrtiko, Spanish albariño, Portuguese alvarinho or French Picpoul de Pinet. Again, a dry refreshing white rather than an overly fruity or oaky one. (I’d be less inclined to drink a chardonnay or a New Zealand sauvignon blanc for example). White wines are particularly good with hummus that’s flavoured with coriander.
Light, quaffable fruity reds
From anywhere around the Mediterranean (the Lebanon has some good examples) Or a cinsault. I particularly like reds with red pepper hummus. Watch the alcohol though - I personally think 14.5% reds are a bit heavy with mezze
Amber or orange wines
Hummus really is a great pairing for orange or amber wines, especially when combined with lamb or aubergines as you can see from this recent post. In fact if you’re not into orange wines, hummus may be the key to get you started. But classic hummus rather than flavoured hummus I’d suggest.
Image by Ajale from Pixabay
The best food pairings for orange wines
More and more people have been drinking orange or amber wine but what’s the best kind of food to pair with it? In this post, I’ll guide you through the best food pairings for orange wines, drawn from my own experiences and tastings.
What is Orange Wine?
Orange wines, as you may know, are made from grapes that normally produce white wine but get their distinctive colour from leaving the juice in contact with the skins in the same way you do with a red. The flavour depends mainly on how aromatic the grape variety is in the first place (pinot gris and malvasia both make a fragrant style of orange wine, for example) and how long the juice remains in contact with the skins: the longer the darker, more tannic and more intense it will be.
There’s often a flavour of quince about an orange wine which to me makes them a natural match for eastern Mediterranean and middle-eastern, especially Georgian, food. (Many of them are, of course, produced in Georgia.)
Here are the ingredients and types of dishes I think pair with orange wine best - many of which often appear in conjunction with each other.
Foods that pair well with orange wines
Lamb
The number one meat with orange wine. Spicy slow-cooked shoulder, kebabs, lamb (and mutton) tagines and biryanis. Goat runs it a close second. Even better if it’s combined with one of the ingredients below.
Aubergine
Think roast aubergine, grilled aubergine, any kind of smoky aubergine like baba ghanoush. Especially in combination
with . . .
Walnuts which really need a category of their own though this aubergine and walnut dish may be the perfect orange wine pairing
Tahini
Another ingredient that is often combined with lamb as in these amazing koftas from Sami Tamimi’s latest book Falastin. And hummus obviously
More savoury than fishy and deeply umami and on those grounds perfect with orange wine.
Roast and/or caramelised veg
Especially root vegetables like Jerusalem artichokes and celeriac. Also think of serving orange wine with a whole roast cauliflower or with caramelised endives
Nutty grains like farro, freekeh and bulgar (cracked wheat). It’s good with whole-wheat couscous too.
Hard - and semi-hard - sheeps cheese
So good with manchego and similar hard sheep cheeses but also with grilled halloumi and a salty sheep cheese like feta.
See also this account of an orange wine dinner from sommelier Donald Edwards.
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