Which wine to drink with paella?

Paella, the iconic Spanish dish, pairs beautifully with a range of wines, but choosing between white, red, or rosé depends on the type of paella you’re enjoying and its key ingredients.

Recipes vary - and are much argued over - but traditionally the dish either includes chicken or rabbit or seafood like prawns, mussels or clams - not meat and seafood in the same dish.

Nowadays the idea of what goes into a paella is less strict though so here’s a guide to the wine pairings I think work best for different recipes whether they’re based on seafood (paella de mariscos), meat, a mixture of the two (paellal mixta) or vegetarian versions (paella de verduras). 

You’ll find that the wine you choose doesn’t need to be overly complex or expensive to complement paella perfectly. Instead, focus on wines with fresh, vibrant flavors that enhance the dish’s key ingredients without overwhelming them. Crisp whites, fruity rosés, and light-to-medium reds (and even sherry!) all have their place, depending on the style of paella being served. 

How paella’s serving style can influence the match

Paella is typically eaten at a relaxed sort of family gathering so I wouldn’t advocate anything too grand. 

A chilled dry rosé from Navarra or Rioja (one of the more traditional bottlings, not the more fruit driven rosés made in a New World style) generally hits the spot perfectly but there’s absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t drink an inexpensive red Rioja or other medium-bodied tempranillo or garnacha (grenache) or garnacha blends (again lightly chilled till cool rather than at room temperature). But I’d avoid ‘fruit-bombs’ or overly alcoholic, tannic reds.

Looking outside Spain, lighter reds and rosés from the neighbouring Languedoc-Roussillon would work well as would the new wave of characterful roussanne, marsanne and viognier-based Languedoc whites if white wine is your preference.

What I look for in a white with paella is an earthy richness rather than a sharp citrussy or floral character so I personally wouldn’t go for a sauvignon blanc or a riesling. (You’ll enjoy them more, I think, with simply prepared fried or grilled seafood on its own.)

Wine pairings for popular types of paella

Paella comes in many variations, each with its own unique set of ingredients and regional influences. Here are some of the most popular types of paella and the wines to go with them:

Paella Valenciana

Traditionally made with chicken, rabbit, and sometimes snails, along with green beans, white beans, tomatoes, rosemary, and saffron. This is the original paella from the Valencia region and often includes a mix of land-based proteins rather than seafood.

Wine pairing: A medium-bodied red wine like Tempranillo or Garnacha. 

Paella de Marisco (Seafood Paella)

This popular version focuses solely on seafood, such as prawns, mussels, clams, squid, and fish. It omits meat and relies on seafood stock to enrich the rice with a briny, oceanic flavour.

Wine pairing: A crisp, citrusy white wine like Albariño or Verdejo

Paella Mixta (Mixed Paella)

A fusion of meat (usually chicken or rabbit) and seafood, this type of paella also includes vegetables, making it a versatile and widely loved choice. It’s a more modern creation compared to the traditional styles.

Wine pairing: A versatile option like a dry rosé from Provence or a light, chilled red like a Mencía.

Paella de Verduras (Vegetable Paella)

This vegetarian version is packed with seasonal vegetables like artichokes, bell peppers, tomatoes, peas, and green beans. It’s often flavoured with herbs and spices but excludes meat and seafood.

Wine pairing: A light, herbaceous white wine such as a Verdejo or a Sauvignon Blanc.

Paella Negra (Black Paella or Arroz Negro)

Made with squid or cuttlefish and tinted with squid ink, which gives the dish its distinctive black colour. It has a rich, briny taste and is usually garnished with aioli for added flavour.

Wine pairing: A crisp, mineral-driven Albariño or a Godello from Galicia.

Paella de Mar y Montaña (Surf and Turf Paella)

Combines elements from both sea and land, such as chicken or pork with seafood like prawns or squid. It offers a mix of flavours and textures, blending the best of both worlds.

Wine pairing: A medium-bodied rosé, such as one from Navarra or a Garnacha rosé.

Paella de Bogavante (Lobster Paella)

A luxurious variation featuring lobster as the star ingredient, often paired with other seafood for a rich and indulgent meal.

Wine pairing: a fuller-bodied chardonnay always works well with lobster or try an oaked white rioja.

Image by EstudioWebDoce from Pixabay

The best wine matches for Comté

After a recent visit to the Jura I've rethought my ideas about which wines make the best wine pairings for Comté cheese.

We were guided through a tasting by flavour analyst Claire Perrot who suggested a couple of matches I wouldn’t have thought of - Champagne and Alsace Pinot Noir. And since then I've been back and tried a couple more (see my update below)

Comté is France’s most popular AOP (Appellation d’Origine Protégée) cheese by a significant margin selling about twice as much as its nearest rival Roquefort.

It’s a cooked pressed Gruyère style cheese which in fact used to be referred to as Gruyère de Comté. Individual wheels vary hugely though I found them in general more caramelly, nuttier and slightly less salty than Gruyère but less fruity than Beaufort though there will obviously be differences between winter and summer cheeses - summer cheeses being fuller-flavoured than winter ones.

The French tend to eat Comté fairly young which makes it an unchallenging partner to a wide range of wines including reds. Once it’s older, nuttier and more intense you may want to veer towards whites or some of the other suggestions below:

Local dry Arbois whites
The classic local terroir-based match. Most of the ones I tasted were a blend of Chardonnay and the local Savagnin grape which gives the wines a nutty, slightly earthy, mineral character which chimes in perfectly with the cheese. I suspect old Muscadet, which I've been tasting recently, would work well too.

Vin Jaune
Arbois’ distinctive sherry-style white is a fantastic match for 12-18 month Comtés. And on that basis so is ...

Dry(ish) sherry
Amontillado and palo cortado being the two wines recommended by the Comté website although since I’ve successfully paired dry oloroso with Gruyère I suspect it would work well with Comté too. (Sherry is more sympathetic to Comté than port, I think.)

Champagne
The big surprise. I tasted a biodynamic Champagne from Lassaigne, les Vignes de Montgueux, which was just delicious with a 15 month old winter Comté. Vintage Champagne I suspect would be fantastic with older Comtés still.

Aged or minerally Chardonnays
On the basis that Arbois wines containing Chardonnay work well others should too, particularly mature Chablis and other mature Chardonnays such as this one from Kistler that struck gold with a 56 month Comté. You wouldn’t want the oak influence to be too pronounced though.

Old white Bordeaux - an 18 year old Domaine de Chevalier Pessac-Léognan was stunning with both 2 and 4 year old Comtés at a tasting I did with affineur Bernard Antony a few years ago.

Alsace Pinot Noir
I really liked a 5 year old 2006 Schueller Pinot Noir with a fresh, milky six month old Comté but the local Poulsard grape works well too

Mature - and immature but not overoaked - Languedoc reds . . .
A surprise perhaps but I’ve drunk Languedoc Syrah - young and old - successfully with youngish Comté.

. . . and mature Spanish reds
I've had striking success with a 9 month old Comté and an 8 year old Navarra red from Chivite. Mature Rioja reservas and gran reservas of course, should work too.

So a number of different possibilities which indicates that Comté is a pretty easy-going cheese which earns its place on a cheeseboard. The common factor in the most successful pairings however seems to be age. Mature wines seem to work particularly well. The wines I’d hesitate to pair with it are high alcohol new world reds with a lot of jammy fruit and intensely herbaceous whites like New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc which I don’t think would work as well. I don’t think rosé does Comté many favours either.

September 2015. On my latest visit to Fort des Rousses I discovered two other really good pairings for a full-flavoured 3 year old Comté Juraflore: a 2002 vin de paille and a MacVin du Jura, a curious blend of savagnin juice and must and brandy which tastes like a cross between a dessert wine, a grappa and a whisky!

Image © bluesky6867

Alternative wine matches for lamb

The perfect match for lamb is red wine, right? Well, mostly but not always as Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's recipes in the Guardian this weekend and my own recent experience have demonstrated

I cooked a leg of lamb, Indian-style on Friday night, an adaptation of a Madhur Jaffrey recipe. It was smothered in a spicy yoghurt marinade and accompanied by side dishes of a dry cauliflower and potato curry and spiced green beans and proved a terrific match with a Chivite Gran Feudo rosado from Navarra.

With Hugh's Greek-inspired Braised Lamb with Stuffed Vine Leaves with garlic, lemon and mint I'd chose a sharply flavoured white for preference - an unoaked Assyrtiko or a citrussy Sauvignon Blanc from South Australia

With his Barbecued, Butterflied Leg of Lamb, admittedly I would revert to a red. The recipe contains a generous amount of Pomegranate Molasses which would give the dish an exotic sweet flavour that would best be matched by a fruity Cabernet Sauvignon from say, Coonawarra or Chile. Or a ripe New Zealand, Californian or Oregon Pinot Noir

But his Lamb Chops with Anchovies and Garlic could easily take a strong dry rosé again - I'd suggest the Gran Feudo again (which is currently 20% off in Oddbins) or a southern French rosé from the Rhone or Languedoc.

If you haven't already made the deduction the time to reach for a rosé or white is when lamb is marinated with something acidic like yoghurt or lemon juice both of which can make a full-bodied red taste over-jammy and too 'hot' for summer drinking.