Which wine pairs best with salad?

Asking which wine to pair with salad is a bit like asking about what wine to match with meat or fish. There’s no single answer. It depends on the vegetables you use, what other ingredients it contains and what type of dressing you use.

That said, salad is normally a light dish so a full-bodied wine - white or red - is almost certainly going to overwhelm it. Unless you’re talking about steak and salad in which case it’s a question of matching the steak not the leaves. Or salads for a barbecue when the marinades used for the meat will probably have more of an impact than the dressings.

The problem ingredient in salads is vinegar which can throw wines off balance, accentuating the tannins in serious reds and making whites seem excessively sweet. You can get round this by including a bit of cream in the dressing or whisking in some meat juices, especially the juice from a roasted chicken. Rice and cider vinegar are also less harsh than wine vinegar

Other tricky ingredients are raw onion or garlic, best dealt with, I find, by pairing them with dry whites or rosés that have a high level of acidity.

Wines that have an overtly fruity character tend to match well with salad especially if it contains fruit such as peach or apricot (try a fruity Chardonnay, Colombard or Viognier) or cherries (good with a fruity red such as a Gamay or Pinot Noir)

If there’s more than one salad on the table good all-rounders are fruity whites such as Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc and fruity rosés

Wine pairings for 10 popular salads

Chicken caesar salad
Reasonably easy so long as it doesn’t have too much of an anchovy kick. A lightly oaked Chardonnay is a good match, a slightly fuller-bodied one if the chicken is chargrilled. Oaked Sauvignon Blanc and dry rosé also work well

Greek salad
Here the dominant ingredients are feta and olives which tend to work best with a citrussy white. Sauvignon Blanc - or Rueda - is fine but why not try a Greek Assyrtiko?

Salade Niçoise
The locals would drink dry Provençal rosé and I can’t think of a better match. Although Cotes du Rhône rosés are quite a bit cheaper.

Spinach and bacon salad with blue cheese dressing
Ah. Blue cheese dressing. Very tricky! I’d personally go for a soft red like a medium-bodied Merlot but you could equally well drink a white. What’s needed I think is a slight touch of sweetness - a German Kabinett Riesling should fit the bill. Or an off-dry one from New Zealand or Washington State

Goats cheese salad with asparagus or beetroot
Goats cheese overrides all other ingredients when it comes to salads, even powerfully flavoured ones like asparagus and beetroot. Sauvignon Blanc is the classic match and hard to better, I find.

Warm pigeon, duck or chicken liver salad
Once you introduce meat into a salad I reckon you’re better off to think in terms of reds than whites. Pinot Noir is the obvious pairing but Loire reds and other light-bodied reds from e.g. south-west France work well too.

Thai beef salad and other Asian salads
Great with Australian riesling as you can see from these matches of the week here and here. Gruner Veltliner is another good pairing

Seafood, prawn or shrimp salad, crab salad
Perhaps depend more than any other salad on the dressing. If the salad is built round some super-fresh shellfish like crab or prawns (shrimp) I’d go for a crisp minerally white like a Sancerre, Albarino, Picpoul de Pinet or Italian whites such as Pecorino and good quality Pinot Grigio. If you’re using a 1000 island dressing off-dry riesling should see you through. For tomato-based dressings see below.

Tomato-based salads
Raw tomatoes are supposed to pose problems for wine, tomato salad even more so though I’ve never found it much of a problem. Dry rosé, crisp whites and Sauvignon Blanc generally hit the spot though I generally go for an Italian white like a Verdicchio with a tomato, mozzarella and basil salad or pappa al pomodoro

Pasta salads
More often than not these are dressed with mayonnaise and are therefore quite mild in taste. I’d go for a smooth dry white like a Soave, Gavi, unoaked Chardonnay or Chenin Blanc

And here are five more:

Crisp duck salad with Fielding estate riesling

Layered tomato and egg salad with Verdejo

Pork, chilli, coconut and gapi salad with Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc

Rocket and parmesan salad with dry amontillado sherry

Smoked duck and blood orange salad with Chilean gewurztraminer

And don’t forget, beer and cider pair well with salad too, sometimes better than wine!

My top wine pairings with strawberries

I’m sure you’re enjoying a bowlful or two of strawberries at this time of year. But what to drink with them?

The classic pairing of champagne is to my mind too dry unless the champagne is rosé or demi-sec but there are plenty of other possibilities depending on how you serve your berries and how sweet the dessert is overall.

If the dessert includes meringue, pastry or shortbread you’ll need a sweeter wine than if you’re serving the strawberries on their own or with pouring cream.

Unsweetened strawberries or served plain with a little sugar

Perfectly ripe berries, especially wild strawberries can be delicious with an off-dry sparkling wine such as Moscato d’Asti, Asti, Clairette de Die or even a sparkling white zinfandel or Australian sparkling rosé like Jacob’s Creek.

You could also serve them the French or Italian way macerated in a light red wine such as Beaujolais with a little sugar - a (reasonably) healthy alternative to cream!

Strawberries and cream

The perfect foil for a classic dessert wine such as Sauternes or (more economically) Monbazillac from just outside the Bordeaux region. Alternatively if you don’t want to serve wine you could choose a contrasting but complementary well-chilled fruit juice such as passionfruit or mango.

Light airy strawberry desserts such as mousses, soufflés or gâteaux

A demi-sec (sweet) champagne would be the traditional choice but pink prosecco with its touch of sweetness would work too

Strawberry tarts or shortcakes

The additional sweetness you get from the pastry or shortbread means your wine needs to be sweeter. Sauternes or similar wines from the Bordeaux region will probably work but I’d be inclined to go for a luscious new world botrytised or late harvest semillon or sauvignon. Sweet wines from the Loire such as Coteaux du Layon can also work well

See these Ultimate Strawberry Tartlets.

Strawberries with meringue such as a pavlova, sundae or Eton Mess

Light and airy but typically sweeter than a gateau. A sweet wine with good acidity such as a late harvest or Beerenauslese riesling can be good or try a strawberry or raspberry liqueur topped up with champagne (like a kir royale or strawberry or raspberry bellini)

Strawberry cheesecake

I really enjoy fruit flavoured beers with the rich but slightly savoury flavour of cheesecake and a strawberry beer such as the Belgian Fruli is quite perfect. It would also be a good choice if you served strawberries with mascarpone. (If you can’t get hold of a strawberry beer try a cherry or raspberry-flavoured one)

Try this snack of crackers spread with cream cheese and topped with strawberries with white zinfandel.

Strawberries dipped in chocolate

If strawberries are served with or dipped in chocolate you need to take account of the flavour of the chocolate too. With milk chocolate I’d go for a sweet red like the Italian Brachetto d’Aqui, with dark chocolate maybe a richer red like a Recioto della Valpolicella.

Strawberries with orange

Strawberries and orange have a surprising affinity but will tend to strip out the fruit flavours in any accompanying dessert wine. Try a frozen shot of Cointreau or a small glass of Pimms No 1 Cup, made slightly stronger than usual.

Strawberry ice creams and sorbets

Matching wine to ice cream can be tricky unless there are other elements to the dessert and you are simply serving a scoop in place of cream. I quite like to serve a chilled liqueur that will pick out the fruit flavours such as a delicate, strawberry-flavoured ratafia di fragola.

Since I first wrote this article a couple of years ago there’s a new generation of pink moscatos and other sparkling reds and rosés which would work really well too. See these suggestions in my Guardian column

Top image by HomeMaker on Pixabay

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