A quick guide to wine pairings with a Sunday roast

For many of us Sunday roasts aren’t a weekly occurrence any more but that makes them even more of a treat - worthy of a good bottle of wine. But which should it be?

I’m assuming it’s served with the traditional British accompaniments, by the way - the sort of Sunday lunch you get in a pub.

The good news is that roasts are very forgiving so almost any red you enjoy tends to rub along. A couple of things to bear in mind if you want to raise the game is what kind of sauce or gravy you’re serving with the meat and the type of vegetables.

The more full-flavoured the accompaniments the riper and more full-bodied the wine needs to be (so think reds from the southern hemisphere and California rather than more traditional northerly parts of Europe).

Yorkshire pudding and roasties? They don’t make a huge difference winewise but what would a Sunday roast be without them?

Wine with roast beef

These days beef is generally served rare which calls for a red wine with some structure and tannin. My own choice would be a good red Bordeaux or similar Bordeaux blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and cabernet franc. Or cabernet or merlot on their own. Malbec and shiraz are always good with beef too

For more suggestions see Which Wine (or beer) to serve with roast beef

Wine with roast lamb

Depends a bit on the cut and what time of year you’re eating it (spring lamb is particularly delicious with pinot noir) but in general I’d go for a Rioja or Ribera del Duero or, again, a red Bordeaux or cabernet sauvignon. I like a good Chianti with roast lamb too.

For other ideas check out my top wine pairings for lamb

Wine with roast pork

I actually like cider with roast pork but wine-wise you can go white or red. Whites that work particularly well include chenin blanc and viognier while Rhône reds like Côtes du Rhône and similar grenache, syrah, mourvedre blends from the Languedoc and elsewhere in the world are a good red wine choice. Also, if you like Beaujolais, that’s great with pork!

See also six of the best pairings with roast pork

Wine with roast chicken

Again you can go white or red with roast chicken but bear in mind it’s a lighter meat so needs a less full-bodied, high alcohol wine. For me red burgundy or other pinot noir would be the ideal red wine choice while I’d go for a subtly oaked chardonnay if I was drinking white. Viognier is good with chicken too.

Try some of these other great matches for roast chicken

And not your average Sunday roast but if you’re looking for wines to serve with roast turkey you’ll find some suggestions here https://www.matchingfoodandwine.com/news/pairings/top-wines-to-drink-with-turkey/

Wine with a vegetarian Sunday roast

Often served with similar types of veggies and gravy to a meaty roast so many of the above suggestions will work equally well. Good all-rounders in my book are fruity pinot noirs (especially with mushrooms), Côtes du Rhône and Rioja. Both Merlot and malbec are pretty versatile too.

Here are my suggestions for the best wine pairings with a nut roast

Top picture by Magdanatka, roast chicken and vegetables by MShev, both at shutterstock.com

6 of the best Spanish wines to pair with tapas

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)

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

12 great wine pairings with salmon

Salmon is in many ways the chicken of the fish world - an ingredient you can serve in many different ways and therefore match with a number of different wines.

That said, it’s a rich fish, often served with cream or butter and therefore a natural candidate to pair with a medium-to-full-bodied white wine such as chardonnay.

But nowadays it’s often served raw or grilled which opens to the door to many other pairings including red wine. Read on for my suggestions with different salmon recipes.

12 favourite ways to serve salmon and the wines to pair with them

Raw salmon such as salmon sashimi or tartare

Try a crisp fresh white such as a gruner veltliner or a dry rosé - a surprisingly good match with salmon sashimi as I discovered here.

Salmon ceviche

As much about the zesty marinade as the fish itself. Torrontes from Argentina is a good pairing or - an unusual match but one I found worked well a while back - a Soave from Italy

Cold poached salmon with mayonnaise or a salmon terrine

Chablis is an incredibly reliable pairing for this kind of dish but other crisp dry whites like Pinot Grigio, Albarino, Sancerre or a crisp Chenin Blanc will match well too.

Warm salmon with a hollandaise or beurre blanc sauce

A classic salmon dish that matches well with a good quality oak-aged (but not too oaky) Chardonnay. White burgundy would be lovely. See also this pairing of salmon with leeks and chardonnay

Salmon en croute or fish pies with salmon

Again likely to be rich and creamy so Chardonnay should again hit the spot or try an old vine Chenin Blanc. See also this delicious recipe for salmon in pastry with currants and ginger.

Salmon en Papillote

Salmon en Papillote i.e. salmon fillets baked in parchment paper along with vegetables, herbs, and perhaps a splash of white wine. The steaming effect in the papillote results in richly flavoured dish, best suited to a buttery, oak-aged Chardonnay.

Salmon fishcakes or salmon hash

Chardonnay again (this is getting boring but it is the most reliable wine pairing with salmon!). But a sparkling wine like Cava - or even champagne - can be good too with salmon fishcakes. For more ideas see my post on best wines for fishcakes.

Seared or grilled salmon

Here’s where things get interesting. Because salmon is a meaty fish if you grill or char it you can pair it with a red. Pinot Noir is my favourite match but a Gamay would rub along happily too. If you prefer a white try a dry Pinot Gris.

Blackened or barbecued salmon

If you cook salmon with Cajun- or Creole-style spicing it can handle an even more robust red still. Try a Merlot

Salmon teriyaki or yakitori

A fruity Pinot Noir is also a good wine match with Japanese style dishes such as salmon teriyaki or yakitori. Sake or fino sherry would be a good pairing too.

Tandoori salmon

With Indian spicing I’d be inclined to go for a white such as a dry riesling or pinot gris rather than a red. See this recipe for yoghurt and spice roasted salmon for inspiration. Or read about this surprising fino sherry pairing.

Smoked Salmon

Champagne is the classic wine pairing for smoked salmon but I tend to prefer lighter, crisper whites like Sancerre or Chablis. Learn more in my top 10 drink pairings with smoked salmon.