Pairings | Southern French

Which wine to pair with a Moroccan tagine? (updated)

Posted by Fiona Beckett (Google+) on June 28 2025 at 11:49

Exotic and aromatic, Moroccan tagines somehow manage to suit all types of weather and not being particularly spicy are relatively simple to pair with wine.

There are of course different types of tagine which call for different styles of wine. Lamb tagines with quince or prunes generally suit a full-bodied red wine while chicken tagines with olives are better suited to crisp dry white wines or ‘gris de gris’ a pale style of rosé which is popular in Morocco.

But as with all wine pairings sometimes you can be surprised. The rise of orange wines has been a bit of a game changer - a style I increasingly turn to with lamb-based tagines.

Lamb tagines

Lamb tagines usually incorporate some kind of fruit, most commonly dried fruits like figs or prunes, which add a touch of sweetness that balances the spice.

I generally like lamb tagine with mellow aged reds like Rioja reservas or similar oak-aged Spanish reds, inexpensive southern Italian reds such as Nero d’Avola, Negroamaro and Aglianico, Lebanese reds or of course reds from Morocco itself which tend to include southern French grape varieties such as grenache, syrah and cinsault.

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