Pairings | Grilled chicken with herbs

What wine goes best with chicken - red or white?

Posted by Fiona Beckett (Google+) on October 16 2020 at 08:15

Good news! The best wine with chicken can be either red or white - it depends on your own personal taste and the way it’s cooked.

That said, chicken is a light meat, it won’t surprise you to learn that white wine is generally a more flexible match with smooth dry whites like chardonnay happily partnering a great many chicken dishes. But there are recipes I’d definitely pair with a red . . .

White wine pairings with chicken

Go for a lightly oaked Chardonnay or other smooth dry white like oaked Chenin Blanc or Viognier with:

Chicken in a creamy sauce, such as chicken alfredo or creamy chicken pies
Creamy or cheesy chicken pasta dishes like chicken tetrazzini
Chicken caesar salad or other chicken salads with a creamy dressing
Mild chicken curries like kormas

Aromatic white wines like medium-dry Riesling and Pinot Gris match well with spicy chicken dishes such as

Thai green chicken curry
Stir-fries with chicken
Sweet and sour chicken
Chicken tikka masala
Asian-style chicken noodle dishes

chicken curry with an aromatic white wine

A crisp dry white like a Pinot Grigio, Picpoul or Sauvignon Blanc is good with

Fried chicken dishes or Mexican-style dishes with guac and sour cream like chicken enchiladas or chicken fajitas

Red wine pairings with chicken

With tomato- and pepper-based sauces - try a medium-bodied southern French or Spanish red like a Côtes du Roussillon - or a Merlot
Chicken with a barbeque sauce can take a more full-bodied red with a touch of sweetness like a Shiraz, Grenache or Zinfandel. (Not too big or oaky though. Chicken isn't steak!)
With chicken in a red wine sauce like coq au vin drink a similar wine to the one you use for the recipe. Burgundy is traditional but I’d probably go for a red from the Rhône or Languedoc
dishes made from chicken livers like a chicken liver paté - light fruity reds work well with these
And rich chicken dishes like chicken marsala can take a full-bodied red wine like an aglianico

coq au vin with red wine

Four favourite wine matches for coq au vin

When either red or white wine pairings would do

Simply roast chicken. Either an oaked Chardonnay or a Pinot Noir will be great but if you've got a dark savoury gravy with it I’d go for a medium-bodied red like a Côtes du Rhône.
Grilled chicken with herbs or lemon chicken. You could go for a crisp dry white as above or a light red such as a Beaujolais or other gamay
With a Moroccan-style tagine with preserved lemon. You'd think white wine but an aged red like a rioja can work surprisingly well as you can see here

There are, of course, many other possibilities - fruity rosés also work well with spicy chicken dishes and Spanish-style chicken dishes with rice, sparkling wines with fried chicken and chicken kiev and cider is generally a great all-rounder but if you want to keep it simple, this is a start!

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Photo credits: grilled chicken (top) ©gkrphoto, chicken curry ©voltan, coq au vin ©HLphoto, all at Fotolia.com

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