Wine with curry - our tips for pairing wine with curry
When you are planning to make or buy a curry, do you often ask yourself, ‘what drink do I serve with it?’ - and then default to a cold beer?
A cold refreshing beer is a great option to pair with a curry, but if you find yourself fancying a wine but not being sure what would work, then you’re not alone! We’ve pulled together a few of our top picks along with some useful tips to help you have the confidence to serve a wine with your next curry, knowing it should work well!
In the UK, we love our curries, especially as the weather turns colder! So let’s not rule out pairing them with wine just because we’re not sure they’ll work! If you choose the right wine it can be a marriage made in heaven, helping to further enhance those spectacular curry and spice flavours!
What to consider when pairing wine with curry
There are some basic principles to firstly consider which will influence your choice of wine pairing.
In general, what you are looking for in a drink partner for curry is something which provides a refreshing contrast to the heat of the spices - which is why a cold beer works so well! Here are two qualities in wine which can help provide that contrast:
Acidity:
A wine’s acidity makes your tongue tingle and your mouth water - the more acidity in the wine the more it will create freshness and help to combat the fierceness of the spices
Sweetness:
A touch of sugar and sweetness helps to act as a barrier to the heat and calm things down in your mouth. The heat also reduces the impact of the sweetness in the wine
On the flip side there are two qualities in wine which can enhance the impact of the hot spices, rather than provide a contrast - but this is something you may be looking for (see later):
Alcohol:
The more alcohol in the wine, the more it will serve to emphasise the impact of the spices
Tannins:
Tannins in red wine can actually create an imbalance in a curry - with the spices but also with tomatoes and onions. They also emphasise the fierceness of the spices.
So with the chemistry bit covered, in order to select a wine choice, you need to consider what type of ‘curry’ sauce you are pairing with and how you wish to manage the impact of the sauce’s heat.
With a curry dish it’s the type of sauce that influences your choice of drink to pair with your meal, more so than whether it’s a fish, white meat, red meat or vegetable curry.
Where is the curry on the scale of mild to fiery and which role do you want the wine to play?
Do you need it to cool the curry down and take some of the heat out of it - or do you want your chosen wine to enhance the effect of the hot spices and heat it up further?
Here are some examples of curry types and our tips and recommendations:
For a spicy Indian curry:
Common spices in an Indian curry sauce include red chilli, coriander, cardamon, cinnamon, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, peppercorn, fenugreek - and the base of the sauce is often tomato, onion, ginger and garlic.
Photo by Ratul Ghosh on Unsplash
A mild curry:
It’s easier to match a wine with a milder curry compared to a very hot curry.
In terms of white wine, look for aromatic grape varieties such as Gewürztraminer, Grüner Veltliner or silvaner/sylvaner. If you want to boost the heat in a milder Indian curry, look for a bigger, fuller-bodied white wine with more alcohol and perhaps a bit of oak, maybe a Pinot gris or a Chardonnay.
A strong fruity rosé would also work well, but not a delicate, summer rosé, go for one from Spain or Portugal (not Provence).
In terms of a red wine, look for a fruity, juicy low-tannin red and one with good acidity which would work well with the tomatoes - maybe a French Grenache or a Gamay (Beaujolais). Or a light, Italian Valpolicella. A New World Pinot Noir can also work, but without exposure to oak.
A fiery hot curry:
If you want to calm down the heat of the curry, then you need to go for a wine with high acidity, moderate alcohol and very low or no tannins - or with some sweetness.
Our top white wine tip for cooling down the hot spices is an off-dry or lightly sweet German Riesling. Look for lightly sweet German ‘kabinett’ or ‘spätlese’ styles (see here for more information on German wine styles). With low alcohol and high acidity, combined with the slight sweetness, makes these wines a supreme match with a red hot curry. Another good option is an off-dry Chenin Blanc, which has lots of texture and fruit.
Ripe, fruity red wines can work with a hot curry - especially with meat curries, but you need to keep the alcohol, tannins and oak down! Try a smooth and fruity Rioja crianza, or perhaps a Grenache? If Shiraz is your go-to red wine, this could work - but again, keep the alcohol and oak levels lower.
A Thai or Malay curry:
Thai or Malay curries tend to be milder and more fragrant than the Indian curries, with the addition of spices like lemongrass, more chilli and also coconut.
If you like floral, fragrant, aromatic wines, try a Gewürztraminer with this style of curry. Again, off-dry Rieslings are superb with chilli and coconut flavoured sauces, the slight sweetness making your palate and your taste-buds zing!
Creamy sauces:
Many curries have creamy sauces, which reduces the heat and the impact of the tomatoes, onions and spices.
We would advise a fuller-bodied white wine which can cut through the richness and creaminess, as well as manage the spices. Try a rich, dry white, for example a fruity, unoaked or lightly oaked Chardonnay or a Viognier - or once again an off-dry or lightly sweet Riesling - from Germany, Austria, Australia or New Zealand.
Conclusion
We hope this helps you next time you plan to serve a curry and don’t want to just turn to a cold beer! However this also works perfectly in our book!
Remember these important principles and you can’t go wrong. If the idea of a slightly sweet wine turns you off, we encourage you to give it a try. If it’s light, lower in alcohol and served well-chilled it can provide the most delicious food-wine combination - give it a go and see for yourself!
