Whether it’s Thai curry, tandoori chicken, chile verde or hot wings, spicy food has won a special place in our hearts and dinner menus. Pairing wine with these fiery dishes can be tricky – the wrong choice can ruin our enjoyment of the wine, wiping out the unique flavors and aromas that made us choose it in the first place. Understanding the factors that make or break a pairing with spicy flavors can help ensure that the wine on our dinner table always enhances and flatters the food.
Conveniently, many different wines that pair well with spicy dishes – like Bonterra Sauvignon Blanc, Bonterra Rosé, and Bonterra Zinfandel – are also enormously versatile partners for other types of food! So if you started stockpiling these pairing superstars today, you’ll be ready for whatever your future dinners hold.
Factors to Consider When Pairing Wine with Spicy Food
There are a few key things we think about when choosing a wine to pair with spicy dishes: sweetness, acidity, tannins, and alcohol. Let’s take each one in turn.
- Sweetness: Just like the pineapple in a fiery red curry or al pastor taco, a wine with some sweetness helps to complete and harmonize the flavor experience with spicy food. The sensation of sweetness – ripe fruit flavors, and even some actual residual sugar in the wine – helps to soften and balance the burn of spiciness. (In our opinion, extra spicy food is actually one of the best pairings for dessert wines!)
- Acidity: Acidity plays a vital role in food pairing by refreshing the palate with its zesty energy. This is particularly important with spicy food, where the heat can cause our taste buds to shut down. Think about how delicious a squeeze of lime or lemon is with spicy food. Wines with significant acidity can have the same magical effect, waking up our palates to enjoy the rich flavors in our food – and our wine!
- Tannins: Whether a wine’s tannins come from the grape or the oak barrel, spicy food will bring them out and accentuate them – making them taste bitter and extremely drying. This effect can ruin our enjoyment of many robust red wines, or even white wines with a lot of oak influence. With spicy food, it’s best to choose wines with minimal tannins or none at all.
- Alcohol: In addition to tannins, spiciness also amplifies our perception of alcohol. Hot and spicy foods typically make high-octane wines taste “hot” – overly alcoholic and unbalanced. When you’re choosing a wine for spicy food, stick with wines that have only moderate levels of alcohol – under 14% ABV.
Best Wines for Spicy Food
Putting all those pieces together, here are our top recommendations for wines that shine with spicy food. Have you tried them all?
- Off-Dry Riesling: We love Riesling for its natural high acidity and aromatic complexity, and when it’s made in an off-dry style, it is absolutely phenomenal with spicy food. Try it with fiery Korean or southeast Asian dishes, or even spicy meals like fiery Southern BBQ.
- Gewürztraminer: Gewürz is the German word for spice, and this grape produces fragrant wines that are fabulous with spicy food! Look for styles that are a little sweet, and without too much alcohol (many are well over 14%) for the best pairing with heat. We particularly love Gewürztraminer with incendiary Indian or Mexican dishes, where the layers of complex spices in the food go toe-to-toe with the wine’s own aromatic spice box.
- Sparkling Wine: The high acidity and effervescent texture of sparkling wines make them a great choice with spicy dishes, refreshing and recharging the palate with every sip. A zesty, ever-so-slightly sweet sparkler makes a great pairing with appetizers like fiery chicken wings, jalapeño poppers, chorizo, or other spicy charcuterie.
- Rosé: A fruity, dry rosé is one of the most versatile food wines, and this style works well even with slightly spicy dishes. The fresh acidity and pleasant fruitiness stand up well to Mediterranean dishes with a bit of heat, like shakshuka, pizza with spicy toppings, or kebobs.
- Sauvignon Blanc: Crisp, citrusy Sauvignon Blanc is another champion food pairing wine, and one we love with gently spicy dishes – especially if fresh jalapeño is involved! The vibrant fruit aromas and refreshing acidity make it a standout with mildly spicy dishes like ceviche, tacos, gyros, or banh mi sandwiches.
- Zinfandel: This bold, fruity red wine is typically the perfect wine for hearty, spicy foods because of its soft tannins and rich fruit-forward character. Seek out the Zins with lower alcohol levels, which will also usually point you to higher acidity in these wines. If you’re having spicy barbecue, mole, enchiladas, or some other hearty meat with heat, Zinfandel is going to be a great choice.
Wine Pairing Tips for Different Types of Spicy Cuisine
- Asian Cuisines: Aromatic white wines like Riesling and Moscato are generally our favorite choices for spicy Asian dishes like Thai curries, ma po tofu, or Szechuan chicken. We always look for sweet or off-dry styles that have enough sweetness to stand up to the heat. The spicier the dish, the more sweetness we want. With more delicately spiced dishes, like tataki tuna with just a touch of heat, a fruit-forward Pinot Noir with good acidity could also be a great choice.
- Mexican Cuisine: With Mexico’s complex, spice-laden dishes, we find that fragrant, fruity whites and medium-bodied reds are great partners. Try a zesty Sauvignon Blanc with your nachos, tacos and ceviche, and a Gewürztraminer or Zinfandel with your guisados to complement the smoky, spicy flavors.
- Indian Cuisine: Aromatic whites like Gewürztraminer, Pinot Blanc, Riesling and Pinot Gris are wonderful with spicy Indian dishes like tandoori or biryani. We also like a slightly sweet sparkling wine with spicy chaat and fried specialties. The spicier the dish, the sweeter the wine should be for a balanced experience.
- Cajun and Creole Cuisine: With rich, hearty Cajun and Creole dishes like spicy jambalaya and gumbo, we recommend choosing a fruity Rosé, sparkling wine, or Zinfandel to complement the blend of herbs and spices. Choose wines with plenty of fruity sweetness, intensity, and refreshing acidity for the best pairing.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- High-Alcohol Wines: Spicy food amplifies our perception of alcohol. To avoid fanning the flames, we recommend choosing wines with less than 14% alcohol by volume. With spicy dishes, the lower the ABV, the better.
- “Dry” Wines: Sweetness is one of the most important characteristics for a successful spicy food pairing! Some dry wines taste sweeter than others, depending on how fruity they are. Still wines that are slightly sweet are often labeled “off-dry.” Confusingly, though, “dry” on the label of a sparkling wine refers to sweetness! An “Extra-Dry” sparkling wine means the wine is actually going to be very sweet. For spicy pairings, avoid sparkling wines labeled “Brut” or “Extra Brut” – those terms indicate very little sweetness.
- Intensity: As with all wine and food pairings, we have to think about intensity. If we are sitting down to a subtly seasoned dish with just a bit of spice, we don’t want a powerfully intense wine with it – the wine will dominate the food. A similarly delicate wine, like Bonterra Pinot Noir, would be a better choice there. Likewise, an intensely seasoned dish like a Thai coconut curry will overpower a wine with delicate flavors and texture. Try to match wines and foods with similar intensity.
Pairing spicy food with wine will never be a disaster as long as you remember the basics: yes to sweetness and acidity, and no to high alcohol and big tannins.
We hope you’ll start experimenting to see what works best with your favorite fiery dishes, and share what you find on social media! The world is full of incredible spicy dishes, and wonderful wines to pair them with. We’d love to hear what you come up with, and build community around enjoying wine with boldly flavored cuisine!
Explore Wines for Spicy Food with Bonterra
Pairing the right wine with spicy food can elevate your dining experience, and Bonterra wines are the perfect companion for your boldest dishes. Whether you’re enjoying a vibrant Sauvignon Blanc or a rich Zinfandel, Bonterra offers the ideal wine for spicy food that complements and enhances the flavors of your meal. Explore the options from our organic winery when you order wine online with Bonterra.Join our wine club for access to exclusive releases and wine deliveries right to your door. Explore our full range of wines at Bonterra and discover the perfect wine to pair with your favorite spicy dishes. Cheers to flavorful food and even better wine pairings!
