One of the great pleasures of drinking wine is matching it with equally mouth-watering food.
Traditionally, red wine with meat and white with fish are no longer flexible enough to accommodate the multi-cultural taste influences that modern cuisine reflects. Common sense dictates that every wine experience should start with taste. When pairing food and wine, you should keep in mind that you are trying to find balance and harmony – balance between flavours, textures, intensity and taste. To increase your chances of a successful match, consider how the food was prepared, seasoned, the texture and also any accompaniments. Food and wine has its own flavour and texture, so too does every palate. So please use this tool as a guide only. There are no hard and fast rules, rights or wrongs. Just experiment to find your matching ideas.
Asparagus
Asparagus soup stirs a longing for Sauvignon Blanc, or softly fruity Unoaked or lightly Oaked Chardonnay. Wines with citrus, grass and mineral character and crisp acidity make the most of asparagus dishes, so trust your spring spears with these recommendations.
Carrot & Corriander
Serve Riesling – simple or top dollar, and likewise Semillon or mabye Gewurztraminer. A dry fortified wine will entice even the discerning gentleman.
Mushroom
An earthy, rich mushroom soup is delicious with a light tannin Pinot Noir, If it’s creamy stick too not so fruity whites, better still try a fresh Unoaked Chardonnay.
Asparagus
Asparagus soup stirs a longing for Sauvignon Blanc, or softly fruity Unoaked or lightly Oaked Chardonnay. Wines with citrus, grass and mineral character and crisp acidity make the most of asparagus dishes, so trust your spring spears with these recommendations.
Onion
Enjoy unoaked white wines, that have a touch of bitter sweet fruit, to balance the sweet onion flavour. A bit of Ying and Yang.
Sun-dried Tomato
Fresh, vibrant zingy Sauvignon Blancs or Sauvignons that have a dominant element of the latter, as they cope very well with the acidity of the tomato.
Chowder
For the chowder is not a subtle soup. There are as many variations of chowder as there are cooks who make them, but one thing they all should have in common is a hearty and robust flavour. We therefore suggest a voluptuous full bodied Chardonnay which pairs well with the richness. Or a medium dry style fortified will go well with the richness of this soup.
Chicken
Amazing, fill-your-house-with-an-aroma-to-drool-for, chicken soup. Any simple not to fruity white. Three grape blends will serve well here. Including Sparkling wine.
Consomme
Refined and delicate, a dry ‘ Fino Style ‘ wine is preferred here for a perfect match for consomme.
Potato & Leek
A creamy, fairly run of the mill soup that is flattered by Semillon, Oaked/Unoaked Chardonnay, or simple dry white blends. An interesting alternative is a dry fortified style of wine that will bring some passion to this bland soup.
Fish
A fish soup that focuses on tasty bites of fresh fish or seafood in a pale liquid is best flattered by a simple but not to extravagent Chardonnay, Rose or sparkling wine. For a powerful, dark soup, choose richer wines to match such as an elegant bottle aged Chardonnay or Riesling. For an interesting alternative try a Dry Fortified style of wine with a good tang of acidity.
Vegetable
Sauvignon Blanc, sparkling wine or simple dry white blends are suited to lighter sytles of vegetable soups, whilst heartier soups deserve Chardonnay and dry fortified style of wines or maybe a lighter style of Pinot Noir will suffice.
Chilli
Chardonnays are well suited with milder chilli soups, whilst heartier soups with a little more oomph, will need reds such as Cabernet, Syrah, Zinfandel, Malbec, they all impress with their harmony, balance, and structure. At the same time, though, muscular ones don’t necessarily do all that well. Harmony, not power, turns out to be the most important factor.
Butternut Squash
White wines with lively fruit and acidity and little to no oak are versatile. With it’s aromas and flavors of citrus, apple and pear and zippy acidity plus herbal notes. Sauvignon Blanc pairs with everything and Gewurztraminer has a spicy character that sets it up for butternut-squash soup.
Chinese
Simple dry whites, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling are suited to lighter styles of Chinese soups, whilst heartier soups such as Chicken Noodle soup deserve wines like Chablis and Sancerre to take the edge off the richness.