Wine Pairing Help for a Newbie

As a relative wine newbie, I always have a hard time finding a good wine-food match (outside the obvious, cabernet sauvignon w/ steak, etc.

I am having my inlaws over tonight & we are preparing a Indian Spiced Grilled Chicken topped w/ a tomato chutney. We have made it once before & it is not overly spicy (lots of curry & cumin flavors), but I am not sure what to pair it with. Any help would be greatly appreciated...

Welcome to our little home away from home. A good Riesling or Gewurtztraminer sounds like a match. Then again, there's Champagne. Let us know what you decide on and how it worked out.

Thanks, I definitely will. Love the site....

Welcome!

People here are really friendly and have a huge knowledge base. You'll love being among them!

Another vote for either a Riesling or Gewurtztraminer. Howie is not often even slightly wrong.

Here I gave a formula for what works with me and spicy dishes. Disagreements abound of course, but I will still stick to my formula!

Though very popular with others, I'm not too keen on Gewurz as the alcohol levels tend to be rather high and the acidity low. IMO, only the sweetness aspects is fire-friendly! Tastes do vary, so I hope you will experiment to see what you like.

-O-

Howie,

Thanks for your help. I went with a Seifried Nelson 2005 Gewürztraminer (New Zealand). It was on sale from $17 down to $13. The pairing worked very nicely. This was actually my first time drinking Gewürztraminer, and I must say that I really enjoyed it (as did my wife & her parents). It had nice fruit (maybe guava) and just enough sweetness. I will say that the chicken was a little spicier than the last time we made it. I'm not sure it this was a result of the higher alcohol levels (13%) or the fact that we doubled the curry, cumin, coriander & pepper. Probably both. Thanks again for your help. My in-laws were raving about the "Holland Catering Service" all night.

Thanks,
Tim

Glad things worked out. Try a Gewurtz from Alsace next time.

Well I used to drink a Gewrz with curry. Nice and fruity. But halfway through the second glass I find it just that bit sickly.

My regular wine to drink with a curry used to be Torres' Vina Esmeralda which is a Muscat / Gewurz blend.

I thought this needed "cutting" a bit.

I had some Muscadet handy.

(look away now)

I added some Muscadet to the Esmeralda. Much nicer and fresher.

(keep looking away)

I then added a Cava to the Esmeralda.

Just right refreshing blend of fruit and acidity and bubbles.

So I produced a range of Charmat second fermented semi-sparkling wines.

Crisp very dry White for mild curries - macabeo, parellada, xarello (cava mix)

Fruity quite dry rose for medium curries - garnacha and tempranillo

Aromatic off dry gold for hot curries - Muscat and Cava Mix.

Basic formula is REFRESHING

beer cold

naturally semi-sparkling - borrowing from the beer and curry concept but too much gas is unpleasant and bloating. Also beer has gas injected and so larger bubbles.

good mouth watering acidity - think lemons

no mouth drying tannins (so no reds at the moment but I am working on it)

no oak (bitterness with cumin and coriander and ginger I find)

moderate alcohol at about 12%. too much alcohol leads to buning and too little lacks body.

Sweetness rising with chilli heat. Try something sweet after eating a chilli and see the negating effect.

So in summary I go for Yin & Yang. Contrasting the hot Indian, Thai or Mexican dish with something refreshing.

(keep looking away)

when can I look again?