Curry Conundrum

I’m as guilty as the next person of defaulting to a pint of ice cold lager when I have a curry. The major problem with trying to match wine with curry is that there are normally so many different dishes with different spices and heat levels that no one wine is going to work with everything.

 However, if you’re fed up with your usual Cobra, here are my top tips for finding the most successful wine match for your Friday night Indian feast:

 

photo courtesy of http://www.lovefood.com

1. Avoid dry, tannic red wines, eg Bordeaux (Claret), Barolo, Burgundy, etc

Basically, I’d actually say avoid European reds as the vast majority are far too dry and will taste bitter when paired up with spicy food

 

2. Avoid oaky white wines eg Australian Chardonnay, white Burgundy, etc

Chardonnay itself is not the problem here, so feel free to buy a Chablis or another Chardonnay that specifies that it is “unoaked” as they can be wonderfully fruity and refreshing. But oak flavours just don’t seem to compliment spicy food. The one exception could be  with a very mild korma or butter chicken, but otherwise steer clear

 

3. For those of you who like HOT curries, stick to Riesling

The spicier your food gets, the more  a wine struggles. Riesling, and more specifically the German varieties, are a perfect match for spicy curries as they are beautifully aromatic (so can stand up to all the aromatics in the food) and the sugar in them really refreshes your palate. Think of it as the alcoholic substitute for a mango lassi

 

4. FRUITINESS IS KEY!

This kind of cuisine is big on flavour so you need wines which are big on fruit and aromatics. So for white wines, it’s best to go with New World Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier or Pinot Gris as they can all stand up to ginger, coriander, cardamom and other such vibrant spices. Gewurztraminer often gets mentioned as the perfect match for curry but I’m not an enormous fan as I find it a bit too perfumed (and I know I’m not alone in this).  

 For red wines, go for Chilean Merlot or Carmenere, or Californian Zinfandel. All are super ripe and will work well with tomato-based, more meat-heavy dishes such as lamb rogan josh.

 

If you really want to try out some interesting wine matches, I would highly recommend you visit Trishna restaurant in Marylebone. Their Michelin-starred Indian cuisine comes accompanied with an epic wine list that has been handpicked by their sommelier to match all the wonderful spices.  

 

Happy Swigging!