11 Best Food And Wine Pairings For Winter

Indulging in an endless quest for comfort food and day drinking is never more enticing than during the winter. It’s the perfect time to bring out your inner chef and warm your tummy with delectable food-and-wine pairings.

Refining your palate for good food and wine can involve a lot of guesswork, however. To save you the trouble, we’ve listed pairings that might tickle your taste buds.

1. Beef Cheek Ragu And Malbec

A wholesome meal of beef cheek ragu tops the belly-warming food chart. With a side of pasta, beef cheek ragu is a full-option meal with intrinsic flavours and a generous quantity of meat. A chilled glass of Malbec, Merlot, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, or other strong red wine brands is ideal for the ragu sauce.

2. Baked Ham And Chilean Merlot

A hot plate of well-glazed ham never looks yummier than on a cold winter night. Pair it with Chilean Merlot, and you are all set for a cosy and dreamy evening. Wine pairings that would also do justice to a sumptuous plate of baked ham and veggies are Chenin Blanc or Beaujolais.

3. Roast Turkey And Chardonnay

Cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, potato casserole, and other Thanksgiving meals are incomplete without a healthy turkey platter, which will go well with Chardonnay.

4. Cheese And Red And White Wines

Wine tasting tops the list of activities many enjoy during the cold months. However, no respectable host will have friends over for wine tasting without a cheese platter. Cheddar, Colby, Edam, Parmesan, Gouda, Roquefort, Muenster, Swiss, and Brie cheeses are popular pairings with wine. However, the varying compositions of cheeses make wine pairing a bit tricky. Cheddar and Gouda are the least picky—they match several red and white wines. Feta, Fontina, Edam, and Brie are more selective.

5. Sugar-Based Desserts And Moscato D’Asti

Sweet pastries—such as pudding, cranberry pie, and cake—are desserts that a sip of wine can make more enjoyable on a breezy evening. But the more sugary the dessert is, the sweeter the wine has to be. Moscato D’Asti is among the most well-liked wines for dessert pairings because it is naturally sweet, and the sugar found in cakes and other delicacies prevents it from tasting bitter.

6. Spaghetti And Sangiovese

Home after a long day and looking for something easy to whip out in the kitchen? Then spaghetti and meatballs are the comfort meal for you. Go ahead and pair the mouthwatering dish with Sangiovese wine. You can savour the explosive taste of spices and the richness of this particular Italian wine.

7. Quesadilla And Albariño

What better way to heat your body than with a spicy chicken fajita quesadilla paired with guacamole and Albariño wine? This Mexican delicacy is surprisingly easy to whip up in the kitchen and can get anyone out of a chilly mood in no time.

8. Chicken Curry And Riesling

Whether wine is fair game during the day is of no consequence when a chicken curry is in the mix. Riesling’s low-alcohol content blends well with the potent flavours of chicken curry and is a great meal to warm your belly on a cold afternoon.

9. Pizza And Barbera

An unprecedented snowstorm, homemade pizza, wine, and good music are perfect for an impromptu game night. Although Barbera is one of the best wine brands for a double-cheese pizza, other wine pairings that would do as much justice are Sangiovese, Nebbiolo, Malbec, Fiano, and Vermentino.

10. Tacos And Grüner Veltliner

Grüner Veltliner or Riesling are typically good white wines for having a mixed platter of tacos. But for exotic taco recipes, the best wine pairing option is a light-bodied red wine, such as Pinot Noir, to balance out the intense flavours.

11. Grilled Salmon And White Burgundy

Are you thinking of preparing a date-night-worthy dish for your partner on a cold winter night? Grilled salmon is the option to risk it all on. Salmon is a dish in a league of its own, and what better wine to savour the exquisite taste of this refined seafood than a glass of a White Burgundy or Gewürztraminer?

But in the absence of these suggestions (Gewürztraminer is a relatively rare wine), you and your special one can savour the salmon dish with other white wines, such as Marsanne, Viognier, White Rioja, Chardonnay, and White Pinot Noir.

Conclusion

It may be too cold to do many things, but it is never too chilly to prepare delicious dishes you can enjoy with friends and loved ones. As you will need time to try out many of these fun wine-food pairings, we bet the winter months suddenly won’t feel so long.