Take Out Tastings: Your Go-To Guide For Pairing Wine And Indian

The vibrant, exotic and delicious world of Indian food has found an ever-increasing fan base in Australia, and we all have our favourite local Indian restaurant with its menu of must-have favourite dishes.

With its fantastic spices and countless variations, Indian cuisine can be a little difficult to match with wine and often people simply opt for a cooling beer when things get a bit too spicy.

So, to help you get the most of out of your next Indian takeout order, we’ve put together this handy guide for pairing wine with some Australia’s most-loved Indian dishes.

SAAG PANEER (Spinach with Indian Cheese)

Light and aromatic whites work well with this vegetarian dish with its spinach base, cottage cheese and mild spices.

Pairing Wine with Saag Paneer

Matching wine styles: Light and aromatic or dry whites
Pair with: Sauvignon Blanc/SSB blends, Pinot Gris, Pinot Grigio, or Arneis

 

Wonderfully fragrant and with an interesting texture, fish curry calls for white wines that are also aromatic and deliver lovely texture.

 

Matching wine styles: Light and aromatic or dry whites
Pair with: Riesling, Grüner Veltliner, Gewürztraminer or Verdelho

 

Creamy, rich, full of flavour and with a delicious mix of spices, this popular dish calls for a medium weight white wine with good acidity.

 

Matching wine styles: Medium weight and textural whites
Pair with: Chardonnay, aged Riesling or Semillon

 

Tandoori chicken is aromatic and quite smokey and often tastes almost beefy, so a light to medium weight and savoury red is the best red wine pairing. For white wine lovers, a good Riesling is also an option.

 

Matching wine styles: Light to medium weight and savoury reds
Pair with: Pinot Noir, Grenache/GSM blends, or Nero d’Avola

 

Sitting at the higher end of the spice-o-meter, Vindaloo is fiery and rich dish so avoid red wines with rich tannins as tannins will accentuate the heat.

 

Matching wine styles: Fruit driven medium weight reds
Pair with: Off dry Rosé, Merlot and Barbera

 

In general, when it comes to matching wine with Indian food, white drinkers are safe with a dry, savoury style like Riesling for its universal appeal, while Rosé is also another great multi-purpose option. For the red drinkers out there, light to medium weight and savoury reds are a good choice, with Merlot working well with dishes that have a bit of heat.

 

Our final bit of advice when it comes to choosing wines to go with Indian food is to avoid overly tannic reds such as Nebbiolo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo or Montepulciano, which will accentuate any chilli heat or bitterness within the dish.

 

For more great food and wine combinations, be sure to check out our dedicated Food and Wine Pairing pages.