Pairing Guidelines

Picking a wine to enjoy alongside takeout can be daunting when you don’t know the specific ingredients used and are faced with flavourful, often complicated dishes. The key is to look at the main feature of the dish: is it served in a strong tomato-based sauce? Is it a dish with a lot of spice? Don’t try to pair a wine with every element of a dish, but rather find something that complements it’s most outstanding flavour features. Following these guidelines will get the guesswork out of wine pairing with takeout.

Supermarket Pick-Up

Chicken and potato salad scream light and fresh, maybe even alfresco, dining. Rosé is the knockout punch pairing here, but red wine-lovers can reach for an equally pleasing pinot noir. Both offer good fruit and texture, without being heavy and cloying.

Chinese

The wine choices are varied to accompany somewhat sweet-tinged, lightly salted dishes. A riesling provides the best overall balance of fruit and juicy acidity, with a touch of sweetness. For a surprise pairing, try a young sangiovese with the heavier dishes.

Thai

Thai is a spicy, rich, flavourful cuisine, often with fish sauce nuances, that requires wine with some fatness and intensity, without being heavy. Fruity blends of sauvignon blanc and sémillon, or a dry riesling from Australia or Ontario’s Niagara Peninsula, would be safe bets.

Indian

Rich, savoury and spicy curry gravy and the fruitiness in biryani can be harmonized and balanced by spicy, fruity-style whites. Choices here range from gewürztraminer, ehrenfelser, chenin blanc, viognier and albariño. Alternatively, a red with good fruit and acidity, like a young Côtes du Rhône or barbera, will tame the lamb.

Mexican

Enchiladas often come with a tomato-based sauce that can be spicy, and sometimes a bit tart. The food is not particularly heavy in fat, but it is robust and calls for something fresh, a bit fruity, a bit spicy and with some richness. Viognier works well, as do most garnacha labels.

Barbecue Pulled Pork

Pork and the spices used create a sweet, spicy, savoury flavour profile that requires a similar wine style, but with good acidity to prevent the fat content from being heavy. Southern Rhône reds are the match.

Greek

The savoury, fresh flavours in lamb lend themselves to fruity reds, like syrah or malbec. For a shellfish wine to complement the ouzo taste and prawns, a bright, fruity Northern Italian white will do.

Pizza

Tomato sauce gives acidity and the cheeses give rich texture and a bit of fat; add a bit of meat, herbs and smoke and you need a more rustic wine, with light tannins, good acidity and bright fruit. Think Argentine malbec and Southern Italian reds.