Food and wine pairing, minus the fuss
Pairing advice can get precious. In practice, three rules cover almost every dinner you'll cook, and the fourth rule is that none of it matters if you're enjoying yourself. Here are the three.
1. Match the weight, not the colour
"Red with meat, white with fish" is less useful than it sounds. What matters is how big the dish is versus how big the wine is. A delicate poached chicken wants a delicate wine (a dry riesling, a light pinot); a rich, charred steak wants something with equal muscle (shiraz, cabernet). A meaty piece of grilled tuna handles a light red better than it handles a heavy oaky white.
2. Mind the acid
Acidity in wine is what makes your mouth water — and it's the single most food-friendly thing a wine can have. Anything with tomato, vinaigrette, citrus or soft cheese wants a wine with matching freshness: sauvignon blanc, fiano, chianti-style sangiovese. A low-acid wine next to a squeeze of lemon tastes flabby; a bright one tastes alive.
3. Respect the chilli
Heat in food amplifies alcohol and tannin — a big dry red after a proper curry can taste bitter and hot. Go the other way: a touch of sweetness and lower alcohol. Off-dry riesling, gewürztraminer, or a chilled juicy red like young grenache are the reliable moves. Sparkling works too; the bubbles scrub the palate between mouthfuls.
The shortcuts we actually use
- Roast chicken: chardonnay, always.
- Pizza: sangiovese or a juicy grenache.
- Fish and chips: sparkling — trust us.
- Cheese board: skip the big red; a fortified like a Rutherglen muscat is the sleeper hit.
- Takeaway Thai: off-dry riesling.
Cooking something specific? Tell us what's on the stove when you come in — matching a bottle to tonight's dinner is genuinely our favourite part of the job. Or browse the range and we'll note what each bottle loves to sit next to.