12 Varieties of Wine and Pairings
Whether you're cooking for your sweetheart on Valentine's Day or dining out, we've compiled a list of some of the West's best wines and perfect pairings that will be sure to impress the apple of your eye on the year's most romantic day.
Sauvignon Blanc: crisp and refreshing
Taste: Tart lemon, grapefruit, melon, and tropicals like passionfruit over a pleasant grassiness and herbal quality.
Pair with: Cheeses, green vegetables, oysters, delicate fish, fresh herbs, mild vinaigrettes, dishes with tangy dairy, pesto.
Try it with:Roasted Artichoke Salad with Lemon and Mint
Cabernet Sauvignon: the king of reds
Taste: Plums, blackberries, and black currant; sometimes violets or rose petals, and often mint, mocha, and eucalyptus or cedar; strong tannins underneath.
Pair with: Well-marbled beef, hearty fowl, spice rubs and sauces, marinades with soy sauce, long-braised stews, pot roast, grilled red meat.
Chardonnay: rich and complex white
Taste: Green apple, pear, melon, creamy lemon, and sometimes pineapple, rounded out with butterscotch and vanilla.
Pair with: Sweet shellfish, white-fleshed fish, chicken and turkey, pork, veal, legumes, winter squash, corn, nuts, risotto and pasta, cream and butter sauces, mild Caribbean dishes with tropical fruit flavors.
Try it with:Chicken Fettuccine with Mushroom Brie
Merlot: soft tannins, dark fruit
Taste: Blackberries, blueberries, plums, cassis, and dried cherries combined with chocolate, cedar, and tobacco and sometimes hints of black olive.
Pair with: Tenderloin, lamb, meaty fish, black olives, mushrooms, fresh herbs, grilled foods, meats with warm spices, meats with fruit sauces.
Pinot Noir: a silky, sensual red
Taste: Red or dark berries, cherries, plums, violets, warm spices, herbs, sometimes an orange peel with an underside of cedar, smoke, leather, mushrooms, and loam.
Pair with: Pungent poultry and duck, lamb, venison, hearty fish, ham, spicy pork, mushrooms, earthy legumes like lentils, warm spices, sweet-salty marinades, fruit-based sauces, spiced Asian and eastern Mediterranean dishes, many cheeses.
Try it with:Peppered Salmon
Pinot grigio/pinot gris: crisp to complex
Taste: Pear, lemon, melon, and sweet spice flavors.
Pair with: Richer fish, shellfish, chicken, pasta, fresh herbs, rich sauces, mild Asian dishes, Coconut milk-based curries, some cheeses.
Try it with:Ultimate Mac 'n' Cheese
Riesling: crisp and aromatic
Taste: Delicate white peach, green apple, and lime flavors. Riesling often has a pleasant minerality akin to wet stones and a haunting diesel-like aroma (if you can imagine that as a good thing).
Pair with: Shellfish, pork, ham, salads and vegetables, egg dishes, sausages, salumi, cured pork products, barbecue, Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese (especially sushi), Indian, Southwestern foods.
Dry rosé: rich and refreshing
Taste: Strawberries, cherries, citrus, flowers, herbs, and spices.
Pair with: Chicken, cured meats, sandwiches, crab, seafood stews, pastas, tomatoes, fresh herbs.
Try it with:French Tomato Tart
Sparkling wine: great with food
Taste: Apple, lemon, lime, pear, strawberry, and cherry flavors with a pleasant yeastiness (like a brioche baking) and earthy minerality. Bubbly's great acidity makes it an excellent food wine (not just a sipper for celebrations).
Pair with: Caviar, smoked salmon, cheeses, fish and shellfish, cream sauces, potpies, savory turnovers, Asian dishes of all kinds, sausages, fruity condiments, salty foods, deep-fried foods, potato chips, popcorn.
Viognier: exotic and aromatic
Taste: Honeyed tangerine, peach, and apricot with honeysuckle and citrus blossom aromas.
Pair with: Shellfish, rich fish, spice-rubbed roast chicken and turkey, braised or roasted root vegetables, sauces with aromatic spices, Moroccan dishes, mild curries, chutney.
Syrah: earthy and fruity
Taste: Dark fruit, black olives, and herbs against a backdrop of earthy leather, tobacco, and meaty bacon, laced with black pepper.
Pair with: Lamb, sausage, grilled meats, roast pork, barbecue, stews, game, black olives, dishes with lots of black pepper, dishes with pungent herbs.
Try it with:Flank Steak with Warm Moroccan Spices
Zinfandel: jammy and spicy
Taste: Dark berries, dried cherries, plums, chocolate, and black pepper.
Pair with: Barbecue (Zin loves ribs), hamburgers, sausage, pizza, grilled foods, long-braised stews, slightly spicy food, Southwest and Mexican dishes, Moroccan spices.