How to pair wine with Chinese cuisine? Traditional Chinese cuisine is very diverse and includes many typical regional cuisines. That’s why pairings aren’t as obvious as you might think, but it’s easy to make mistakes that can ruin your restaurant dining and wine experience. The choice is even more difficult when you consider that the Chinese never drink wine as an accompaniment to meals, but always tea or water. It is often soups that play the role of “drink” during a meal. Not to mention the presence of spices and special aromas of the dishes that must always be taken into account thanks to the combination with the wine. What are the sommelier’s recommendations? Let’s discover them together.
How to pair wine with Chinese cuisine
The ideal pairing, the classic, for those who want to be on the safe side is a glass of good wine aromatic white wine it is soft. Most people who regularly eat at Chinese restaurants choose it Gewürztraminer as a wine pairing. If they are dishes with not particularly spicy flavors and tend to be oily or greasy, you can also pair them with Sauvignon or Viognier. Nothing prevents you from pairing it with a rosé, even if a white wine is always preferred for Chinese cuisine.
Wine and Chinese cuisine pairings – wineandfoodtour.it
If you love reds, you can choose an elegant glass pinot noir, especially if it’s a stew or meat dish or steamed ravioli. There is also the possibility of combining the Chianti or in any case a Sangiovese based wine.
For soups, pasta or pasta it is best to pair with a fresh, aromatic and fruity white wine such as Fiano, Arneis or Müller-Thurgau. However, be sure to always consider not only the base of the Chinese dish you are trying but also the ingredients and spices that characterize it.
In dishes with a sweet and sour taste, pay attention to the choice of wine: if you are indecisive, go for bubbles. If you want to choose a single bottle to accompany an entire lunch or dinner at a Chinese restaurant, without considering the individual dishes and individual pairings, then we always recommend an aromatic white wine (which is why everyone always orders the Gewürztraminer.
Wine and oriental cuisines
One of the common features of Chinese and Japanese cuisine is the variety of aromas and their presence spicesbut also the coexistence of vegetables, meat, fish and soups.
How to combine wine and Chinese cuisine – wineandfoodtour.it
Select it wine pairing is quite a complicated undertaking, especially in the absence of a sommelier, but if in doubt, if you are in a Japanese-Chinese restaurant and eat all you can or à la carte, always choose white wine and never red and never sparkling wines, preferably aromatic and fruity.