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Choosing the Right Food for Your Wine

It may be that you have a special bottle of wine, and would like to know what food will complement it the best. Or it may be that although you have some a bottle of wine already chilling in the fridge, but simply can't decide what to cook for supper.

Either way, take a look at our guide to choosing the right food to serve with a particular wine. Simply choose the wine type from the menu below, and then see which foods suit that particular style. The food choices are listed in descending order of suitability, with the best match at the top of the list.

For more help on deciding the style of your wine, see our section on wine flavours.

Crisp, Neutral Whites
Wines such as unoaked Chablis or Italian Soave ...
Sharp, Zesty Whites
Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand, Chile or Bordeaux ...
Dry, Nutty Whites
Oak-aged Chardonnay, white Rioja, or Semillon-Sauvignon Blanc blends ...
Toasty, Buttery Whites
Oak fermented Chardonnays from the New World ...
Perfumed, Exotic Whites
Gewurztraminer, Muscat, Viognier or Alborino ...
Low-tannin, Sweet-Sour Cherry Reds
Italian easy drinking wines such as Valpolicella or light Chianti ...
Tannic, Sweet-Sour Cherry Reds
Heavier Italian wines: Barolo, Barbaresco or Brunello di Montalcino ...
Spicy, Warm Reds
Shiraz, Syrah, Zinfandel, Pinotage, Fitou or Cotes du Rhône-Villages ...
Intense, Blackcurranty Reds
Cabernet Sauvignon wines from all over the world ...
Silky, Raspberry Reds
Pinot Noir from anywhere in the world, and Rioja from Spain ...
Fruity, Juicy Reds
Refreshing reds such as Chilean Merlot, Beaujolais or Vin de Pays d'Oc ...