Sweet Sparkling Wines, Ruby Port and Dessert wines such as Monbazillac, Late Harvest Riesling and Brachetto d’Acqui pair best with Cherry Pie. The sweeter your Cherry Pie is, the sweeter your wine needs to be, otherwise, the wine will not shine through as it will be overwhelmed by the sugary cherry filling.
What Wine Goes Best with Cherry Pie
Prosecco Demi-Sec & Cherry Pie
Prosecco Demi-Sec is the sweetest style of prosecco with about 32-50 grams of sugar per liter. This style of Prosecco is also difficult to find in North America, as not much of it is produced in Italy, so if you have trouble hunting a bottle down, look for Prosecco Dry, which is the second sweetest style of Prosecco (17-32 grams of sugar)
Prosecco and other sweet sparkling wines work great with Cherry Pie as the bubbles carry off the sweet fruit notes along with the fatty and carbohydrate pie crust in between every bite. This ensures your taste buds remain sharp. While sweet, Prosecco also remains acidic, thus it amplifies all the delicious cherry flavours in your pie.
Ruby Port & Cherry Pie Pairing
Ruby Port is the youngest style of port and lacks the nuttier flavours of vintage or aged port. Instead, Ruby Port features sweet notes of blackberries, cherries, dates, figs, and raisins. The sweet flavours of Ruby Port mix in perfectly with the sugary cherry pie filling and brings the dessert to new heights. If you adore French vanilla ice cream on your cherry pie, Port works even better, as Ruby Port helps stretch out the fruity flavours of the pie, ensuring the flavours of port, cherries, pie crust and ice cream all finish evenly with every bite.
Brachetto d’Acqui & Cherry Pie Pairing
Brachetto d’Acqui is a fizzy dessert wine from Italy with notes of strawberry, raspberry and red roses. Brachetto d’Acqui sweet and fruity flavours ensure it won’t be overwhelmed by the sweetness of your Cherry Pie. Meanwhile, the fizziness of Brachetto d’Acqui also help carry away the heavy carbs and fat content of the pie pastry, ensuring your taste-buds never get bogged down.
Late Harvest Riesling & Cherry Pie Pairing
Late Harvest Riesling won’t complement the berry flavours of Cherry Pie, however, the sweetness of a late harvest Riesling will stand up the sweet flavours of your Cherry Pie. Easy on the wallet, Late Harvest Riesling is often available on shelves in North America where it is produced in Ontario and NY state. With Late Harvest Riesling you’ll find beautiful notes of pear, apple and pear that come across as refreshing. France and Germany will also have Late Harvest Riesling or similar versions, available.
Cherry is a versatile fruit, and you’ll often find it in fruit cups or fruit salads, thus you shouldn’t have to worry about Riesling tasting all that weird when the flavours of wine and pie merge. If you’re seeking out the thrill of late harvest wine featuring berry notes, look for a Late Harvest Cabernet Franc that is popular in the Niagara region of Canada.