Chicken Kiev & Wine Pairing

White wines that aren’t overly fruity and have plenty of acidity to cut through the breading, such as Chenin Blanc, Chablis and Pinot Grigio Pair best with Chicken Kiev.   A Pinot Noir or Beaujolais Villages will make for a fantastic pairing for red wines.  A dry sparkling wine, such as Prosecco or Cava, will also be delicious with Chicken Kiev.

Chicken Kiev consists of a boneless chicken breast pounded flat and rolled in butter before being breaded and fried.  While it’s easy to make at home, you’ll often see it served at banquets or as a frozen entrée for a quick meal.  White wines that are too fruity offer a contrast that is too large with the flavours of Chicken Kiev, so it’s best to select mellow white wines.

There are dozens of variations of Chicken Kiev that might include blue cheese instead of butter, garlic butter instead of regular butter, or breading that contains herbs.  All of the wines below will pair up fine with these variations, however, if the additional flavours dominate the Chicken Kiev, you may want to search my wine pairing database for a wine that suits these ingredients a bit more.

Best Wine with Chicken Kiev

Chenin Blanc & Chicken Kiev Pairing

Chenin Blanc pairs well with Chicken Kiev as this white wine features hints of apricot, peach, pear, quince, honey, and green apple to keep your mouth refreshed.  High in acidity, Chenin Blanc easily cuts through the oily breading of the Chicken Kiev but isn’t too sharp or fruity to swamp out the tender chicken flavours.

If you like Sauvignon Blanc, you’ll enjoy Chenin Blanc as they are both crisp and acidic white wines with a bit of funky flavours.  Chenin Blanc is often much less costly and not as fruity or loud, making it ideal with Chicken Kiev.

For Chicken Kiev, I’d recommend a Chenin Blanc from the Loire Valley of France, where it is called Vouvray.  The Vouvray style of Chenin Blanc comes in dry, sweet and sparkling styles.  Both dry, off-dry and sparkling Vouvray will be great with Chicken Kiev.  I recommend a still Tendre Vouvray paired with Chicken Kiev as the wine will be consistently delicious, high in acidity, and moderate in volume compared to other Chenin Blancs on the market.  Chenin Blanc from other regions will still pair up fine with Chicken Kiev, however, they might be a touch too powerful for Chicken Kiev or the quality of the wine might not be as superior.

Some notable producers of Chenin Blanc include Huet, Chidaine and Closel from France, Beaumont, Cederberg and Ken Forrester from South Africa (where Chenin Blanc has notes of Guava and Chamomile), and Chappellet or Dry Creek Vineyard in California.

Chablis & Chicken Kiev Pairing

While Chicken Kiev is packed full of butter, I find it doesn’t pair well with a buttery Chardonnay as the complementary flavours neither improve the wine nor the Chicken Kiev.  Instead, I much prefer a dry and crisp Chablis, which is an unoaked Chardonnay from Burgundy, France.

Chablis features notes of chalk and mineral that make themselves at home with the savoury poultry flavours.  Chablis is also confident with mild lemon, and green apple notes that never swamp out the chicken flavours.  Finally, Chablis is high in acidity, so it has no problem cutting through the fried breading and buttery flavours of Chicken Kiev.

Soave & Chicken Kiev Pairing

Soave is a light Italian white wine with flavours of almond, flowers, apple, lemon, pear, herbs, spices, and almonds.  If your Chicken Kiev recipe features herbs and spices, Soave will make for an even better pairing as Soave’s herb and spice notes will complement the dish.

Refreshing on the palate, Soave is light, smooth and dry with plenty of acidity to cut through the oily fried flavours of Chicken Kiev.  For the lightest examples of Soave, go for wines labelled Soave.  If you want a step up in flavour, select a Soave Classico with a medium-bodied profile but is still an appropriate match with Chicken Kiev.

Pinot Grigio & Chicken Kiev Pairing

If you’re serving Chicken Kiev at a banquet, Pinot Grigio is the best wine to pair with it.  Italian Pinot Grigio is an inexpensive, dry and mellow white wine that has the right amount of acidity to cut through the oily breading of Chicken Kiev to keep your mouth refreshed.  Even better, Pinot Grigio is a huge crowd pleaser!  I find Pinot Grigio boring and consider it the wine world’s version of light beer.  However, don’t let my opinion stop you from enjoying a glass.  Pinot Grigio is one of the top-selling white wines on the market and is adored for its light notes of citrus, lemon, apple, and pear flavours.

If you want a bolder white wine, go for a Pinot Gris from Alsace France.  Pinot Gris is the same wine as Pinot Grigio but made in a medium to full-bodied style.

Beaujolais Villages & Chicken Kiev Pairing

Chicken Kiev is a common wedding banquet dish, and often you want to offer your guests a choice of either red or white with their meal.  Red wine and Chicken Kiev don’t make for the best pairing, however, a Beaujolais Villages offers plenty of acidity to cut through the greasy breaded exterior of your Chicken Kiev while still allowing for all those delicious poultry flavours to shine through.

Beaujolais Villages is light and fruity with notes of cherry, strawberry and raspberry, which offer up a refreshing contrast to the savoury flavours of Chicken Kiev.  As Beaujolais Villages is a French red wine, expect some earthy, herbal and mushroom notes happening as well, which is France’s way of expressing the landscape and terroir from where the grapes were grown.

A not-so-oaked Pinot Noir is another excellent choice with Chicken Kiev – especially if a mushroom sauce accompanies it.  However, good Pinot Noir is expensive and would not be feasible for a banquet.  While you could choose an inexpensive Pinot Noir, you’ll get way better value and flavour with a Beaujolais Villages at the same price.