The best wine to pair with French Toast is Champagne, Prosecco, Cava, Riesling, and Moscato d’Asti. The eggy flavours of French Toast, along with the notes of butter, maple syrup, sugar, vanilla and nutmeg, require something either bubbly and/or extra sweet.
French Toast is a classic breakfast dish that is loved by people all over the world. It is a sweet and rich dish that is made by soaking bread in a mixture of eggs, milk, and sugar before frying it until it’s golden brown. While it’s delicious on its own, pairing French Toast with wine can enhance the flavours of both the dish and the wine. In this blog, I’ll explore the five best wine pairings with French Toast.
Champagne & French Toast Pairing
Champagne is a sparkling wine that pairs well with French Toast due to its acidity and effervescence. The bubbles in the champagne help to cut through the dish’s richness, while the wine’s acidity complements the sweetness of the French Toast.
Champagne contains notes of brioche, caramel, citrus, honey, minerals, nuts, peach, pear, Toast, vanilla and smoke which will all jive with your French Toast. Meanwhile, the bubbles will scrub your dish’s sugar and carbs away in between bites, keeping you refreshed.
Prosecco, Cava and most other styles of Sparkling wine will also go great with your French Toast.
Late Harvest Riesling & French Toast Pairing
Riesling is a white wine with a bright acidity that can cut through the richness of French Toast. It’s a versatile wine that can pair well with both sweet and savoury flavours.
If your French Toast is prepared in more of a dessert fashion, meaning it’s smothered in Maple Syrup and dusted with sugar, select the late-harvest Riesling. For sweet food and wine pairings to work, the wine always needs to be sweeter than the food you are eating. Otherwise, you won’t taste the food at all.
If your French Toast is rather basic and mostly made with eggs, milk and Toast, with a sprinkling of nutmeg, an off-dry Riesling will be more than acceptable. With this style of Riesling, you’ll taste a lot of pears, peach, apple and citrus, which balances out the savoury flavours of your eggy French Toast.
Moscato d’Asti
Moscato d’Asti is a sweet and bubbly white wine that pairs well with the sweetness of French Toast. The wine’s effervescence can help to cut through the dish’s richness, while the sweetness of the wine can complement the dish’s sweet flavours.
Moscato d’Asti is huge on Peach flavours; plus, you’ll have almond, lychee, pear, vanilla and tangerine notes to keep you engaged.
Chardonnay & French Toast Pairing
An oaked Chardonnay is toasty and full of vanilla, apple, pear and buttery flavours. Thus, trying out Chardonnay with French Toast is a no-brainer, as the food and wine will complement one another.
I only give this pairing three and a half stars, however, as this pairing might be a little too much depending on the Chardonnay you purchase and the sweetness level of your French Toast.
For instance, if you’re loading up your French Toast with powdered sugar and drowning it in Maple Syrup, for the love of God, keep your Chardonnay away from it, as you’ll never taste your wine. You’ll only know you’ve consumed wine when you go to wash the greasy and sticky lip and fingerprints off your wine glass a little later.
However, if you are having a more eggy version of French Toast, where no sugar is introduced, Chardonnay is your gal. For the most delicious pairing, look for a well-made Chardonnay from California that teases your taste buds with hints of butter and Toast.
Port & French Toast Pairing
Port is a fortified wine that is sweet and rich, making it an excellent pairing with French Toast. The wine’s sweetness can complement the dish’s sweetness, while its richness can match the dish’s creamy texture.
If you’ve ever dreamed of pouring a raspberry or strawberry sauce on your French Toast, Port might be the ticket for you as it contains fruity and rich flavours of blackberry, cherry, cassis, raspberry and jam. On top of that, you’ll marvel at flavours of walnuts, spices, vanilla and chocolate.
You’ll only want to pour a couple of ounces of Port to enjoy beside your French Toast. And sip away at it slowly. Port is much higher in alcohol and can get you quite tipsy fast.