Lemon Chicken & Wine Pairing

The best wine to pair with Lemon Chicken are neutral white wines such as Pinot Grigio, Albariño, and Godello. Chardonnay that leans more towards apple and pear flavours, is another excellent choice with Lemon Chicken. Citrusy white wines, such as Sauvignon Blanc or Riesling, impart too much lemony flavours, which end up overshadowing the chicken. If your lemon chicken is served with a pasta or rice dish, light red wines such as Valpolicella, Pinot Noir and Beaujolais taste surprisingly good with the dish.

Best Wine with Lemon Chicken

Pinot Grigio & Lemon Chicken Pairing

Italian Pinot Grigio is a neutral and mild flavoured white wine featuring soft flavours of apple, pear, mineral, smoke, and lemon. The lemon flavours are crisp and refreshing, but won’t overload your taste buds with citrus flavours. Nor will the lemon on your chicken make the wine taste flat, as Pinot Grigio is high enough in acidity to hold up to the fruit.

I only give this pairing 4 out of 5 stars as it isn’t all that remarkable. Still, the easy accessibility of Pinot Grigio, along with its popularity and affordability, make it an easy win.

Albariño & Lemon Chicken Pairing

Albariño is a light and refreshing Spanish white wine featuring aromatic notes of apples, apricot, citrus, melon and peaches. Much like Pinot Grigio, the light flavours of Albariño make it an easy win with the lemony flavours of lemon chicken. Bolder wines known for their citrus will taste flat as the acidity in the lemon subdues their core flavours.

When pairing Albariño with Lemon Chicken, the lemon flavours are so light to begin with, you won’t even taste them over the stronger lemon flavours of the chicken. Instead, all the lively fruit flavours of apple, apricot, melon and peach will shine through and keep your mouth in bliss.

Rosé & Lemon Chicken Pairing

Whenever I mention Rosé as a wine pairing, I feel like I’m cheating as Rosé is incredibly food-friendly and delicious. A cross between a red and white wine, Rosé delivers tart fruity flavours of cherry, raspberry and strawberry, along with crisp citrus notes and green herbs. The citrus notes of Rosé are meek and won’t interfere with the citrus of the Lemon Chicken, while the herbal notes will complement any parsley, oregano, rosemary or other herbs garnishing your Lemon Chicken. Meanwhile, the berry flavours keep you refreshed throughout your entire meal.

Rosé does not have a large appeal in North America as many men won’t be caught drinking something pink. There’s also this stigma that Rosé is sweet like a wine cooler, but proper Rosé is very dry and tart. If you’re out in public and worried about being seen drinking Rosé, by all means, go for one of the other wines we mentioned below. However, if you’re ready to experiment and enjoying your Lemon Chicken at home, I highly suggest giving Rosé a try.

Chardonnay & Baked Lemon Chicken Pairing

Chardonnay with a touch of oak is amazing with Baked Lemon Chicken, where lemon is used, along with herbs, garlic and sea salt. The full flavour of Chardonnay holds up to the garlic and herbs, and the buttery flavours of the wine bring out the savoury Chicken flavours.

Featuring notes of apple, peach and pear, Chardonnay won’t clash with the lemon in the chicken dish. Chardonnay does have lemon flavours as well, but they often take a backseat to all the other flavours we mentioned, plus the buttery toast, smoke, coconut and vanilla flavours you’ll find in an oaked Chardonnay.

I give Chardonnay and Lemon Chicken Pairing four out of five stars as the quality and style of Chardonnay can vary, as can your Lemon Chicken recipe. In recent years, the popular style of Chardonnay for lower-tier wines is heavily oaked with oak chips and artificial flavours. This process steals all the elegance away from Chardonnay, making it taste more like a scented candle or candied perfume you’d expect a tween to wear to a K-Pop concert. For the best Chardonnay pairing for your Lemon Chicken, you’ll want to seek out a quality Burgundy or a moderately oaked California Chardonnay. Cheap and brash Chardonnay will not work with savoury and refined flavours of Baked Lemon Chicken.

Valpolicella Classico & Lemon Chicken with Pasta Pairing

Valpolicella Classico is an easy drinking red wine from Italy that features bright fruit and earthy flavours of cherries, herbs, leather, plum, smoke and nuts. Silky and smooth, Valpolicella has plenty of acidity to handle the lemon in your Lemon Chicken Pasta dish. The nutty, herbal and earthy flavours o Valpolicella Classico are wonderful with the nutty flavours of the pasta, along spices and herbs used to garnish the dish.

Valpolicella Classico won’t complement the lemon flavours at all, however, it also won’t clash with them. This pairing works best to keep you refreshed in between bites, as Pasta can easily gunk up your taste buds. Light, fruity and low in alcohol, Valpolicella ensures those roasted chicken flavours will remain savoury and delicious as they are whisked away by the bright cherry flavours of the wine.