Pumpkin Pie & Wine Pairing

Pumpkin Pie pairs best with a variety of wines, including a late harvest Gewurztraminer, Chardonnay, Sherry, Vin Santo or a Tawny Port.  The spicy nutmeg flavours and creamy texture of Pumpkin Pie gives you a lot of options when pairing up wine as the pie is not overly sweet.

Dessert wines with a bit of acidity, such a late harvest Riesling, cut through the richness of a creamy pumpkin pie, while Chardonnay pairs well with the buttery crust and nutty aromas of a spiced pie filling. Finally, the nutty flavours of a Moscatel Sherry raises pumpkin pie to new heights!

Best Wine with Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Pie & Late Harvest Gewürztraminer Pairing

A late harvest Gewürztraminer has an incredible bouquet of spicy flavours built in to the wine, such as, nutmeg, vanilla, and cinnamon, all which complement the Pumpkin Pie spices.  You also get sticky flavours of apricot, lychee, pineapple and pear which all provide a refreshing contrast to the buttery pie crust of your Pumpkin Pie.

Late Harvest Gewürztraminer often come in little bottles, as little of this flavourful dessert wine goes a long way.

Moscatel Pasas Sherry and Pumpkin Pie

Moscatel Pasas Sherry is a fortified wine that is sweet and flavourful with floral, honey, caramel, and raisin notes, which are delightful with Pumpkin Pie.  The grapes used to make Moscatel sherry are first dried in the sun for three weeks before being pressed, which leaves you with a sweeter and darker Sherry.  If the wine is labelled Moscatel Dorado, the grapes were not dried first. As such, the Moscatel Dorado Sherry is less concentrated in flavour and features more floral notes and less raisin, caramel and honey flavours. Moscatel Pasas Sherry is not produced in mass quantities and may be difficult to find

Pumpkin Pie is also fantastic with a blended cream sherry or an Oloroso, both of which are much easier to find.  Oloroso sherry is a dry sherry with notes of walnuts, dried fruit and tobacco.  While dry, Oloroso Sherry has a perceived sweetness that is wonderful with Pumpkin Pie.

Because of its popularity decades ago, blended cream sherry, such as Harveys Bristol Cream, has a reputation among wine aficionados as a cheap, mass-produced, and inauthentic sherry. I don’t always agree or disagree, and I believe that a blended cream sherry has its place on occasion. For example, if you’re having a fall banquet and want a dessert wine to serve with a final course of Pumpkin Pie, a blended sherry, such as Harveys Bristol Cream, will keep your expenses low and will be a crowd-pleaser.

For intimate dinners, seek out Harveys Signature Cream or their Rich Old Oloroso.  Both of these sherries will have a similar sweetness but more complexity and offer an authentic sherry style.

Vin Santo and Pumpkin Pie Pairing

Vin Santo is an Italian dessert wine from Tuscany where the grapes have first been dried before the wine is fermented.  With very little moisture left in the grapes, when they are pressed, you get a concentrated flavour in what liquid remains in the grapes.  This creates for an incredibly sweet and intense dessert wine.  With its notes of hazelnut, caramel, honey, and nutmeg, Vin Santo is a natural complement to Pumpkin Pie.

Chardonnay & Pumpkin Desserts Pairing

Despite not being a dessert wine, Chardonnay and Pumpkin Pie works surprisingly well.  Since Pumpkin Pie isn’t overly sweet by nature, you can get away with a drier style wine, although I wouldn’t pair this with Pumpkin Pie with ice cream, as the ice cream’s sweetness will demolish your Chardonnay.   Whip cream on your Pumpkin Pie should be fine, and the acidity of your Chardonnay will help cut through the creamy texture of the whipped cream and pumpkin pie filling, making each bite of pie taste fresh.

Select a full-bodied California Chardonnay that has seen some oak and has a vanilla, butter, and toasty quality, which will blend perfectly with the pumpkin pie filling and crust.  Baked apple and notes of cinnamon are also present in Chardonnay, adding to this delicious affair.

Oatmeal Stout and Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Pie and beer can be hit or miss as the spices in the pumpkin pie filling can overwhelm the malty and fruity flavours of beer.  With an Oatmeal stout, you have a sweeter beer with hints of nutty oats that complement the pumpkin pie’s vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg flavours, making for a delicious pairing.

To truly complement a pumpkin pie with a beer, you could pair the dessert up with a pumpkin ale.  I, personally, loathe Pumpkin Beer and have never finished a glass of the stuff.  I find it too spicy and abrasive.  That’s just my taste, and there are thousands of die-hard enthusiasts who go crazy for Pumpkin Ale.  If you are among them, then you will enjoy this pairing.