Welcome to Drink & Pair where I write articles about food and wine pairings. Most of my content is directed to those new at drinking wine and thus I try to keep my pairings simple, while still going into enough detail as to why that food and wine pairing works.
The beautiful thing about Food and Wine Pairing is that it can be as simple or complex as you want it to be. With Drink & Pair, my goal has always been to keep it simple, while dropping enough hints to allow you to get more in-depth with your pairings if you wish. I do this by writing blogs that explain the more advanced nuances of Food and Wine Pairings, yet I offer tables with Food and Wine scores to keep it easy for those of you in a rush.
My blogs are from a North American view, with my most popular wine pairings being ham, chicken alfredo, filet mignon, turkey and roast beef.
I refuse to embrace Artificial Intelligence, and I assure you, all of my pairings do not use AI like I am seeing many other newer wine pairing websites use. This site and wine pairing database have been around in one form or anther since 2010 and has been built slowly over the years. Pairings have either been tried out by myself, with others in a restaurant/gathering, or heavily researched by consulting other sommeliers. (certain food allergies prevent me from trying every dish)
The food and wine pairing database above is a great tool to find an excellent wine pairing match. A 3.5 star match means the pairing is good, and your guests will enjoy it. Also at a 3.5, either the wine or food will taste better (or taste enhanced) in the company of one another, but not both. For example, at a 3.5 your burger loaded with ketchup and Dijon mustard might taste better with a Rioja Reserva, however, the wine’s flavour will not improve with this pairing.
A rating of 4 means we are starting to see the food and wine influence one another, and you’ll taste notable improvements for both when they are paired together
A 5 star ranking means the pairing is a Holy Grail and you are in for a meal you will never forget.
The matching tool does not specifically use branded wines, so you need to type in the type of wine (Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Chianti, Shiraz, Bordeaux, Cabernet Sauvignon, etc). You can also use the filters at the bottom of the tool to narrow down your searches.
Latest Food & Wine Pairings
Arancini & Wine Pairings
Arancini pairs best with Champagne, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio and Etna Rosso. Also known as Sicilian Deep Fried Rice Balls, Arancini is made from Risotto, rolled into a ball, breaded, and deep-fried golden brown. In [...]
Portobello Mushroom Burger & Wine Pairings
Portobello Mushroom Burgers pair best with flavourful, earthy, fruity red wines such as Pinot Noir, Shiraz, Beaujolais Villages, Zinfandel, and Baco Noir. Grilled Portobello Burgers are a delicious substitute for beef and present savoury flavours [...]
Meat Lovers Pizza & Wine Pairing
Medium-bodied reds with balanced acidity and tannin, such as Chianti Classico, Shiraz, and Merlot, pair best with Meat Lovers Pizza. You'll also find that Tempranillo, Pinotage, Rosso Conero, Malbec, and Zinfandel make beautiful pairings [...]
Barbecue Chicken Wine Pairing
Light reds with lots of acidity, such as Beaujolais, Pinot Noir, Barbera, Dolcetto and Grenache pair best with Barbecue Chicken. If BBQ sauce accompanies your Barbecued Chicken, you can get away with heavier reds such [...]
Sauerbraten Wine Pairings
Medium-bodied red wines with high acidity, such as Pinot Noir, Morgon, Barbera, Chianti and Zinfandel pair best with Sauerbraten. Sauerbraten is both sweet (from crumbled ginger snaps) and sour (from lots of vinegar), making it [...]
Beef Barbacoa Wine Pairings
Spicy Beef Barbacoa pairs best with medium-bodied red wines with high acidity, such as Beaujolais Cru, Cabernet Franc, Côte Rôtie and Zinfandel. If your Beef Barbacoa isn't spicy hot, the usual suspects of Cabernet [...]
Zurcher Geschnetzeltes & Wine Pairing
The best wines to pair with Zurcher Geschnetzeltes are a buttery Chardonnay or an earthy and funky Pinot Noir. Zurcher Geschnetzeltes is a Swiss dish made from Veal, a creamy white wine sauce and mushrooms. [...]
Cacio e Pepe & Wine Pairings
The best wine to pair with Cacio e Pepe is a bolder style Rosé as it is refreshing yet complements the pasta dish with notes of herbs and spices. If you are a red wine [...]
Vegetarian Pizza & Wine Pairing
Crisp white wines with lots of acidity and versatility, like Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Fiano, Unoaked Chardonnay, Prosecco and Rosé, pair best with Vegetarian Pizza. For red wine, Cabernet Franc has plenty of tart green [...]
Minestrone Soup & Wine Pairing
The best wines to pair with Minestrone Soup are earthy and fruity red wines with plenty of acidity, such as Chianti, Beaujolais, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo or Barbera. Red wines with lots of tannin, such as [...]
Beef Burrito & Wine Pairing
Beef Burritos pair best with medium-bodied earthy yet fruity reds like Malbec, Sangiovese, Montepulciano, Cabernet Franc, Rioja and Carménère. While beef is the prominent flavour in a beef burrito, you also get the addition of [...]
Corn Dogs & Wine Pairing
Acidic white wines like Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Vouvray and Sparkling wine are essential when pairing with a corn dog. The greasy corn battered breading can easily overwhelm your taste buds, making the corn dog [...]