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
Malbec & Food Pairings
Malbec's smoky and berry-chocolate flavours make it ideal with charbroiled steak, BBQ Chicken Pizza, Portobello Mushroom Steak, Cabbage Rolls, Venison Stew, Pasta Bolognese, Chilli, and Hamburgers loaded with blue cheese, mushrooms & onions. Young [...]
Calzone & Wine Pairing
Calzone pairs best with tart and acidic red wines such as Chianti, Lambrusco, Barbera, Valpolicella, and Baco Noir. Sparkling wine and Rosé are also exceptional with Calzone due to their refreshing and crisp bite. [...]
New York Strip Steak & Wine Pairing
New York Strip Steak pairs best with tannic red wines such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Bordeaux, Malbec, Shiraz and Merlot. Rarer NY Strip Steaks can handle younger wines as less fat will be cooked off, [...]
Best Pasta Carbonara & Wine Pairings
Fruity red wines with a touch of acidity, such as Pinot Noir, Chianti Classico, Barbera, or Montepulciano, pair best with Pasta alla Carbonara as the wines cut through the creamy white sauce without overwhelming the [...]
Roast Beef & Wine Pairing
Roast Beef pairs best with tannic red wines such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz, Malbec and Barolo. The fattier the cut of beef (such as Prime Rib), the more tannin you want in the [...]
Orvieto Wine & Food Pairing
Orvieto pairs best with light dishes such as seafood pasta, chicken alfredo, antipasto, sushi, salad, white pizza and ham. Orvieto is an Italian white wine from the Umbria region that is low in alcohol [...]
Chicken Alfredo & Wine Pairing
Chicken Alfredo pairs best with fruity but dry white wines such as Orvieto, Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay, or acidic and light red wines such as Barbera, Beaujolais and Pinot Noir. Alfredo Sauce is a [...]
Cherry Pie & Wine Pairing
Sweet Sparkling Wines, Ruby Port and Dessert wines such as Monbazillac, Late Harvest Riesling and Brachetto d'Acqui pair best with Cherry Pie. The sweeter your Cherry Pie is, the sweeter your wine needs to be, [...]
Mencía & Food Pairing
Mencía pairs best with herbal driven dishes or roasted meat & veggie dishes such as Rueben Sandwiches, Chorizo Sausage, Beef Stew, Portobello Mushroom Steak, Fajitas, Roasted Pork, and Pepper Steak. Mencía is produced in [...]
Corned Beef & Cabbage and Wine Pairing
Corned Beef and Cabbage pairs best with acidic and fruity red wines such as Beaujolais and Pinot Noir or medium-bodied red wines such as Cabernet Franc and Zinfandel. For White Wine, Corned Beef and [...]
Chorizo Sausage & Wine Pairing
Chorizo Sausage pairs best with fresh Spanish red wines such as Crianza Ribera del Duero, Menica, Navarra and Crianza Rioja. Malbec, Syrah and Pinotage also make excellent pairings, especially if the Chorizo Sausage is [...]
Ribera del Duero & Food Pairing
Ribera del Duero pairs best with aged cheeses, pork sausage, steak, venison stew, lamb chops and beef goulash. Ribera Del Duero is a full-bodied Spanish red wine made primarily from the Tempranillo grape (at [...]