3 Wines to Drink with Chicken Curry

When it comes to wine and food pairings, the key lies in assessing the sensory sensations happening in your mouth and selecting a wine that harmonizes with your taste receptors. The predominant compounds your taste receptors pick up on are fat, sweetness, acid, and salt. There are no strict rules for wine pairings, however, and once you learn the basics you're welcome to experiment and bend the rules as you please.

When pairing wine with curry, a good place to start is considering whether your curry is sweet, creamy, or fiery. Understanding these elements will guide you in choosing a stellar wine. Allow us to suggest a few varieties worth exploring.

Off-dry whites with fiery curries: When you drink lightly sweet wines with spicy food, the wine tastes less sweet and quells the burn of the curry. Off-dry Rieslings are especially great with chile-laden coconut milk-based sauces; they taste like a refreshing spritz of lime. Look for lightly sweet kabinett or spätlese styles of Rieslings from Germany or off-dry Rieslings from Oregon or Australia. Another option: If you like richly textured wines, try off-dry Chenin Blanc from places like Vouvray and Savennièrres.

Dry, rich whites with mild creamy curries: Fruity, unoaked, or lightly oaked Chardonnay, like those from Australia or cooler parts of California, have enough body to pair with creamier curries. If you don't mind exceptionally floral, fragrant wines, try Gewürztraminer, which smells like rose petals and tropical fruit.

Fruity, low-tannin reds with mild tomato-based curries: The juiciness and lightly spicy flavors in Grenache from France or Spain are great with the fragrant spices in curry and have enough acidity to mesh with the tomatoes. Inexpensive New World Pinot Noir can also work well.

Kristin Donnelly is a former Food & Wine editor and author of the forthcoming The Modern Potluck (Clarkson Potter, 2016). She is also the cofounder of Stewart & Claire, an all-natural line of lip balms made in Brooklyn.