Hi all! I'm having a dinner party this weekend and serving Indian food, curries, masala, rice and naan bread, etc. I came here to inquire as to what would be the best wine paring for this meal - I'm leaning towards white, but I'm afraid it could end up disastrous. Help!

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Champagne and Riesling Spatlese.

Indian food is a very broad range of food styles, but Champagne and off-dry whites are very safe for a lot of the foods I tend to enjoy.

I have also had many lamb dishes that demanded a red wine also.

beer or something as cheap.

I personally HATE rieslings with indian curries.

Between all of the spices, there is no nuance you'd get from almost any wine.

I think most of the wine pairing for indian curries are more like "What doesn't offend my palate, or what can I use to wash this curry down"

Now if we're talking tandoor baked/grilled stuff, you can have some syrahs, california pinots that pair wonderfully with the subtle baking spices and that great tandoori flavor

quote:

Originally posted by wine+art:
Indian food is a very broad range of food styles, but Champagne and off-dry whites are very safe for a lot of the foods I tend to enjoy.

I have also had many lamb dishes that demanded a red wine also.

you are certainly wise beyond your years

oh and if you goto kerala or along most of coastal india
there's a big fresh fish cuisine.

Some simple lemon spices, salt and some fragrant green herbs grilled/baked

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tapioca.jpg

like this dish was awesome when a friend let me try it.

that would go wonderuflly wiht a reisling or champagne.

Chilled Vinho Verde or Guner Veltliner, preferably cheap.

White Cote du Rhone - heavy and oily. Not fond of it elsewhere, but a good pairing.

Why do they call it Biryani?
Because it goes with BEER.

A high acidic white..try a well made Chenin Blanc from South Africa or a even a Torrontes from Salta.. But there is always a cheap sparkler.. something from Limoux or Veneto.

I think W+A and g-man got it.

You have to define "Indian" food first. If you mean something with a lot of turmeric and cumin and chile, that's more specific.

A few years ago I was interested in exporting wine to India and we scheduled a number of tasting events where people cooked their food and we brought a number of different wines.

Dry reds and dry whites almost always failed. Off dry whites worked. And don't spring for something rare and wonderful - just a cool wine with a bit of RS.

But what was more interesting was not the pairing, it was the way in which the wine was approached. Almost always they would have wine as an apertif, with some snacks. Then when dinner came, nobody worried about "pairing". Then after dinner it was liquor.

We in the US obsess about pairing, probably more than anywhere else. But who said wine has to go with food? That's received wisdom gives people goose bumps and makes them feel all profound and shit when they repeat it but in fact, it's just a habit, not a revealed truth. So it was really interesting to deal with those people who understood the concept intellectually but who in reality didn't give a damn.

quote:

Originally posted by g-man:
beer or something as cheap.

I personally HATE rieslings with indian curries.

Between all of the spices, there is no nuance you'd get from almost any wine.

I think most of the wine pairing for indian curries are more like "What doesn't offend my palate, or what can I use to wash this curry down"

Now if we're talking tandoor baked/grilled stuff, you can have some syrahs, california pinots that pair wonderfully with the subtle baking spices and that great tandoori flavor

Since when does g-man recommend pinot noir? Having a kid really changed you...

quote:

Originally posted by GregT:
just a cool wine with a bit of RS.

Spatlese for me

We have had some luck with off dry whites from the Loire, Germany and Alsace. To be honest, unless we are in an upscale Indian restaurant where the food is a bit more nuanced and wine works better, we just stick to beer and water with Indian food. Have tried red wine and it has nearly always failed for us with Indian food.

Mostly in the beer camp too. Haven't found many styles of Indian cooking that don't go well with beer. Haven't found many wines that go well with much of the Indian food I prefer (read well spiced or spicy hot)

PH

quote:

Originally posted by PurpleHaze:
Mostly in the beer camp too. Haven't found many styles of Indian cooking that don't go well with beer. Haven't found many wines that go well with much of the Indian food I prefer (read well spiced or spicy hot)

PH

i'd normally recommend port

but at 102 degrees in NY ... it's really okay.

beer is best.

Drink choice #1 (salted) lassi, i prefer this to wine, with spicy Indian Cuisine
Wine choice #1 totally agree with Riesling Spätlese

Late Harvest wines from Alsace especially gewurztraminer come to mind. Think Zind Humbrecht or Albert Mann.

Thanks for all of the imput! After mulling it over and taking in all of your messages, I think I'm going to go with cold beer after all.

Thank you!

I've got an Indian dinner event to deal with also. I get the beer as well as all the white wine recommendations, but if you "had to" offer/serve a red wine with Indian food, what sort of varietal/s or blend/s and from what international regions would be tolerable in your experiences.

Thank-you all!

quote:

Originally posted by In Drink Truth:
I've got an Indian dinner event to deal with also. I get the beer as well as all the white wine recommendations, but if you "had to" offer/serve a red wine with Indian food, what sort of varietal/s or blend/s and from what international regions would be tolerable in your experiences.

Thank-you all!

What exactly are you serving?

quote:

Originally posted by In Drink Truth:
I've got an Indian dinner event to deal with also. I get the beer as well as all the white wine recommendations, but if you "had to" offer/serve a red wine with Indian food, what sort of varietal/s or blend/s and from what international regions would be tolerable in your experiences.

Thank-you all!

read posts above.

I want To try Greek reds with Indian food.

quote:

Originally posted by spo:
I want To try Greek reds with Indian food.

love it

some thai reds also work btw.