I am going out for dinner this weekend to an Indian restaurant.
While my usual beverage of choice with Indian food is beer, I was wondering if there are any wines which can be enjoyed with this type of food?
From the small number of articles I have read, I don't think I've ever come across a recommendation for certain types of wine for drinking with Indian food.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Help Needed - Wine with Indian Food?
Hi Jimmy, welcome aboard.
There is a big range of food under the Indian label, some of the more subtle dishes (entrees, chicken tikka, tandoori fish, etc) suit champagne/Aus bubbly pretty well or even a sparkling red.
In the meat dishes, again an incredible range from the mild, complex rogan josh to fiery vindaloos and madras curries, or the hot-peppery chicken dishes (I forget from which region). Being a red bigot (drink reds almost exclusively) I'm happy to drink sparkling red or youngish fruit-driven shiraz or GSM blends with most Indian dishes. This may be a bit of an acquired taste, but I've been doing it a long time now and seldom find clashes with the reds I choose.
There is a big range of food under the Indian label, some of the more subtle dishes (entrees, chicken tikka, tandoori fish, etc) suit champagne/Aus bubbly pretty well or even a sparkling red.
In the meat dishes, again an incredible range from the mild, complex rogan josh to fiery vindaloos and madras curries, or the hot-peppery chicken dishes (I forget from which region). Being a red bigot (drink reds almost exclusively) I'm happy to drink sparkling red or youngish fruit-driven shiraz or GSM blends with most Indian dishes. This may be a bit of an acquired taste, but I've been doing it a long time now and seldom find clashes with the reds I choose.
Cheers
Brian
Life's too short to drink white wine and red wine is better for you too! :-)
Brian
Life's too short to drink white wine and red wine is better for you too! :-)
I second all that has been said by RB and Rooview. The only thing I would add is that foods containing chilli tend to acentuate the alcohol in a wine, so try avoid wines 14% and above if possible (of course there are always exceptions to this; vintage ports go very well with some north Indian curries).
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George Krashos
- Posts: 474
- Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2003 7:26 pm
Nayan wrote:I second all that has been said by RB and Rooview. The only thing I would add is that foods containing chilli tend to acentuate the alcohol in a wine, so try avoid wines 14% and above if possible (of course there are always exceptions to this; vintage ports go very well with some north Indian curries).
I was going to suggest maybe the 2004 St Hallett GST could be a surprsingly good match with those exotic black tea and spice characters matched to medium weight sweet plum/cherry/confectionery fruit.
I've tried Nepalese with a young, complex (but slightly alcoholic) Pinot which went pretty well and thought the bite of the GST could work out okay, but the 15.8% alcohol could be too much of a stretch.
That said it wasn't that noticeable at the instore tasting, so it could still be a possibility.
Cheers
Ian
Forget about goodness and mercy, they're gone.
...Gewurztraminer is good ....or GSM blends....I like juicy unoaked Rhone blends like Spinifex or Teusner Joshua which have both worked well in the past.
These guys seem to know what their on about
"Despite the stoic resistance of a stubborn minority who maintain that beer is the only acceptable option with a curry, most fans of Indian food have come round to the idea that wine can be an equally enjoyable accompaniment. Especially in London which now has some of the most sophisticated Indian restaurants in the world.
Much of the credit for this is due to pioneering sommelier Laurent Chaniac who, together with chef Vivek Singh, has incorporated a gastronomic menu paired with serious wines into the regular menu at London's fashionable Cinnamon Club - the first Indian restaurant to take wine this seriously. They also hold regular winemaker dinners.
Now Chaniac and Singh have taken their mission a stage further by attempting to pin down the effect that individual spices, or groups of spices have on wine and which types of wines they suit. They have discovered, for example, that onion seeds and carom seeds (also known as ajowan) soften the tannins and open up the fruit of young wines such as red Bordeaux and Cote de Nuits burgundies. They also deal with any herbaceous notes in young cool-climate cabernets. “Normally that kind of wine is an enemy of Indian cuisine†says Singh.
Other discoveries are that tamarind, the sour paste that is widely used in southern Indian cooking and which is sometimes used by Singh as a glaze for meat or fish, has a strange affinity with the earthy flavours of pinot noir that is made in the traditional way in open top fermenters. That the fragrant combination of mace and cardamom fires up New Zealand sauvignon blanc and that sandalwood (used by Singh in a tandoori chicken dish) hits it off with gewurztraminer.
Of course in the sophisticated world of Indian spicing, spices are rarely encountered on their own even within a single dish but are skilfully blended so that none predominates. “You should never be able to detect turmeric in a dish, for example†says Singh “but it will very often be there†But the presence of certain spices or spices of a certain style can lead the wine choice in a specific direction, wine becoming part of the overall harmony of the dish.
“When we work on pairings we always look at the spices before we look at the basic ingredient†says Chaniac. “The first issue is the level of heat. That doesn't necessarily mean how hot it is - it can be a question of concentration.†“Some spices, such as chilli, cloves and cardamom, create heat in the body†chips in Singh.
“When you have a hot dish you need to go for a wine, usually white, with refreshing acidity and a certain amount of residual sugar†continues Chaniac. "The acid tones down the heat and leaves room for the fruit to express itself." An example in the Cinnamon Club Cookbook (£20 Absolute Press), in which he gives wine pairings for all the main recipes, is a dish of deep fried skate wings with chilli, garlic and vinegar, partnered with Australian riesling. Fresh spices and herbs such as green chillies, garlic, ginger and coriander also tend to suggest high acid whites rather than riper, barrel-fermented ones or reds.
For dishes dominated by dried chillies and other warm spices such as cloves the pair diverge , Chaniac tending to favour aromatic whites such as gewurztraminer and Tokay pinot gris and Singh mature, soft reds. “A red wine needs to be concentrated but with soft tannins and a finish which is quite dry†concedes Chaniac. “Older vintages can have a role to play. We like old-style Barossa wines, older vintages of wines like Grant Burge's Holy Trinity but they're hard to get hold of. Alternatively we look for a wine that can generate freshness like a cool climate pinot noir or a young grenache.†They tend to serve their reds cooler than average. “All our reds are in fridges held at 16 or 17 C.Ââ€Â
Individual spice blends can unpredictably buck the trend, “If you take a classic pickling spice mix composed of cumin, onion, fennel, carom and mustard seeds, mix it with star anise and then combine it with a grape such as cabernet franc from a very hot climate a wonderful alchemy will take place†rhapsodises Chaniac. “The grape will tend to release aromas of eucalyptus and liquorice which then marry perfectly with the flavours from the pickling spice mix.Ââ€Â
The pair are constantly pushing the boundaries of what is accepted practice in food and wine matching, challenging even their own preconceptions. Their general view is that oak doesn't tend to work with spicy food but they have discovered that barrel-fermented chardonnay has a real affinity with cashew nuts and toasted sesame seeds. “We also came across a fabulous match recently of Chapoutier's Le Méal white Hermitage 1997 (100% Marsanne) with a dish of prawns flavoured with star anise, cinnamon and cloves.†recalls Chaniac. “The honey and citrus flavours of the wine were stunning with the dish but the common thread was the liquorice flavour of both the wine and the food, accentuated by the smoky flavours of the tandoor.Ââ€Â
At the same meal Chapoutier had pulled another clever trick. “We were tasting a Cote Rotie that was structured and quite dense and he showed us that when you ate a few raw coriander leaves it became more lively and longer on the finish. Now we're looking at the effect of herbs on wine too. We've already found that where mint is a component of a sauce an Australian style of shiraz works well.Ââ€Â
One word of warning: these pairings won't work in a conventionally structured Indian meal where several dishes are served at once. At the Cinnamon Club they're served as courses, Western style. And don't serve your dish with a chutney unless it's specifically designed to go with the recipe. “I don't like people asking for a selection of chutneys as the balance of the dish can get lost†says Singh. “With a chutney there's so much going on - sweet, sour, bitter. It stays on the palate for a long time.Ââ€Â
The Cinnamon Club is at Old Westminster Library, Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3BU. Tel (44) (0)207 7222 2555. www.cinnamonclub.com"
These guys seem to know what their on about
"Despite the stoic resistance of a stubborn minority who maintain that beer is the only acceptable option with a curry, most fans of Indian food have come round to the idea that wine can be an equally enjoyable accompaniment. Especially in London which now has some of the most sophisticated Indian restaurants in the world.
Much of the credit for this is due to pioneering sommelier Laurent Chaniac who, together with chef Vivek Singh, has incorporated a gastronomic menu paired with serious wines into the regular menu at London's fashionable Cinnamon Club - the first Indian restaurant to take wine this seriously. They also hold regular winemaker dinners.
Now Chaniac and Singh have taken their mission a stage further by attempting to pin down the effect that individual spices, or groups of spices have on wine and which types of wines they suit. They have discovered, for example, that onion seeds and carom seeds (also known as ajowan) soften the tannins and open up the fruit of young wines such as red Bordeaux and Cote de Nuits burgundies. They also deal with any herbaceous notes in young cool-climate cabernets. “Normally that kind of wine is an enemy of Indian cuisine†says Singh.
Other discoveries are that tamarind, the sour paste that is widely used in southern Indian cooking and which is sometimes used by Singh as a glaze for meat or fish, has a strange affinity with the earthy flavours of pinot noir that is made in the traditional way in open top fermenters. That the fragrant combination of mace and cardamom fires up New Zealand sauvignon blanc and that sandalwood (used by Singh in a tandoori chicken dish) hits it off with gewurztraminer.
Of course in the sophisticated world of Indian spicing, spices are rarely encountered on their own even within a single dish but are skilfully blended so that none predominates. “You should never be able to detect turmeric in a dish, for example†says Singh “but it will very often be there†But the presence of certain spices or spices of a certain style can lead the wine choice in a specific direction, wine becoming part of the overall harmony of the dish.
“When we work on pairings we always look at the spices before we look at the basic ingredient†says Chaniac. “The first issue is the level of heat. That doesn't necessarily mean how hot it is - it can be a question of concentration.†“Some spices, such as chilli, cloves and cardamom, create heat in the body†chips in Singh.
“When you have a hot dish you need to go for a wine, usually white, with refreshing acidity and a certain amount of residual sugar†continues Chaniac. "The acid tones down the heat and leaves room for the fruit to express itself." An example in the Cinnamon Club Cookbook (£20 Absolute Press), in which he gives wine pairings for all the main recipes, is a dish of deep fried skate wings with chilli, garlic and vinegar, partnered with Australian riesling. Fresh spices and herbs such as green chillies, garlic, ginger and coriander also tend to suggest high acid whites rather than riper, barrel-fermented ones or reds.
For dishes dominated by dried chillies and other warm spices such as cloves the pair diverge , Chaniac tending to favour aromatic whites such as gewurztraminer and Tokay pinot gris and Singh mature, soft reds. “A red wine needs to be concentrated but with soft tannins and a finish which is quite dry†concedes Chaniac. “Older vintages can have a role to play. We like old-style Barossa wines, older vintages of wines like Grant Burge's Holy Trinity but they're hard to get hold of. Alternatively we look for a wine that can generate freshness like a cool climate pinot noir or a young grenache.†They tend to serve their reds cooler than average. “All our reds are in fridges held at 16 or 17 C.Ââ€Â
Individual spice blends can unpredictably buck the trend, “If you take a classic pickling spice mix composed of cumin, onion, fennel, carom and mustard seeds, mix it with star anise and then combine it with a grape such as cabernet franc from a very hot climate a wonderful alchemy will take place†rhapsodises Chaniac. “The grape will tend to release aromas of eucalyptus and liquorice which then marry perfectly with the flavours from the pickling spice mix.Ââ€Â
The pair are constantly pushing the boundaries of what is accepted practice in food and wine matching, challenging even their own preconceptions. Their general view is that oak doesn't tend to work with spicy food but they have discovered that barrel-fermented chardonnay has a real affinity with cashew nuts and toasted sesame seeds. “We also came across a fabulous match recently of Chapoutier's Le Méal white Hermitage 1997 (100% Marsanne) with a dish of prawns flavoured with star anise, cinnamon and cloves.†recalls Chaniac. “The honey and citrus flavours of the wine were stunning with the dish but the common thread was the liquorice flavour of both the wine and the food, accentuated by the smoky flavours of the tandoor.Ââ€Â
At the same meal Chapoutier had pulled another clever trick. “We were tasting a Cote Rotie that was structured and quite dense and he showed us that when you ate a few raw coriander leaves it became more lively and longer on the finish. Now we're looking at the effect of herbs on wine too. We've already found that where mint is a component of a sauce an Australian style of shiraz works well.Ââ€Â
One word of warning: these pairings won't work in a conventionally structured Indian meal where several dishes are served at once. At the Cinnamon Club they're served as courses, Western style. And don't serve your dish with a chutney unless it's specifically designed to go with the recipe. “I don't like people asking for a selection of chutneys as the balance of the dish can get lost†says Singh. “With a chutney there's so much going on - sweet, sour, bitter. It stays on the palate for a long time.Ââ€Â
The Cinnamon Club is at Old Westminster Library, Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3BU. Tel (44) (0)207 7222 2555. www.cinnamonclub.com"