Which wine goes best with a chicken dinner?

Answer 1

Matching Food and Wine - Top Strategies

Matching food and wine is something of an art. However, even the novice can follow a few guidelines that will definitely improve their ability to appropriately pair a wine with a meal.

One guideline to live by in pairing food and wine: Light foods go with light wines. Heavy foods go with heavy wines. Delicate meals need a light wine. Heavier meals need a bigger wine.

1st Example - Filet of Sole goes nicely with a Sauvignon Blanc, not a Zinfandel. The Zin in most cases would overpower the fish.

2nd Example - A pesto pizza with prosciutto and cheese goes nicely with a Zinfandel, not a Sauvignon Blanc. The pizza would overpower the Sauvignon Blanc.

Here is a list to get you started. See the Varietal Chart for information on the weight of the various varietals.

Sauvignon Blanc – white or light fish, mild cheese, fruit

Chardonnay – grilled chicken, salmon, shellfish, and grilled fish, anything with a cream sauce.

Pinot Noir – light meats, chicken, grilled anything, salmon.

Merlot – pasta, red meat, duck, smoked or grilled foods

Zinfandel – tomato pasta dishes, pizza, pesto, red meats, chicken with heavy sauces

Cabernet Sauvignon – red meats, especially a juicy barbequed steak, grilled and smoked foods.

Syrah – red meats, spicy pizzas, herbed sauces on red meat, turkey

Dry Rosé - salads, pasta salads, bbq chicken or fish, light spicy foods

Another guideline to live by - If you like your everyday red or white wine, don’t worry about trying to match the food you are eating with that particular wine. What matters most is that you like how your wine tastes. Not every meal requires the perfect match with a wine.

Now, for that good, really good, or special bottle of wine: These wines deserve more consideration in pairing with food. A good bottle of wine is more complex with flavors and the right food match will complement those wine flavors. You certainly do not want to have a food mismatch.

Practice Matching Food and Wine

Experiment with two or more wines - Cook up a great entrée and open a couple of bottles or more of wine that follow the rules above. Taste each wine without the food. Taste the food without the wine. Taste one wine and then the food. Taste the other wine, then the food. Does one wine match better with the food? This is really fun to do with friends and discuss what each likes.

Plan a meal around a special bottle of wine
You have a special bottle of wine you want to open. Plan your meal around the wine. If is a Cabernet, barbeque a steak with buttery sauce. If it is a Syrah, cook up a pepper steak. If it is a Chardonnay, think about shellfish or a heavy cream sauce on a chicken. This is a reverse strategy that might help you think about matching your wine with the appropriate foods.

Go to Restaurant that has a food and wine pairing menu
Many restaurants now offer food and wine pairing meals. They are a delight and a good way to start to learn about pairing food with wine. You pay a set price and receive three or four different servings, each paired with a different wine. We have done this several times and we find it is fun and very educational.

If you want to learn more about wine and food pairing, I recommend you read and use "Great Tastes Made Simple." This is a sequel to "Great Wines Made Simple." Like she did in her first book, Andrea Immer uses a set of step-by-step methods for teaching the relationship between food and wine. A great book!

Answer 2

It definately depends on how you prepare your chicken. If it has a richer flavor or sauce you can serve a red wine...like Merlot or Zinfendel. If its light or grilled, a crisp white like a Chardonney would work. If you have a spicy chicken meal, I would suggest a Gewürztraminer. But to be safe try something that is mild and mixes with a variety of foods try a Sauv. Blanc or a Pinot Gris... or even a White Zinfindel.

Answer 3

Chardonnay – grilled chicken, salmon, shellfish, and grilled fish, anything with a cream sauce.
Pinot Noir – light meats, chicken, grilled anything, salmon
Zinfandel – tomato pasta dishes, pizza, pesto, red meats, chicken with heavy sauces
Dry Rosé - salads, pasta salads, bbq chicken or fish, light spicy foods

If you like your everyday red or white wine, don’t worry about trying to match the food you are eating with that particular wine. What matters most is that you like how your wine tastes. Not every meal requires the perfect match with a wine

Answer 4

Since chicken is a "white meat", you are safe with anything in the family of white wines. I would serve a nice Chardonnay

Answer 5

It depends on the sauce or salad with the chicken, but usually a tender red wine matchs good: Merlot.

Answer 6

Personally, I love R.H. Phillips Toasted Head Chardonnay with any chicken dish. It always seems to match up so well no matter what the sauce is for the chicken.

Answer 7

White. For example Chardonnay or a blush like White Zinfendel.

Answer 8

Chicken is a very versatile food. There are a lot of wines that you could have. My first choice would be white zinfandel.

Answer 9

Chardonnay

Answer 10

white wines go best with chicken!