With Indian Food What Wines Can Take The Heat And Spice?

It is certainly not true that all Indian food is highly spiced and red hot with chilies (which didn’t even reach India from the Americas until the 16^th century). But many dishes are built around seasonings and spices with pronounced aromatics that make them difficult to match with wine.

India does make wine from indigenous grapes like Anabeshi, Arkavati and Arkashyam, although the Turkish varietal Sultana (also called Thompson Seedless) is predominant, and, while increasing among the middle class, wine is only two percent of the country’s alcohol market share. The problem is that India is a patchwork of states that do and do not ban alcohol, and wines are also very expensive, not least if exported. Also, most are quite sweet.

It is worth noting that international varietals like Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah and Zinfandel have made small inroads, and there is a bit of a snob factor in drinking European wines. A hip cocktail bar named The Bombay Canteen in Mumbai carries a wide array of liquors as well as 14 wines, both Indian and international, including Gran Sello Tempranillo and Syrah from Spain; Matia Riccitelli “Hey Malbec” from Argentina; Riporta Nero d’Avola from Italy; Bex Riesling from Germany; and Jacky Marteau Gamay from France. The fine dining restaurant The Table in Mumbai carries two dozen wines and has a Coravin system for seven wines by the glass, including a Sangiovese from Italy and a Cabernet Sauvignon from South Africa.

These listings give a clue as to what wines will go well with Indian food, and most are fairly full-bodied and intense, which would be good matches with rich Mughal dishes like vindaloo and butter chicken. Whites like Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc have a grassy component and light sweetness. Delicate white Burgundies would not work, though a high alcohol, heavily oaked Chardonnay. Gewurztraminer and Riesling, which have their own spiciness, is a good choice. Sparkling wines would, too, especially with tandoori dishes.

Lesser body reds like Chianti and Beaujolais will fade in the face of Indian spices, but sweet dessert wines like Port, Trockenbeerenauslese and Ice wines will marry well to sweet Indian desserts like ras mali and kulfi.

Frankly, I usually prefer beer with Indian food, but I’ve some fine meals accompanied by wines of the western hemisphere. Here are some I find work very well.

Stewart Sauvignon Blanc 2023 ($36). This Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc, fermented wholly in stainless steel, is all about refreshment, with both fruit and acids and 12.9% alcohol working together both to enhance and to cut through the spices of Indian seafood dishes and biryani rice dishes.

Larkmead Lillie Sauvignon Blanc 2023 ($75). Bolder and more full-bodied, with a high 14.3% alcohol, this Napa Valley spends time in 100% barrel fermentation, with 32% new oak. It has tropical notes, good minerality and a fine finish on the palate. It would work wonderfully with the crêpe-like dosas filled with potatoes and spices.

Château Malherbe Grand Vin Blanc 2021 ($55). Aging has provided refinement to this blend of French Rolle and aromatic Semillon, from Provence, made biodynamically by the Ferrari family and winemaker Jean Luburthe. Made from 50-year-old grapes planted in clay and shale, it undergoes malolactic to give it a soft profile then aged in Burgundy barrels for 12 months, emerging at a proper 13%. It has a pleasant heft that would go well with mis, yogurt-based korma.

Inman Family Wines OGV Estate Brut Rosé 2023 ($80). An elegant sparkler made with 100% Pinot Noir at the Olivet Grange Vineyard with the méthode champenoise, it comes quite close to rose Champagnes at much higher prices. Two percent of the previous vintage “tinted” the wine to “reduce bitterness and phenolics and add texture and character.” It would be excellent with mulligatawny soup.

Penfolds Bin 600 Cabernet Shiraz 2021 ($50). The Cabernet (85%) brings the richness and tannin backbone while the Shiraz (15%) brings the glow of ripe fruit. While Penfolds is known in 1998 as a significant Australian company, in this case they brought cuttings from the Kalima and Magill Estates to California, planting them in the Camatta Hills vineyard known as “Creston ‘600’ Ranch, thus the name. It spends 16 months in American oak barriques. This is one big red that would meet the heat in dishes like lamb vindaloo from Goa.