The Ultimate Wine Match For Spicy Food

It’s a question that often plagued me; ‘What wine goes well with a curry?’ I’m arguably overly fond of both, yet had never found the ultimate wine match until recently. But after much trial and experimentation – you see the suffering a poor journalist goes through in order to get the scoop? – I discovered that the lush, soft nature of a viognier goes very well indeed with spicy foods. So well in fact, that I started eating even more spicy food just to justify matching them!

The Viognier grape produces a white wine, usually found in the Rhône Valley of France but can also be found in many winemaking countries around the world, including New Zealand and Australia. A delicate grape, Viognier has many natural aromatics that can be easily destroyed without care. It also requires a more temperate climate so it doesn’t develop an over-abundance of sugars that could influence both sweetness and alcohol levels.

The Viognier I found to best achieve my pairing goals was the Yalumba Samuel’s Collection Eden Valley Viognier 2018 from legendary South Australian winemaker; Yalumba. Part of their Samuel’s Collection – which honours Samuel Smith, who founded Yalumba 170 years ago – the 2018 vintage is the happy result of a beautifully wet winter in the six vineyards Yalumba dedicates to Viognier within the Eden and Barossa Valleys, followed by a drier-than-average spring. This meant that the vines responded quickly that season; growing and flowering well and setting a good number of bunches.

Subsequent warm and dry summer days and cool nights helped ripen the grapes and give them a burst of freshness and natural acidity. This has led to apricot fruit aromas and flavours with long, luscious textures and hints of orange oil, followed by a refreshing finish.

Of course, the Yalumba Viognier isn’t just a great wine match for curry. With further experimentation, I discovered it also pairs well with a host of other spicier cuisines from around the world from Asian, North Africa and the Middle East too.

Very handy to know as I don’t mind the odd Moroccan tagine on occasion as well. Let me know what dishes you find the Yalumba Samuel’s Collection Eden Valley Viognier goes with as I need some more ideas for my future Spicy Sunday night dinners.