Ideas For Pairing Riesling With Food

By Georgia Zoe Hill on June 2, 2015

When it comes to wine and food pairing, Riesling wines are one of the most versatile options. Thanks to their unique sweetness and regional styles, we can say that it is possible to find a Riesling wine for just about any dish.

Pairing-Riesling-With-Food

Dry Riesling Wines

Dry Rieslings feature less flamboyant aromas and are less fruitys. In addition, their higher alcohol level gives them a rich, full-bodied structure. These characteristics make them a perfect combination with traditional European-style cuisine.

  • Firm structure: Dry Riesling wines feature a clean, concentrated structure and a fine mineral edge. These wines can brighten the flavours of cream sauces and refresh the palate.
  • Unoaked flavour: This means that the wine doesn’t go trough the oak process what enables the subtle flavours in fine cooking like for example, classic preparations of fish, poultry and pork.
  • Pure, “stony” fruit: This Riesling style is not as overtly fruity as sweeter ones. The wine features a spicy texture and density that gives it the body and ability to pair well with full-flavoured foods and classic sauces.

Pairing ideas: Roasted chicken, grilled pork chops, baked or fried fish, sauteed mushrooms, simple seafood dishes, cream sauces.

Lightly Sweet Riesling Wines

Lightness and a mineral-inflected fruitiness are the characteristics of fine, off-dry Rieslings. Their classic style and complete purity of flavour make them great partners for modern cooking that emphasizes high-quality, fresh ingredients.

  • Naturally low alcohol: A lightly sweet Riesling wine that has moderate alcohol makes an ideal match to spicy foods.
  • Fine structure: Rieslings with structure extracted from ripe acidity, instead from tannins drawn from oak barrels. While tannic wines are known to give spicy foods an unpleasant bitterness, these Rieslings help tame the spice.
  • Cooling sweetness: Exceptional partners for spicy foods. The slight sweetness present on the wine is known to cool the palate and keep the food fresh and lively.
  • Crisp acidity: Riesling wines feature a bright acidity that balances their sweetness and helps cleanse and freshen the palate.

Pairing ideas: Roasted meats with pan sauce, crab cakes, lemongrass chicken, as well as roasted vegetables, pumpkin ravioli and white-rind soft cheeses.

Sweet and Very Sweet Riesling Wines

Sweeter Riesling wines pair well with moderately sweet tropical dishes featuring fresh fruits as well as with rich, spicy Indian dishes. But they can also work well on their own as a refreshing “sorbet” between courses. When they are aged (around 10 to 20 years old), Riesling wines become drier and earthier to the taste. This makes them perfect partners to roasted or braised game dishes, such as wild boar, fowl, and venison.

Very sweet, dessert-style Riesling wines tend to be extremely intense, concentrated wines, and are best to be enjoyed on their own. However, their richness can also matches pretty well with strong, salty blue cheeses and fruit desserts.