Choose the best wines to accompany all types of takeaway meals
These days most pubs and restaurants are offering the take away meal option, and as a result, it is no longer just a sneaky greasy treat on a Friday night, as the array of meals available are of restaurant quality. There is a vast range of cuisine for home delivery from pizza to Thai, curry and Peking Duck, fish ‘n’ chips to Ramen (ok, that may be a noodle too far!)
When dining in a restaurant, you would likely choose a bottle of wine to complement the meal you ordered. You may well ask the Sommelier for recommendations. So when at home with your top notch take away, a good wine that suits the flavours, is just as critical – so we are here to act as your at home sommelier!
Even the most casual meal should have a great wine to accompany it -no?
Below is our Take Away Wine chart to give you some guidelines:
| Take Away Treat | Suggested Wine | Why does it go? |
| Beefburger / Hamburger and Chips | Ideal is a red Bordeaux – with grape varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Carmenere, and Petit Verdot | A rich red wine with some spicey complexity to complement the spiciness in your burger Champagne goes best with chips! |
| Fish and Chips | A sparkling wine is perfect – a Champagne or English Sparkling wine | A refreshing fruity bubbly will be perfect with the batter – cutting through some of the delicious greasiness. If you have vinegar on your fish and chips- and a squeeze of lemon, you will need a wine that works well with the acidity of these. Sparkling wines are ideal! |
| Pizza | Italian Red! Chianti (Sangiovese) Valpolicella Nero D’Avola Syrah | We often say think about where the food comes from and drink the wine from the same region -this is best illustrated by the Pizza and Italian wine: assuming most of the pizzas are tomato based with cheese a good red will |
| Chinese: | There are several different styles of Chinese takeaway | |
| Peking Duck | Light reds such as Pinot Noir or Rioja Crianza | Duck is a delicate flavour and needs a light red so that it is not overpowered ! |
| Sweet and Sour | Riesling / Gewurztraminer or a Pinot Gris | The sweeter sauces are best complemented by refreshing white wine, that have some residual sugar – ie they are “off dry” |
| Spare ribs or a Szechuan style dish | Shiraz / Syrah or Primitivo from Italy or a GSM (Grenache. Syrah / Mourvèdre blend) from Chile (or the Rhone) | Full bodied red that can handle the strong flavours in the spicy dishes |
| Indian | Levels of spiciness and “hotness” with determine the choice of wine | |
| Starters: chutney and poppadoms Bahjis | Sauvignon Blancs / Vinho Verde from Portugal or Pinot Gris | Fruity citrussy white wines with good acidity to balance the acid in the chutneys (onions etc) and the sweetness |
| Korma | Chardonnay or a sparkling wine (cava / prosecco / pet nat) | The yoghurt and cream in these dishes is best suited to a creamy white wine such as chardonnay – and even better with the spritz in a sparkling wine |
| Chicken Tikka | Light bodied red such as South African pinotage or a pinot noir / gamay | The addition of tomato to the spices in a korma means that this needs a wine that can cope with the acidity of those tomatoes -and perhaps a little spice |
| Rogon Josh | Full bodied red such as Merlot / Chianti / Malbec | This red meat based dish will be bet accompanied by a full bodied red, which won’t be swamped by the rich flavours |
| Vindaloo | Beer!!! | You need a really refreshing thirst quenching drink with this curry! |
| Turkish Kebabs | Riesling Gewurztraminer Light red such as Rioja Crianza | If this is a traditional lamb shish or a doner kebab, it is likely to have some wonderful fat, that needs a wine with good acidity to balance that. A slightly sweeter (off dry) wine with its aromatic flavours will complement the spiciness of the meat |
| Rotisserie Chicken (and Chicken Nuggets!) | Sauvignon Blanc -ideally from France but the New Zealand ones will work too Some of the lighter Italian wines such as Trebbiano and Chardonnay | Fresh citrussy, herby white wine to counter balance the spiciness of the chicken The nice creaminess in these wines will work well with the chicken, and the breaded crusts |
| Mexican eg Chilli con carne / burritos | Full bodied reds with some spiciness such as Pinotage, shiraz/syrah | The spice in the red tomato sauces and the strong flavoured cheeses need full bodied reds |
| Sushi | Pinot Gris/ Sauvignon Blanc / dry Riesling/ Gruner Vetliner | The refreshing white wines will counter the saltiness of the fish |
| Ramen Noodles (Thai food) | Picpoul de Pinet Riesling Verdejo | The spices in Vietnamese or Thai foods are lighter and more aromatic that most Indian spices and the light fresh floral style white wines are a perfect match – a full bodied but fresh white wine is best |
As ever, we believe that you should drink what you like with whatever you like unlike a certain fictional spy! “Red wine with fish…Well, that should have told me something.” James Bond, From Russia With Love
