What wine to drink with Thai food?

Wine and Thai Cuisine

Thai cuisine, with its complex and spicy flavors, requires special attention when choosing the right wine to pair with it. Between the sweet and savory, notes of lemongrass, ginger, and the omnipresent chili, the challenge is to find a wine that can enhance these flavors without overpowering them. If you're looking to pair a good French wine with your Thai dishes, here are some tips for achieving this delicate balance.

What Wine to Pair with Pad Thai?

Pad Thai, a staple of Thai cuisine, consists of stir-fried rice noodles, shrimp, meat, or tofu, all coated in tamarind sauce, peanuts, and lime. A crisp and fruity white wine, like a Vouvray or Sauvignon Blanc, is ideal to balance the lime's acidity and the richness of the dish. If you prefer a rosé, a rosé from Provence will bring a refreshing touch that pairs perfectly with this dish.

What Wine to Drink with Thai Curry?

Thai curries, whether green, red, or yellow, are rich in spices and coconut milk. To pair with a green shrimp curry or a red beef curry, an aromatic dry white wine like an Alsace Riesling or a Côtes du Rhône white is the perfect match to balance the richness of the coconut milk while softening the spices.

What Wine to Pair with Thai Chicken?

Thai chicken, with its spices and fresh herbs, deserves a wine with intense aromas but a nice acidity. A Pinot Gris from Alsace or a Chenin Blanc from a Loire estate will provide the ideal harmony with the dish's spicy notes and freshness. For red wine lovers, a light Gamay or Pinot Noir will enhance the subtlety of the spices.

Are you cooking a Thai dish and want to pair your Asian meal with a French wine? Thai cuisine is very flavorful and spicy, and pairing it with a good glass of wine can be challenging. Discover our entire selection of wines on Avenue des Vins to pair with your Thai and Asian dishes, available for delivery directly from the estate or château of your choice.

Wine with Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese and Korean Food

Chinese cooking often plays sweet against savory. Peking duck, with its glossy skin and sweet hoisin sauce, takes a light red with soft tannins such as Pinot Noir. Sweet-and-sour pork or shrimp needs a white with perfume and a hint of sweetness: an Alsace Gewurztraminer, often scented with lychee and rose, matches the sauce. Steamed dumplings and fried rice are fine with any crisp dry white.

Japanese food calls for a lighter touch. Wine with sushi and sashimi should be dry, crisp and unoaked so the raw fish stays center stage; Muscadet or an unoaked Chablis both work well. Yakitori, grilled skewers brushed with sweet soy tare, can handle a light red. A Beaujolais served slightly chilled, around 57 °F (14 °C), stays fresh against the glaze and the char.

Vietnamese cooking runs on fresh herbs: mint, cilantro, Thai basil and lime. A bo bun, rice vermicelli topped with stir-fried beef, wants a zesty dry white like Sauvignon Blanc, whose grassy notes pick up the herbs. Pho, a broth scented with star anise and cinnamon, goes well with a light, dry rosé. For Korean bulgogi, marinated and grilled beef, pour a fruity red with gentle tannins.

Frequently asked questions about wine and Thai food

Does Thai food call for a sweet wine?

A touch of residual sugar helps, but it is not compulsory. Sweetness tempers chilli and echoes the sweet-savoury balance of Thai cooking; an off-dry white or a markedly aromatic one plays the same role.

Can you drink red wine with Thai food?

Yes, but only a light, fresh red. Tannins amplify the burn of chilli, so a supple, fruity red served around 14 °C succeeds where a full-bodied one does not.

Which wine works with a very spicy dish?

A fresh white, low in alcohol and faintly sweet. Alcohol sharpens the sensation of heat, which makes it the first thing to check, ahead of grape variety or region.

At what temperature should wine be served with a Thai meal?

Between 8 and 10 °C for a white, around 14 °C for a light red. The chill calms the chilli and refreshes the palate between mouthfuls.

Where can you buy wine for Asian food direct from the grower?

You can buy wine for Asian food direct from the grower on Avenue des Vins. Each bottle ships from the estate that made it, with no middleman. For dish-by-dish ideas, see our guide to pairing wine with Thai food.

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