A Guide to Pairing Wine With Spicy Food 

If you’ve never had a steaming bowl of kimchi jjigae alongside a glass of crisp, skin-contact Pinot Gris, you’re missing out. Pairing wine with spicy, funky, and boldly flavored foods isn’t a challenge so much as an adventure, says Cha McCoy, author of Wine Pairing for the People.

“The unapologetically seasoned, spiced, and sometimes spicy foods of the world outside Europe are long overdue for wine pairings that match their complexity, vibrancy, and cultural relevance,” McCoy writes. In her book, and in our conversation in Imbibe’s November/December 2025 issue, McCoy shares tips for selecting wines that bring out the best in vibrant dishes from across the globe.

In any pairing, balance is key. The wrong wine can either overpower a meal or quite literally get lost in the sauce. Here’s what McCoy and other pros suggest.

Tailor Your Approach

Predilections for heat and funk are personal. What one person considers mild might be red-hot to others or vice versa. McCoy recommends approaching wine pairings with these nuances in mind. 

For instance, wine textbooks tend to recommend pairing off-dry Rieslings and Chenin Blancs with spicy foods. The thinking is that the wines’ residual sugars counter the piquancy of what’s on the plate. 

But people who appreciate rather than tolerate spiciness might not want to mask the heat so much as complement or even heighten it, McCoy says: “Personally, I don’t like dimming heat—I like enjoying it.” 

Tailor your approach to what you like and how much you want to highlight or contrast with what’s on your plate.

Look for Unoaked White and Rosé Wines

If you lean toward white and rosé wines, look for unoaked options with low alcohol and high acidity. While the latter can play up the heat in already-spicy dishes, it also cuts through richness and complements the tang or funk of vinaigrettes or anything made with fermented ingredients. 

“You want the wine to match the acidity of the dish,” says Jake Bennie, the wine director of Proxi and Sepia restaurants in Chicago. “If you have a spicy pickled cucumber salad with chili oil, soy, chive, and rice wine vinegar, consider an unoaked, light-bodied white wine with elevated acidity like Sauvignon Blanc, dry or off-dry Riesling, or Chenin Blanc.” 

The reverse is true, too. “A grape with moderate to low acidity like Marsanne, Viognier, Arneis, even Gewürztraminer will be problematic as they will come off flabby given the high acidity of the vinaigrette,” Bennie says. 

To balance heat as well as richness, opt for rosé and white wines that have lots of bright, fruity flavors. That’s what Jeffrey Gold, wine director at Adda in New York City, suggests when guests order the restaurant’s signature Butter Chicken Experience. The dish features a heritage bird, smoked tomatoes, daal, and a sauce enriched with cashews and butter, and “the precision of the acidity with the mineral drive layered around the flesh of optimally ripe Chenin allows [the wine] to drive through the weight of the sauce,” Gold says.

Look for Fruity, Low-Alcohol Red Wines

Red wines tend to have higher alcohol and more perceptible tannins than white or rosé options, which affects which foods they pair with and why. Look for fruity, low-alcohol red wines with ample acidity and soft tannins—pretty much any red wine that you might serve with a chill will work.

If your meal is spicy or especially pungent, most sommeliers recommend steering clear of big, bold red wines with sky-high ABVs because alcohol content amplifies the perception of heat and bitterness in a dish. “Choosing wines with a lower alcohol percentage helps a lot,” says Tyler Blair, the wine steward and sommelier for Khâluna restaurant in Minneapolis.

Similarly, pairing spicy and funky foods with very tannic wines like Cabernet Sauvignon and Nebbiolo can flatten the flavors of what’s in your glass and on your plate. Instead, look for fruit-forward red wines with moderate alcohol and minimal tannins. Varieties that typically fit this description include Pinot Noir, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, and Grenache. 

Don’t be afraid to experiment, either. “Great wines contain layers of depth and complexity, as does great cuisine,” Gold says. Let the adventures begin.