Wine with Indian Food: A Spice-by-Spice Guide

Most wine pairing guides treat Indian food as a footnote. Two sentences, tops. "Spicy food? Try Riesling." Then they move on to another 3,000 words about Bordeaux and steak.

That's like saying "Indian food" is one thing. It isn't. The cooking of Kerala has almost nothing in common with Punjabi food. A Goan fish curry and a Rajasthani laal maas exist on different planets. There are creamy dishes, dry dishes, sour dishes, sweet-and-sour dishes, dishes where the heat is background warmth and dishes that will make you question your life choices. Saying "drink Riesling" with all of them is lazy advice.

Here's the dish-by-dish breakdown.

The Heat Principle: Why Alcohol Matters More Than You Think

Before we get into specific pairings, one piece of chemistry you need to know. Alcohol amplifies capsaicin. That's the compound that makes chili peppers burn. The higher the alcohol in your wine, the more the heat intensifies in your mouth.

This is why a 15% ABV Zinfandel with a vindaloo feels like drinking fire. The wine is literally making the spice worse.

The fix is straightforward: stay under 13% ABV for anything with real heat. Off-dry wines (those with a touch of residual sugar) actively counteract capsaicin — the sugar molecules bind to the same receptors and calm them down. This isn't opinion. It's how the chemistry works.

That said, not every Indian dish is spicy. Plenty are mild, creamy, or earthy. And those need completely different wines.

Creamy Curries: Butter Chicken, Korma, Tikka Masala

These are the gateway dishes — rich, mild, built on cream or yogurt or cashew paste. The heat level is low. The dominant flavors are butter, warm spices (cardamom, cinnamon, fenugreek), and sweetness from slow-cooked onions.

Viognier is the best match here and it's not close. A good Viognier from Condrieu (if you're spending, $35-55) or a California bottling from producers like Yalumba or Tablas Creek ($15-22) has stone fruit and floral aromatics that mirror the dish's warmth without competing with it. The round, almost oily texture of Viognier meets the cream in the curry and they just merge.

Off-dry Chenin Blanc from Vouvray ($14-20) is another strong option. The slight sweetness handles any background spice, and the acidity cuts through the richness of the sauce. Domaine Huet makes stunning Vouvray if you want to splurge.

Oaked Chardonnay works if it's what you've got. The buttery quality meets butter chicken on the same frequency. Just avoid anything too high in alcohol — stick to cooler-climate versions from Burgundy or the Sonoma Coast rather than a big, hot Napa Chard.

Tomato-Based Curries: Rogan Josh, Vindaloo, Madras

Now we're dealing with acidity from the tomatoes, more aggressive spice, and deeper flavors — think cumin, coriander, dried red chili, and sometimes tamarind. These dishes need wines that can match their acidity and stand up to heat without amplifying it.

Beaujolais is a sleeper pick. Gamay is low in tannin, high in acidity, served slightly chilled, and usually comes in around 12-13% ABV. A cru Beaujolais from Morgon or Fleurie (Marcel Lapierre, Jean Foillard, $18-28) has just enough weight to hang with a rogan josh, and the red fruit plays off the tomato base instead of clashing with it. Drink it slightly cool — 10 minutes in the fridge.

Gew\u00fcrztraminer from Alsace is the classic call for a reason. The name literally means "spice traminer." The lychee and rose petal aromatics play with Indian spice rather than fighting it, and the off-dry versions have enough sugar to tame the chili heat. Trimbach or Hugel make reliable, affordable bottles ($15-22). This wine with a properly made vindaloo is one of those pairings that makes you rethink everything.

What doesn't work: tannic reds. A Cabernet or Barolo with a spicy tomato curry is genuinely unpleasant. The tannins clash with the spice, the alcohol amplifies the heat, and the tomato acidity makes the wine taste metallic. Skip it.

Lentil Dishes: Dal, Sambar, Chana Masala

Earthy, warming, comfort food. Dal makhani is smoky and rich. Sambar is sour and spicy. Chana masala is hearty and tomatoey. The common thread is earthiness — lentils and chickpeas have a grounding, mineral quality that wants a wine with some soil in its soul.

Grenache is the grape for this. A Grenache-dominant wine from the Southern Rh\u00f4ne — C\u00f4tes du Rh\u00f4ne or Chateauneuf-du-Pape if you're celebrating — has warm red fruit, a hint of garrigue (that herby, scrubby-hillside smell), and soft tannins that don't fight the lentils' texture. E. Guigal's C\u00f4tes du Rh\u00f4ne ($12-16) is one of the best values in wine and it's perfect here.

GSM blends (Grenache-Syrah-Mourv\u00e8dre) from the Rh\u00f4ne, Australia, or Spain give you the same earthy warmth with a little more complexity. Tablas Creek Patelin de Tablas ($18-22) or d'Arenberg's The Stump Jump ($10-14) are both great picks.

For sambar specifically, its tamarind sourness likes a wine with matching acidity. A lighter Grenache or even a dry ros\u00e9 handles this better than anything too plush.

Tandoori and Grilled Dishes: Tandoori Chicken, Seekh Kebab, Paneer Tikka

Smoky. Charred. Spice-rubbed. The tandoor oven runs at temperatures above 900\u00b0F, and that intense, dry heat creates flavors that are closer to barbecue than to curry. The wine logic is the same as for grilled food anywhere in the world.

Dry ros\u00e9 is the move. A Proven\u00e7al ros\u00e9 (Domaines Ott if you want to impress, $25-35, or Ch\u00e2teau Miraval for the solid everyday pick, $18-22) has enough fruit to match the char, enough acid to cut through the fat in the meat, and not so much tannin that it fights the spice rub. Navarra ros\u00e9 from Spain ($10-14) is an underrated alternative — a little more body, a little more strawberry, and a fraction of the price.

Lighter Syrah from the Northern Rh\u00f4ne also works — the smoky, peppery quality of a Crozes-Hermitage (Alain Graillot, Paul Jaboulet A\u00een\u00e9, $18-28) mirrors the smokiness of the tandoor. Just make sure it's not a massive, high-alcohol Australian Shiraz. You want finesse, not firepower.

If you're having paneer tikka specifically, the char on the paneer plus its mild, creamy interior makes it one of the most wine-friendly Indian dishes out there. Almost any medium-bodied white or light red works. It's a good place to experiment.

Street Food: Chaat, Pakora, Samosas, Bhel Puri

This is where wine pairing gets genuinely fun. Street food is all about contrasts — sweet-sour-spicy-crunchy-soft, sometimes all in the same bite. Chaat alone has tamarind, yogurt, chili, mint, crispy sev, and soft potato.

Sparkling wine. Full stop. Fried food and bubbles is one of the most underrated pairings in existence. The carbonation scrubs the oil off your palate. The acidity matches the tamarind and chutney. The lightness doesn't compete with the barrage of flavors.

Cava from Spain ($10-14, look for Segura Viudas or Freixenet Reserva) is the best value. Cr\u00e9mant d'Alsace or Cr\u00e9mant de Loire ($14-20) gives you Champagne-method quality without the Champagne price. And if you're going all-in, a proper grower Champagne (Pierre Gimonnet, Laherte Fr\u00e8res, $35-50) with a plate of hot samosas is genuinely one of the great pleasures in life.

The mint chutney that comes with samosas, by the way, has a particular affinity for Champagne's yeasty, toasty quality. Just trust me on this one.

Quick Reference Table

The one rule across all of these: watch the alcohol. Keeping it moderate makes every pairing work better with Indian spices. And if you're sharing dishes family-style — which is how most Indian meals actually work — a Gew\u00fcrztraminer or a sparkling wine is your safest single-bottle pick for the table.

PairScan handles Indian restaurants too — even the ones with short wine lists. Scan the menu, and the app matches specific dishes to specific bottles available at that restaurant, accounting for spice level and sauce type. No more defaulting to the one Riesling on the list because you don't know what else to try.

Scan. Pair. Sip.