Grilled poultry can take on many different wines depending on what sauces, rub or marinades are used. It ultimately needs a wine that complements, not dominates, the smoky barbecue flavor and marinade of the meat.
WINES WITH GRILLED CHICKEN
Wines with simply seasoned chicken
A grilled chicken simply seasoned with salt, paprika, parsley, garlic or marjoram is one of the most versatile dishes and goes well with white, rosé and red wines.
Due to the charcoal and smoke flavor that permeates the meat, mild whites often seem somewhat colorless. Therefore, go ahead and use stronger white wines, with lively acidity, which would like to have seen some new oak.
The toasting note of a barrel-aged wine, such as a Chardonnay, softens the bitterness of the smoked, partially charred meat. If you want to drink red wine with it, a Beaujolais or another wine from the Gamay grape variety is a reliable partner.
Chicken mild seasoned
Riesling
Australia
Wine style
mild and harmonious
Canada
Wines with herb spiced chicken
If the chicken is seasoned with herbs or an herb marinade classic, with lemon, rosemary and thyme, or South American, with lime and cilantro, a Sauvignon Blanc with its grassy, herbal notes pairs beautifully.
A Provence-style rosé, a Pinot Noir from a cooler wine region, or a Grenache would also be good choices.
herb chicken
Wine style
Wines with spicy chicken
Especially in Asian cuisine, but also in North African cuisine, chicken likes to be spicy. To get the sharpness under control, wines with more tannins or residual sweetness are required.
The wines should also not have too much alcohol, because the more alcohol the more burning sensation on the palate. The ideal partner in this case is a semi-dry or sweet Riesling, which also gets top marks with Asia’s notorious sweet-and-sour sauces.
Chicken
spicy
Wine style
White varieties
Chicken seasoned with BBQ sauce
When the chicken or chicken thighs are coated with a sticky-sweet barbecue sauce, low-tannin, lusciously fruity red wines like Zinfandel or Primitivo run at their best.
With their fruit sweetness and richness of extract, they are a perfect match for the smoky-sweet flavor of the sauces. If the BBQ sauce is South Carolina style, i.e. flavored with mustard and thus spicy, then a Riesling with residual sweetness is again recommended.
BBQ sauce
Chicken
Wine style
Wine style
Wine style
Wine origin