Chinese Wine with Chinese Food: A Pairing Guide by Region

"What wine goes with Chinese food?" is a question with no answer, because there is no such thing as Chinese food. There are dozens of Chinese cuisines, as different from each other as Sicilian cooking is from Norwegian. The fiery numbing spice of Sichuan, the delicate steaming of Canton, the sweet soy braises of Shanghai, the cumin-scented lamb of the Silk Road.

For centuries, Chinese meals were accompanied by tea, rice wine (黄酒, huángjiǔ) or the powerful spirit baijiu. Today, a new companion has arrived at the table: Chinese grape wine. Here is how to match them.

Four rules to remember

1. Spice loves sweetness, hates alcohol

Chilli heat is amplified by alcohol and by strong tannins. With spicy dishes, choose wines with moderate alcohol, soft or no tannins, and ideally a touch of sweetness, which calms the fire: an off-dry white, a chilled rosé, a light fruity red.

2. Sweet meets sweet

Many Chinese sauces are sweet: hoisin, sweet and sour, red braising sauces. Next to them, a very dry wine tastes thin and sour. The wine should be at least as sweet, or as fruity, as the dish.

3. Soy and umami need soft tannins

Soy sauce, fermented beans and mushrooms are rich in umami, which makes strong tannins taste harsher and more bitter. Choose reds with ripe fruit and smooth tannins, like Marselan or Merlot.

4. The shared table needs versatility

A Chinese meal is shared: ten dishes arrive together and everyone tastes everything. Do not look for the perfect match for each dish. Open two bottles, one versatile white or rosé and one soft red, and let each guest follow their taste.

Beijing and the North

• 北京烤鸭Běijīng kǎoyāPeking duckcrisp fatty skin, sweet hoisin sauce, spring onion. A fruity red with fresh acidity and soft tannins: Marselan is a perfect match. The fruit meets the sauce, the acidity cuts the fat.
• 饺子jiǎozidumplingswith pork and cabbage, a dry white with good acidity, like a Riesling or an unoaked Chardonnay.

Sichuan: fire and numbness

Sichuan cooking is famous for 麻辣 (málà): the numbing tingle of Sichuan pepper and the heat of chilli. It is the hardest cuisine to pair, and the most rewarding.

• 麻婆豆腐mápó dòufumapo tofuan off-dry white. Petit Manseng with a little residual sugar is excellent: sweetness calms the heat, acidity refreshes the mouth.
• 宫保鸡丁gōngbǎo jīdīngKung Pao chickensweet, sour and spicy with peanuts. A chilled rosé or a fruity, low-tannin red.
• 火锅huǒguōhot potthe ultimate social meal. Bubbles are your best friend: a Chinese sparkling wine refreshes the palate between spicy bites.

Cantonese: freshness and delicacy

Cantonese cuisine is about pure ingredients and gentle cooking. The wines should be delicate too.

• 点心diǎnxīndim sumsteamed, fried, sweet and savoury bites together. Sparkling wine handles them all.
• 清蒸鱼qīngzhēng yústeamed fish with ginger and spring oniona crisp, dry white, like a Riesling or a Chardonnay without oak. Nothing that would cover the fish.
• 叉烧chāshāobarbecued porksweet, lacquered, smoky. A light, fruity red with soft tannins.

Shanghai and Jiangsu: the sweet side

The cooking of the lower Yangtze is rich, glossy and sweet, built on soy sauce, sugar and rice wine.

• 红烧肉hóngshāo ròured-braised pork bellyslow-cooked in soy and sugar until it melts. A round, ripe red: Cabernet Gernischt or Merlot, whose soft fruit matches the sweetness.
• 糖醋里脊tángcù lǐjisweet and sour porkan off-dry white or rosé. A dry red here would taste bitter.

Hunan: smoke and chilli

Hunan food is often just as hot as Sichuan's, but without the numbing pepper: pure chilli, smoke and sourness.

• 剁椒鱼头duòjiāo yútóufish head with chopped salted chilliesa chilled, off-dry white or a fresh rosé.
• 腊肉làròusmoked cured porka fruity red with gentle tannins, served slightly cool.

The Northwest: the Silk Road kitchen

Here we come full circle. In the lands of the Silk Road, the cooking is built on lamb, cumin, chilli and bread, and it is exactly where China's best red wines are made.

• 羊肉串yángròu chuànlamb skewers with cumin and chillia Ningxia or Xinjiang Cabernet Sauvignon. Ningxia is famous both for its reds and for its lamb. What grows together goes together.
• 大盘鸡dàpán jī"big plate chicken" from Xinjiangchicken, potatoes and peppers in a spicy sauce, with wide noodles. A Marselan: fruit and spice for fruit and spice.

And for dessert

• 月饼yuèbingmooncakes, eaten at the Mid-Autumn Festivala Chinese ice wine. A red Beibinghong ice wine with a red bean mooncake is a pairing you will not find anywhere else in the world.

In one sentence

Pair by region, not by country: calm spice with sweetness, match sweet sauces with fruit, give umami soft tannins, and when ten dishes share the table, open two versatile bottles and enjoy.