Alsace meets Asia

If you eat Asian food, drink Alsace wine. At least, you should. Asians themselves have known this golden duo for a long time and import these wines in huge quantities. It’s high time we started doing the same.

When it comes to spicy food, wine may not be the first thing that comes to mind. What a shame, because the best match for such a spicy meal really is a (slightly) sweet, chilled white wine. And the fruity, aromatic Alsace wines seem made for such a spicy cuisine with a robust bite.

They are all powerful wines with an expressive taste, plenty of freshness and floral notes on the nose. And they certainly aren’t all sweet. But still: a touch of sweetness perfectly quenches an overly exuberant chili effect, after which the same wine magically seems drier.

Between a Japanese nori maki and an Indian curry lies a world of difference—literally.

‘Asian cuisine’

That said, not all Asian dishes are burning hot. Just as not every European dish contains kale. Between a Japanese nori maki and an Indian curry lies a world of difference—literally. ‘Asian cuisine’ therefore doesn’t really exist, but there is such a thing as an Asian style. One with a structure that is very different from the average Dutch home-cooked meal. A style in which many aromatic herbs and spices are used, and in which chili peppers are indeed used a little less sparingly.

Well, those bold, characterful Alsace wines certainly have that.

Fruit and spice

So when choosing your wine with an Asian dish, you need to consider that different style. Exuberant flavors such as coriander, peppers, ginger, soy, or a fish sauce call for a companion with a backbone of steel. Well, those bold, characterful Alsace wines certainly have that. The tension between fruit and spice is a fantastic match for the—generally difficult to pair with—Asian and Indian style.

Check out 6 wines that Miss WineLane recommends with Asian food here.