Paring wine with sauteed chicken is easy.
Many people enjoy a glass of wine when dining, but when forced to make the wine and food pairing on their own, things get confusing. There are tried and true rules for pairing wine and food, but the rules can be broken to suit personal tastes. If you are preparing saut ed chicken and you are curious which wines will pair best, you need to understand the flavors in the finished dish. The ingredients you use to create the dish should guide your choice more than traditional rules about wine.
Sauces
Saut ed chicken is usually cut into pieces and placed into a frying pan with a bit of butter or oil. Sauce may be combined with the chicken during cooking or served with a separately prepared sauce. Saut ed chicken sauces are similar to pasta sauces and include cream, tomato, olive oil and citric acid (lemon, lime, orange) bases. The base can be mixed with herbs, spices, finely diced vegetables or meats and even ground nuts. The flavor of the sauce is the most important consideration when choosing a wine.
Red or White
The common belief is to pair white wine with chicken, but this does not have to be the case. Both reds and whites go with poultry. Your most important considerations are the spices and flavor of a particular chicken dish. For instance, if you have prepared the chicken with a tomato-based sauce, it will pair nicely with a red wine. There are even saut ed chicken recipes that are made with red wine sauce. On the other hand, if you have prepared your chicken with lemon or mustard sauce, this will pair better with white.
Consider the Diners
When making your wine choice, the personal tastes of the diners are as important as the dish you are serving. If your diners are not regular wine drinkers, a lighter, fruitier white will be well received. Consider Gewurztraminer, Riesling or Pinot Grigio. Experienced wine drinkers might like something dry like a chardonnay or semillon. Most true wine lovers enjoy reds and whites, so if you think they can handle it, serve a red wine with your saut ed chicken dish. Reds that pair well with poultry include cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, Sangiovese and zinfandel.
Non-traditional Choices
If you are hosting diners who are not usually wine drinkers or you are looking for a pairing that is out of the ordinary, you have a few choices. You can prepare fresh sangria, which is a mix of red wine, fruit juice, sugar and sometimes another liquor like brandy. Sangria is a fruity, light alternative to heavier red wines, but it can be made with white wine, too. Super-sweet wines are an option for someone who is a wine novice. The flavor is often too sweet for experienced wine drinkers, but it makes the drink more palatable for those who are not ready for the oak flavors of reds or acidity of whites. A super-sweet wine that pairs well with poultry is Moscato.
Tags: wine drinkers, saut chicken, will pair, wine with, with poultry
