30 Sparkling Wine and Champagne Food Pairings

Every meal can benefit from a splash of bubbly.
two people toasting with oldschool Champagne glassses
Condé Nast Publications

Looking forchampagne食物搭配,让你的晚餐菜单吗?占城gne and other sparkling wines—Cava, Prosecco, Moscato d'Asti, included—are not just great party wines, they're also the most versatile wines for pairing with food. Most bottles are blended from different vintage wines, resulting in a cuvée that's greater than the sum of its parts; they tend to showcase minerality—a characteristic that adds depth to fruity, savory, meaty, and gamy flavors; and these wines possess an unparalleled acidity that cuts through rich, fatty dishes and surmounts even high-acid ingredients such as tomatoes or vinegars. And of course, there's the celebratory feel that sparkling wines add to any occasion. They're playful enough for a casual weekend brunch and double as the go-to drink for more formal occasions.

Here, you'll find sparkling wine and champagne food pairings both sweet and savory.

1.Jacques Lassaigne Les Vignes de Montgueux Brut Blanc de Blancs, France

This organic offering from Jacques Lassaigne is made purely of Chardonnay grapes that give it creaminess and body. Grown in Montgueux, a part of the Champagne region characterized by its limestone soil, Lassaigne benefits from the terroir with its staggering acidity and crisp citrus, dried-fruit, and bright mineral flavors—all at a surprisingly low price for a Champagne of its provenance.

Appetizer Pairing:Asparagus and Avocado Salad

This is exactly the type of dish that's difficult to pair with less versatile wines: It's acidic, has lots of palate-coating texture, and showcases asparagus, an ingredient that tends to make almost all wine taste vegetal. The Lassaigne, however, keeps the lime juice in check, allowing the wine to taste vibrant while also counteracting the fatty avocado. As for the asparagus, it never overwhelms, thanks to the wine's steadfast dried-fruit flavors.

Entrée Pairing:Linguini with Clams and Fennel

占城gne and clams are a good pairing. The almost-saline minerality of the wine echoes the brininess of the clams and lends a savory quality to the pasta, while the acidity and bubbles lighten up its texture. The bubbles also serve to aromatize the fennel while on your palate. Add to the pairing's synergy by using Chardonnay as the cooking wine.

Dessert Pairing:Meyer Lemon Shortcakes with Meyer Curd and Mixed Citrus

Trying to find a wine that can stand up to a dessert composed almost entirely of acidic components isn't easy, but Lassaigne fits the bill. Mimicking and filling out the citrus notes and custardy texture, this wine manages to ground the dessert with its light, earthy mineral baseline.


2.Krug Grande Cuvée

This is not your run-of-the-mill non-vintage Champagne. It's composed of about 120 different wines from vintages up to 15 years old, and once blended, the wine is aged for an additional six years in the cellar. For those of you keeping score at home, that means it could take 21 years to make each delightfully perfumed, nutty, sweetly spiced, and apple-y bottle of Grande Cuvée.

Appetizer Pairing:Roasted Squash with Mint and Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Imagine crisp bites of ripe apples and pears combined with sweet, fleshy roasted sugar pumpkin. That's what you'll taste when you enjoy this hearty salad with a glass of the Grande Cuvée. The Champagne's oxidative nutty flavors also play the bass note in harmony with the pumpkin seeds, adding to the warm tones of the salad's roasted vegetables.

Thanksgivingappetizer and wine pairing, check.

Photo by Christopher Testani

Entrée Pairing:Chicken in Garlic-Almond Sauce

This pairing creates a harmonious duet from two would-be soloists by amplifying the strengths of each. The wine's orchard-fruit notes help make the chicken taste more succulent, while the older wines in the cuvée echo the nutty, oxidized notes of Sherry and almond slivers in the dish.

Dessert Pairing:Harvest Pear Crisp with Candied Ginger

The pear crisp is, in essence, the solid version of Krug Grande Cuvée. The warm, comforting flavors of pear, ginger, cinnamon, and almonds can be found in both food and drink, and play off one another when the two are enjoyed together.


3.占城gne Dom Perignon Oenotheque 1996

This is the pinnacle of Champagne. The grapes were harvested in one of the best years of the past few decades, and then aged for 15 years, giving it unparalleled richness and complexity. Even though it's already 16 years old on release, it remains vibrant and tensely structured with notes of citrus, figs, fennel, salinity, smoke, and praline.

Appetizer Pairing:Mustard-Mascarpone Bruschetta

While this dish is super simple to make, pairing it with Dom will make it taste like it took hours to prepare. The sleek lines of the wine's acidity help lighten the rich, dense mascarpone, while the wine's anise notes deepen the effects of the basil and the mustard.

Entrée Pairing:Pistachio-Crusted Scallops

海扇贝是一个棘手的比赛;他们相当李ght, but rich and sweet-tasting with some sea brine. Cue Oenothèque, whose sweetness perfectly matches that of the scallops, while simultaneously broadening the sea notes with its minerality and echoing the fragrance of the pistachios with the light oxidative notes that come with a 16-year-old bottle.

Dessert Pairing:Pine Nut Tart with Rosemary Cream

This wine's creamy mousse and heady aromas—subtly spiced and herbed—play perfectly with this savory dessert. The wine's nuttiness (due to its extended aging) merges seamlessly with the tart's own nutty flavor, while its acidity and rich texture bridge the gap between the tart and its rosemary cream topping.

Show me this pecan pie–upgrade and a bottle of bubbles and I'll show you an empty plate and an empty bottle.

Ellen Silverman

4.Bruno Paillard Première Cuvée Brut Rosé

The Paillard Rosé is predominantly a Pinot Noir sparkling wine with a touch of Chardonnay and still Pinot Noir added in. Notes of red currants, cherries, strawberries, and violets are complemented by a hint of citrus imparted by the Chardonnay. As they develop in the glass, the fruits move toward black cherries, blackberries, and figs, all while remaining sharp and tart.

Appetizer Pairing:Crab Ceviche with Blueberries and Popcorn

这款酒的盐度模仿的微妙iodine-likeflavors from the crab, while its still-wine component allows it to stand up to the crab's meatiness. The rosé's tart, fruity, and savory flavors help complement the blueberries, ginger, and cumin in the dish.

Entrée Pairing:Duck with Raspberries

鸭子和黑皮诺一起去famously-duck的西南eet fat needs an acidity-driven wine with ample tart fruit. This wine meets and exceeds those needs as the earthiness of the northern-grown Pinot brings forth the lower-toned, rich, and meaty notes of the bird.

Dessert Pairing:Rhubarb and Raspberry Crostata

The only dessert ingredient the Paillard Rosé pairs with better than fresh berries is tart rhubarb. This wine exhibits both earthy rhubarb-esque components and berry flavors, and when paired with this dish, serves to accentuate everything on the plate.


5.Taittinger Nocturne Sec

In today's market, most Champagne is dry, since modern producers add a minimal amount of sugar to balance acidity, but it used to be that there was actually quite a bit of sweetness in Champagne. Nocturne Sec harks back to that old style without compromising quality. Composed of 30 different crus, this well-aged blend (almost half Chardonnay and the rest made up of Pinot Noir and Meunier grapes) is fortified with 17 grams of cane sugar, making it smooth and creamy with floral scents and raisiny fruit syrup flavors.

Appetizer Pairing:Pea Soup with Foie Gras

Layering opulence on opulence usually makes for too heavy a meal, but not in this case. The thick soup and fatty liver require acidity to make the palate more vibrant. At the same time, the foie gras has its own sweetness that needs to be tempered by the wine. Enjoyed together, you have a rich, earthy, and fruity combination that could be a meal in its own right.

Entrée Pairing:Spiced Pumpkin Pancakes

There's no reason not to drink bubbly in the morning, so don't feel guilty about putting Champagne and pancakes on the table together. Just let the layers of vanilla, spice, and syrup—present in both the wine and the pancakes—combine for the best comforting pairing you'll come across.

Dessert Pairing:Goat Cheese Ice Cream with Roasted Red Cherries

Wine and ice cream don't often go together but here's a pairing that works wonders. The Taittinger has enough cane sugar to hold its own against this lightly sweet, tangy ice cream while the wine's acidity powers through the ice cream's richness. The roasted red cherries add yet another fruity layer to the Taittinger's already impressive depth of fruit.


6.Bisol Crede Prosecco di Valdobbiadene Brut

Named for the clay-laden soil on the steep vineyards where the grapes are grown, the Bisol achieves concentrated flavors of ripe melons and peaches while maintaining high acidity and freshness.

Appetizer Pairing:Duck Prosciutto

This duck version of prosciutto possesses intense earthy and gamy flavors, due to the blend of juniper berries, bay leaves, and smoked paprika. Thanks to Prosecco's melon and orchard-fruit flavors, this pairing becomes a completely umami experience.

Entrée Pairing:Arugula, Golden Cherries, Marcona Almonds and Parmigiano-Reggiano

This Prosecco—from grapes grown on a steep hillside, allowing for ripe flavors without a loss of energy—has the acidity to break up the crisp bitterness of the arugula and the ripeness to compete with cherries. Throw in the Parmigiano-Reggiano and you have a salty foil for this wine's cleaner minerality.

What makes a salad more than a meal? A side of Cava.

Ellen Silverman

Dessert Pairing:Popped Amaranth and Toasted Wheat Berry Fool

A breakfast dish as dessert? Why not! The heavy cream and berries add a dash of opulence that's typically saved for the end of a meal. The Prosecco's fruit notes help make the flavors of the earthy wheat berry grains and nutty amaranth more well rounded. Add in red berries to give the combination even more depth.


7.Segura Viudas Reserva Heredad Brut

Besides coming in a bottle with nifty pewter accents, this is some of Spain's finest sparkling wine. Made following the exact process used to produce Champagne and then aged for about three years, this Cava is a blend of Macabeo and Parellada grapes makes an ultra-concentrated but bone-dry and complex wine, with apple, lemon, and hazelnut flavors and an earthy minerality.

Appetizer Pairing:Crunchy Oil-Cured Tomatoes

On their own, tomatoes are a light and fresh snack, but when oil-cured, they become meaty in texture. Cava's intensity allows the dish's own concentrated flavors to be heard: The wine's extreme acidity matches the tomato's, and its effervescence helps lighten the oil.

Entrée Pairing:Mesclun Salad with Veggies, Goat Cheese, and Crispy Garlic

The Cava's bright and amply concentrated lemony and apple flavors serve to make the fresh and tangy goat cheese feel even lighter in your mouth. Additionally, its smoky minerality helps the garlic taste more savory and less pungent. Don't worry about the cranberries—this wine is tart enough to meet the challenge.

Dessert Pairing:Pumpkin Flan with Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

Looking at a glass of chilled Segura Viudas in a glass with beads of condensation, it seems like a summer drink, but when you taste it, the flavors say autumn. This aged wine will mimic the nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, and vanilla used in typical pumpkin pie spice, and has the acidity to bring a six-egg custard to its knees.


McCumber_Photography

8.Sparkling Wine Gruet Blanc de Noirs

This is arguably the world's best value in sparkling wine. Former Champagne producer Gilbert Gruet planted the grapes in New Mexico in vineyards located 4,300 feet above sea level (some of the highest in America), giving this Pinot Noir the lengthy maturation it needs to be world-class. Brace yourself for toasty aromas, meat-worthy body, red berry flavors, and aggressive bubbles.

Appetizer Pairing:Fried Mozzarella Skewers

Experts will tell you that sparkling wine and fried food are a match made in heaven. Crusty, oil-fried breading and mozzarella cheese need a wine with monstrous acidity; otherwise, it will feel flat and dull. The Gruet, made from grapes with diurnal temperatures that fluctuate up to 30 degrees per day, has plenty of acidity to spare; its big bubbles help to break up the dense cheese and breading, too.

Entrée Pairing:Rabbit Ragù

Game meats such as rabbit and earthy yet fruity wines such as Pinot Noir are made for each other; in fact, this recipe calls for some Pinot Noir in the preparation. The wine brings out the sweetness of the fat while nurturing the gamy notes, making for an impressive depth of flavors, which together become savory.

Dessert Pairing:Strawberry Soufflé with Sliced Strawberries

There's no better textural match than soufflé and sparkling wine; the airy pastry meets its liquid, air-filled companion. This berry-laden wine will match the strawberry in the dessert, but keeps going with raspberry, cherries, and a hint of citrus.


9.Shingleback Black Bubbles Sparkling Shiraz

This sparkling Shiraz is wholly untraditional, and probably the most full-bodied of the bunch, but it's a lot of fun to pair with food. The McLaren Vale's Mediterranean-like climate gives this wine loads of dark fruits and spicy notes: blackberries, black cherries, peppercorns, and licorice. Though it's a robust red meat– and barbecue–friendly Shiraz at heart, the Shingleback possesses some sweetness and a fine mousse, making it ideal for almost any cheese or dessert pairing.

Appetizer Pairing:Blue Cheese Gougères

This sweet, gamy, and fruity Shiraz is a must for blue cheese's sweet but funky flavor. Notes of anise and pepper help balance the eggy, rich texture, making this combination stand out.

Entrée Pairing:Braised Chile-Spiced Short Ribs with Black Beans

These short ribs need a lot from their wine companion: acidity to cut through the fat, sweetness to tame the spice, and body to match that of the rich protein. This wine has all of that in spades and will even serve to make the meat taste sweeter and more succulent.

Best bet for braised beef? Black Bubbles.

Romulo Yanes

Dessert Pairing:Raspberry Chocolate French Macaroons

Conventionally speaking, this berry-centric wine should be paired with a fruit tart, but the fact that it is a rare combination of red and sweet means that it begs to be matched up with chocolate. Take advantage of the Shiraz's almost ethereal texture and enjoy it with the light-as-a-feather raspberry-chocolate macaroons.


10.Moscato d'Asti Ceretto

Moscato d'Asti is a sparkler unique to the Asti region in northwest Italy. Made from Moscato Bianco grapes, this wine is sweet, perfumed, and citrusy. It's the result of a fermentation process that's interrupted several times to create an effervescent, low-alcohol, light-bodied wine with a fair amount of residual sugar. This is an excellent match for hard cheeses and desserts.

Dessert Pairing:Rhubarb Tart with Orange Glaze

Though this dessert has very pronounced flavors thanks to the rhubarb and orange, it's actually a delicate pastry. The Moscato d'Asti also playfully dances between light and loud, and accentuates just the right notes, making it the perfect wine to serve.

Dessert Pairing:Pears in Honey and Pine Nut Caramel with Artisanal Cheese

This wine shares the sugar and sweetness of cooked pears, caramel, and honey, but retains the light, crisp snap of the raw pear, which brightens up all the darker sweet flavors on the plate. And as far as pairing with cheese goes, the wine's orange blossom aromatics are a no-brainer for blue cheeses, and its airy light body won't overwhelm fresh chèvre or ricotta.


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