What is the best wine to pair with Mexican food?

Cava, Prosecco or West Coast bubbles would be especially nice pairings. In general, I’d also learn toward wines with low or moderate alcohol content, since they tend to play better with spice. Lime, cilantro and tomatillos will pair well with crisp white wines like Sauvignon Blanc or Albariño. Grilled dishes with smoky chipotle flavors might pair better with Malbec, Tempranillo or Syrah. Carnitas or other pork dishes might go well with Pinot Noir. Moles would play nicely with a fruit-forward Zinfandel or Barbera. Also keep in mind that Baja wines are much easier to find these days. Mexican wines are delicious and made in a range of styles—and in keeping with the culinary theme.

El equipo de bebidas de Criollo en Oaxaca ayuda a recomendar los mejores vinos para combinar con platillos mexicanos brillantes y sabrosos, a menudo llenos de calor. El equipo señala que al combinar vino con comida mexicana, no tengas miedo de beber vino tinto con platillos picantes y ahumados. Algo así como Pinot Noir es excelente: tienes la fruta, pero también tienes la tierra. Pinot Noir también es genial porque puedes tener intensidad sin tener un alto nivel de alcohol y taninos elevados. Al considerar el vino blanco, busca variedades aromáticas. Rieslings, con su brillante acidez, proporcionan excelentes emparejamientos con muchos platillos mexicanos. Manuel Rios, fundador de Rios Wine Co., en el Valle de Napa y miembro de la Asociación de Vinateros Mexicano-Americanos, señaló que no deberíamos vernos limitados por "sugerencias de emparejamiento correctas o incorrectas", sino que las personas deberían explorar libremente, disfrutando del proceso de descubrimiento de lo que les gusta emparejado. Sus favoritos son el Sauvignon Blanc de 2021 de Rios con ceviche o tacos de pescado, y le encanta el Cabernet de 2017 de Rios con Enchilada Picadillo o su otra opción favorita, Bistek Ranchero. Con los consejos anteriores en mente, aquí hay algunas opciones para combinar la comida mexicana con vino para explorar: Tortillas de maíz y champán, carnitas y Pinot Noir, ceviche y Sauvignon Blanc, mole poblano y Zinfandel, al pastor y rosado, enchiladas y Riesling, tamales y Cabernet Franc, y chiles rellenos y Syrah.

Anthony Gopal responds: ‘When you’re pairing wine with Mexican food, more than anything, you should look for something with freshness and lower alcohol. You never want to have high alcohol when you’re thinking about spice, because they amplify each other. Mexican food is about salsa, garnishes and lime. There’s always going to be some sort of bright sourness, so you want something with some zip to balance that. Any wine that’s what you would call ‘rounded’ will end up feeling flat compared to the food. Unless you’re a bit of a masochist and you want to set your throat on fire, you don’t want to be drinking 15% ABV with habanero chillies. When pairing wine with Mexican food, freshness is the first thing that springs to mind, but don’t be afraid of intensity. That’s not to say tannins or high alcohol, but things which are aromatic are great and things which have concentration are always good. People think you have to have a really light, dry white wine with anything spicy like Mexican food. But these things just get washed away. If you end up with a Picpoul or whatever, it just turns into water by comparison. So don’t be afraid to drink red wine with spicy, smoky food. Something like a Pinot Noir is great – you’ve got the fruit but you’ve got earthiness and mushroomy flavours. There needs to be some underlying smoke. Pinot Noir is great because you can have the intensity without having high alcohol and high tannins.