Wine with Indian food

[amshih]

What wine would go with Indian food? My first guess would be a dry Riesling, but I would like to know if there are other suggestions. Would sparking wine work too (since I think it goes well with Chinese take-out)?

[Thomas]

Amshih, assuming the Indian food you refer to is of the curry or hot variety, Riesling is a good bet, but be sure the Riesling is fruity. You could also try Gewurztraminer and, strange as it might seem, I have had light, fruity reds that did reasonably well with Indian food.

[Jerry D Mead]

You might try a nice Fino Sherry like La Ina...but watch your consumption...it's 18%

JDM

[Bucko]

With Indian and Thai food, I have found that off-dry Alsatian Gewurztraminer works very well, as does a sparkling wine.

Bucko

[Thomas]

Almost forgot, if you have the money, a Blandy or Cossart Madeira Sercial or perhaps Verdelho would likely work with Indian food.

[Jason]

Some pretty good ideas here.La Ina is especially creative. Just make sure its a simple wine and cheap. Nothing worse than when the two do battle in your mouth and good wine gets clobbered. How bout dry rose?
Toad Hollow "Eye of the Toad" is a good one.

[Joe Schmoe]

This is one of my soap box topics I'm afraid, so at the risk of this thread being transfered over to the Rant and Raves section, I'll be brief...

How can the same wine go with a king prawn dish in a cream or nut sauce, as with a mutton dish in chillies, lentils and tomatoes? I always feel that to clump all of India's cuisine into one basket is a little unhelpful for those that like wine also. My tip is to be sympathetic to each dish, just as you would be if ordering several different styles of food in a restaurant. Strong flavours such as cumin, cilantro, bell peppers etc frequently dominate a particular dish, so try to match a wine with these flavours, rather than the meat/fish/pulse in the dish. As it happens, particularly due to the heat in some dishes, I like to drink a young Mosel spatlese with creamy chicken or fish curries, and a softly oaky, ripe Spanish red with dry meat curries. Experiment and enjoy!

JW