Pairing Wines to Your Favourite Junk Foods

It's Friday night. Finally! But it's been a busy week. Your couch and Netflix are looking mighty inviting right about now. But it's Friday after all and it's time to relax, so let the food come to you and order some home delivery or whip up your favourite easy snack.

But taking the path of least resistance with your fave cheat meal doesn't mean you can't match it with a great glass of vino (you really owe it to yourself after a long week). And some of the best junk foods go really well with certain wines. Check out the below, as we've got you covered for the perfect drop for any of your guilty pleasures.

Pizza

Sangiovese

Assuming you’ve gone classic and have got a tomato base, you’re facing off against a wicked combo of acid and tomato-ey sweetness. One grape that does an admirable job of duelling with these twin blasts of flavour is Sangiovese, with its own tangy acid and bright red fruit flavour.

It also happens to be Italian….where pizza comes from…

Chocolate

Rich Shiraz

Chocolate is a tricky beast to match with wine, thanks to the combo of sugary sweetness and the inherent bitterness of cocoa. We’re guessing you don’t want to be drinking buckets of dessert wine, so the next best thing is probably a rich, hedonistic Shiraz

Ice Cream (Vanilla/Caramel)

Chardonnay

This one comes with a bit of a caveat because I once had a bad experience with chocolate ice cream, a bottle of Chardonnay and a young French girl….but that’s another story.

If you’re onto the straight up vanilla, or perhaps caramel swirl, there’s nothing like an oaked Chardonnay to pair up with the flavours. The oak is the thing here, because barrels often impart flavours like vanilla/butterscotch/caramel….a perfect match.

Crisps/Doritos/Pringles

Rosé

Whichever ad agency invented the tagline ‘once you pop, you cant’t stop’ was a damn genius. Sure, you don’t see Pringles around as much anymore, but I’m pretty sure it’s been scientifically proven that once the packet is opened, there is zero chance of there being any chips left the next day.

Sate your thirst with a dry, tangy rosé to mix with the salty bite of these fiendishly good chips.

Burgers

Pinot Noir

Whether you’ve gone for the golden arches or Belles Hot Chicken, there’s one grape that’s so versatile that it can confidently flex across all styles of burger – Pinot Noir. Low tannins, silky texture, bright acidity and firm red fruit flavours all combine for a burger-happy glass of delicious.

Popcorn (at home)

Off-Dry Riesling

Important to note the at home part here. First of all you’ll probably get told off smuggling a bottle of wine into the cinema, but second of all the popcorn you make at home doesn’t have anywhere near as much butter as the good stuff at the movies. If you do go hard on the butter, perhaps consider a Chardonnay.

Otherwise, create junk food heaven with a bottle of off-dry Riesling to balance out the saltiness of the popcorn. Magic.

Take our fun palate profile quiz here and we’ll recommend three bottles that we think you'll love according to your results!