What wine should you drink with junk food

If you’re like us, you’re spending isolation enjoying junk food. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take the time to pair it with the perfect bottle of wine. See what goes with your favourite snacks.

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A fancy wine isn’t just for pairing with a slow-cooked duck ragù, say, or the subtle flavours of kingfish sashimi. Sometimes, it’s the simple things in life that bring the most pleasure.

Director of wine for Perth’s State Buildings, Emma Farrelly, explains that “food and wine pairing is all about balancing salt, fat, acid and sugar”. That makes way your favourite guilty snacks to be prime pairings for a good drop.

“Junk food isn’t subtle. It’s all in your face with plenty of flavour, so they’re actually quite easy things to pair wine with,” says Farrelly.

While theory would have you drink your best bottles with your finest fare, Farrelly argues that any time is a good time to open a cracking wine. Don’t let your collection gather dust waiting for the perfect dinner to pair it with. Get creative and savour a glass or two with a generous serving of your favourite comfort snacks.

Cheezles are best accompanied by orange wine.

CHEEZELS

According to Farrelly, a nostalgic rendezvous with the finger-topping treat of your childhood is best accompanied by orange wine.

An increasingly popular alternative to white or rosé, orange wine differs in that it begins fermentation with the grape skins and stems still intact, just like red wine. With a slightly savoury flavour profile, skin-contact wines are a surprisingly welcome pairing for any salty, artificial cheese-flavoured snack.

“Skin-contact wines have that chalky, phenolic grip,” she says. “They’re a little bit rustic, but they’re still quite juicy. The juicy, chalky characters just complement that artificial cheese flavour so well.”

Not all orange wines are made with equal exposure to skins, and Farrelly suggests pairing cheese-flavoured snacks – be it Cheezels, corn chips, or Twisties – with more approachable, lighter-contact wines like Amato Vino’s Skinnydip or Dormilona’s Skinnie.

Potato Gems work best with a glass of Franciacorta

POTATO GEMS

When it comes to potato-based comfort foods from the freezer aisle, the texturally pleasing, crunchy-yet-soft potato gems reign supreme.

Taking inspiration from the tried, tested and much-loved combination of Champagne and French fries, Farrelly recommends sipping on a glass of Franciacorta while tucking into a bowl of the more-ish potato nuggets.

Hailing from the Italian province of Brescia, Franciacorta is a bubbly made in the style of Champagne. The second ferment happens in the bottle, making the drop drier, yeastier and less fruity than it’s more commonly known carbonated counterpart prosecco.

Crisp, fresh bubblies help to cleanse the mouth of the fat and salt in any delicious deep-fried potato snack. “Anything that’s carbonated and that’s got really high acid acts as a really beautiful shower for the palate,” says Farrelly.

Though Franciacorta’s dry, yeasty flavour profile is preferred with potato gems or hash browns, substitutes of prosecco, Champagne or Australian sparkling will work equally as well.

Nuggets are enjoyed with a chilled red.

CHICKEN NUGGETS

Finding a wine to pair with a comforting bowl of tender chicken nuggets is simple. Just about anything goes. Where things start to become more complex is when condiments become involved.

“The sauce that you use with a chicken nugget will change everything,” says Farrelly. “I eat mine with sriracha mayo. It’s chilli but also creamy, and has that nice vinegary tang of the sriracha.”

Full-flavoured condiments, like hot sauce or sweet-and-sour sauce, tend to command the palate and require a resilient wine to stand up to them. When nuggets are dunked in a milder sauce, Farrelly recommends accompanying them with a rosé or chilled red.

“I pair nuggets with a chilled red, like the sangiovese by South by South West from Margaret River,” she says.

“It’s a sangiovese made specifically to be chilled. So many winemakers are going down that alley these days with these light, nouveau, fresh, crunchy, no-oak red wines that are perfect for our climate and pair well with a lot of different things.”

Specifically, chicken nuggets.

Try a riesling with your Bhuja

BHUJA

Of all the snack food and wine pairings this is the one that Farrelly is most excited about, giving the combination a solid 10 out of 10.

Originating from India, bhuja (also known as chivda) is a crunchy concoction of spiced noodles, peanuts, dried peas, dried fruit and nuts. Seasoned with cumin, fennel and a touch of chilli, there’s a fair range of flavour to have fun pairing with. Though it’s not as common a pantry snack as potato crisps, it’s worth a shot for any spice- or riesling lover.

“I paired bhuja with a trocken-style German riesling, an off-dry style with just a little bit of sweetness. Because bhuja is a little bit spicy, with the German riesling’s little bit of sweetness, it just gives that really nice contrast.”

Fortified wines work well with chocolate.

CHOCOLATE

That bottle of tawny you’ve had sitting in the wine rack is about to have its day – Farrelly is a firm believer in pairing your chocolate treats with fortified or dessert wines.

“Crack out that bottle of port you’ve held onto and pair it with your homemade salted-caramel brownies, or have a glass with a good block of chocolate.”

Fans of nutty, slightly more savoury chocolate should reach for some Australian apera fortified wine, formerly known as sherry. “It happens to work really well with peanut M & Ms. Because of the peanut character, they’re not as sweet as traditional M & Ms. They have a slight savoury edge and a little bit more complexity, which works so well with apera.”

Originally published as What wine should you drink with junk food