A lot of people drink beer when watching football. For me, it’s all about wine. And on the Super Bowl, it’s Super Bowl wine. Let’s figure out what wines are best for this wonderful event. By the way, Go Niners!!! Thank you to VinePair, Hope Family Wines, WineCountry, The Wine Society and others for their help with this article.
Appetizers
So much food! Let’s start with guacamole. The Wine Society tells us that “The richness of the avocado and the vibrancy of the lemon juice make this a tricky dish to match. Good-quality chardonnay balances richness with freshness and will cope with both with aplomb. Proper Pinot Grigio and old-vine Semillon would be delicious too.”
If you’re serving a spinach artichoke dip, think about a Pinot Noir.
If you haveFrench onion dip on the menu, the perfect pairing for this creamy concoction is Chardonnay.
How about a charcuterie board? The Small Wine Makers provide a bunch of rules for pairing wine with a charcuterie board:
- Compliment intensities: Pair light-bodied wines with light cheeses. Pair fuller-bodied wines with heartier cheeses.
- Contrast flavors: Pairing salty cheeses with sweeter wines is ideal. The acidity of sweet, bubbly wines makes you salivate and thus mellow out the saltiness of the cheese.
- Contrast cheese texture with wine acidity: The creamier the cheese, the higher the wine’s acidity should be.
- Acidity: Generally, the wine you serve should be more acidic than the meat you serve.
- Fat: Fattier and oilier meats complement bolder red wines better because the fat balances out the tannins that make bold red wines bitter.
- Boldness: Pair wines and meats with a similar boldness and intensity.
- Spice: Don’t pair spicy and bitter meats with a wine high in tannins.
- Pickled veggies: White wines such as Riesling pair well with pickled veggies, but dry red wines can also work.
- Nuts: Choose low-tannin reds or light, dry whites.
Super Bowl Wine for Main Dishes
- Pizza Pizza Pizza: How can you have a Super Bowl without pizza? If you serve pepperoni pizza, you’re going to want to pair it with Chianti or Syrah, which will compliment the spiciness of the pepperoni nicely. If you serve veggie pizza, think about a Sauvignon Blanc or a Chardonnay. If it’s cheese pizza, a Grenache or Syrah would work perfectly. If you’re looking for a single wine to fit with all your pizzas, try a Sangiovese/Chianti. This wine’s bright acidity makes it a perfect match for ooey, gooey pizza.
- Buffalo chicken wings with buffalo sauce: These pair beautifully with a Riesling or a Gewurztraminer. The sugars in these wines help reduce the spiciness of the buffalo sauce while the acid in the wine compliment the ranch or bleu cheese dressing.
- Nachos: One site recommended Tempranillo, because they say that this wine’s many different styles, from soft and fruity to rich and earthy work perfectly with “the kaleidoscopic flavors of loaded nachos.”
- Pork shoulder braising in a slow cooker: The experts recommend Zinfandel, saying that the “ripe and jammy berry fruit, soft tannins, and sweet notes of cola, mocha, and balsamic…play nicely [with] similar flavors in your favorite BBQ sauce.”
- Fried foods: The perfect wine here is Sparkling Wine.
Sommelier Inputs
VinePair asked a bunch of sommeliers for their Super Bowl wine recommendations. Here are two of the responses:
- Domingo Abreu, sommelier, Lopesan Costa Bávaro Resort, Spa & Casino, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic: “For such an emotional game like the Super Bowl, I recommend a Cava like Segura Viudas Brut. Cava is a bit more laid back than Champagne and is equally as celebratory for a big game. The Spanish bubbly can be sipped straight up for those who don’t want to miss out on the action or can be mixed for a fun sparkling cocktail to enjoy among friends and family.”
- McColbert Evrard, food and beverage director, The Banneker, Washington, D.C.: “My personal favorite game-day dishes are fried chicken and a hearty bowl of chili. A great pairing with the fried chicken is a cold, crisp bubbly, specifically Champagne. A true Côtes du Rhône blend complements the chili, and I even use the Rhône blend in the cooking process.”
I can’t wait to hear what wines you serve at your Super Bowl parties.
Cheers and Go Niners!!!
