What are the best wine dinners for new years?
- Sangiovese with Pasta Bolognese
- Gewürztraminer with Grilled Ginger Soy Salmon
- Pinot Grigio with Linguine with Clams
- Sauvignon Blanc with Spicy Crab Cakes and Mango Salsa
- Riesling with Thai Chicken Curry
- Tempranillo with Authentic Paella Valenciana
- Merlot with Red Wine Beef Stew with Potatoes
- Malbec with Marinated Flank Steak
What's a delicious home-cooked meal to celebrate the new year without an equally delicious bottle of wine to enjoy it with — and vice versa? Some dishes are just more pleasing when they’re paired with the right vino.
But, finding the perfect bottle to complement your dish isn't easy. Not only do you have to think about the richness of your food, but you also have to weigh in all the different flavor profiles of the ingredients.
So, we’ve rounded up a handful of wine dinners for the new year you can try at home. These combinations allow both the dish you cooked and the wine you’re sipping to shine to their fullest.
Sangiovese with Pasta Bolognese
An obvious and easy choice for those who want to start simply this 2022. Italian red wines go perfectly with some pasta bolognese. More specifically, we recommend medium-bodied reds that have sharper hints of acidity — they can handle the thick, tomato-based sauce of this pasta bolognese recipe. If this sounds like something you’d enjoy whipping up for dinner, try pairing a Sangiovese like the Felsina Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG with your pasta — this bottle is packed with savory herbal notes that fit the Italian spices of this dish.
Gewürztraminer with Grilled Ginger Soy Salmon
This grilled salmon with soy and ginger sauce recipe is the perfect main course of an Asian-themed dinner. With all its umami flavors, it can be a bit tricky to find a better wine to pair with it than a good semi-dry white wine — such as Yarden Gewurztraminer. The alluring fruit notes and aromatics of this wine are a wonderful accompaniment to the subtle sweetness of salmon. And, it also features a slight spice to it that enhances the recipe’s main ingredients — ginger and soy.
Pinot Grigio with Linguine with Clams
Mineral, briny, and featuring fresh and juicy seafood — this Linguine with Clams (Linguine Alle Vongole) recipe just begs for a young, unoaked white wine. A good Italian bottle fitting this description, like the Bolla Pinot Grigio Delle Venezie Retro, is a good partner for any clam dish. Not only does it have a well-balanced acidity to cleanse your palate of garlic and herbs, but it also features a clean and delicate flavor profile that enhances the taste of freshly cooked clams.
Sauvignon Blanc with Crab Cakes and Mango Salsa
Some spicy crab cakes and savory mango salsa make for a rich, flavorful, and yet simple dinner to make at home this 2022. With crab dishes like this, the best thing to do for wine is to look for a pairing with a crisp minerality and a fresh finish. This ensures your wine will not overwhelm the more delicate flavors of shellfish. With that in mind, try the Montgras Amaral Sauvignon Blanc. Its nose is mineral, with tropical fruit and white flower notes — which complement the mango and spice in this recipe perfectly. And, its fresh acidity cuts through the richness of the crab meat beautifully.
Riesling with Thai Chicken Curry
Sour and spicy, this Thai chicken curry recipe is packed with flavor and demands a wine that can stand up to its intensity. In this case, we recommend wines with less alcohol content and a medium body — like a Riesling. The Louis Guntrum Dry Riesling, with its lemon and lime character, will beautifully complement all the exotic and powerful flavors of your Thai chicken curry.
Tempranillo with Authentic Paella Valenciana
Want a Spanish-style dinner to commemorate the first weeks of 2022? Follow this recipe for Paella Valencia. Using rice, saffron, vegetables, chicken, and some seafood, you can cook up some delicious, authentic paella for you and your friends or family to enjoy. To complete this experience, pair it with a wine from the same region — Tempranillo. The Marques de Murrieta Gran Reserva 2012 with its velvety palate and notes of red cherry and aromatic herbs balance the complex flavors of traditionally-made Paella Valenciana.
Merlot with Red Wine Beef Stew with Potatoes
Merlot is a popular choice for a dinner wine — many people love it for its deep red fruit flavors, soft and plush texture, and easy drinking. This flavor profile is a great partner for roasts and slow-cooked meat dishes. If you love a good Merlot, pair your favorite bottle with this classic comfort food: some old-fashioned beef stew with potatoes, cooked in a red wine sauce. For this particular recipe, we suggest serving it with a glass of Montes Classic Series Merlot. The friendly, medium-bodied palate of this bottle offers nicely balanced acidity and oak flavors, which will complement the richness of the beef stew.
Malbec with Marinated Flank Steak
If you and your family are particular to steak dinner, try opening a bottle of Malbec for your dinner this 2022. When it comes to Malbec, the saying “what grows together, goes together” is important — and coming from Argentina, Malbecs go so well with any kind of red meat. Their moderate tannins, persistent fruit notes, and subtle spicy undertones of rosemary play especially well with leaner cuts, like flank steak. Marinating that steak in a Malbec creates a more tender steak and an even deeper connection between the pairing. You can follow this recipe for marinated flank steak and pair it with our Kaiken Ultra Malbec for your next wine dinner.
Key Takeaway
What better way to celebrate the first month of 2022 than with some wine dinners for the new year? Round off a delicious home-cooked meal with the ideal wine pairing, and you’ll have a deeply delicious meal to share with your loved ones!
Need to buy more wine for your celebrations? Take a look at Ralph’s Wines & Spirits' full wine collection here. As the top wines & spirits retailer in the Philippines, we carry a wide of variety of drinks for you to enjoy at home.
