Best Wine Pairings For Fried Chicken

As Michy's Sommelier Allegra Angelo likes to say, "every good meal deserves a good beverage," so we asked her advice for pairing wines with fried chicken. 

"Undoubtedly the best part of fried chicken is the skin: crunchy, delicate when done well, pleasantly fatty, and then salty. Lemonade, southern-style iced tea and sodas, like root beer and birch beer, pair famously with fried chicken because they have sugar, acid, body or spice. Look for the same things in wines: for whites, experiment with ones that have acid, are a bit sweet or ones that are rich but dry. For reds, choose ones that have body and spice."

Below, some of her wine recommendations for southern- or Korean-style fried chicken. - Yasmin Fahr

The wine: Riesling Kabinett, Bernkasteler Badstube
Color: white
Grape: Riesling
Style: off-dry, high acid with green apple fruit
Location: Badstube vineyard in the village of Bernkasteler in the Mosel valley, Germany

Producer: Dr. H. Thanisch
Try: 2005

 

The wine: Tokaji Sec

Color: white

Grape: Furmint and Hárslevelű
Style: rich and concentrated but dry, high acid with pear fruit
Location: Tokaj, Hungary
Producer: Királyudvar
Try to find: 2005
Try: 2006

 

The wine: Vouvray, Le Bouchet
Color: white
Grape: Chenin Blanc
Style: off-dry, high acid with honeyed stone-fruit
Location: Vouvray, Loire Valley, France
Producer: François Chidaine
Try: 2006

 

The wine: Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Color: red
Grape: Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Cinsault
Style: concentrated, meaty, savory and spicy with black fruits
Location: Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône, France
who makes it: Domaine la Bastide Saint Dominique 
Try: 2007

 

The wine: Priorat, Artigas

Color: red
Grape: Grenache, Carignan and Cabernet Sauvignon
Style: meaty, savory with dark red fruit
Location: Priorat, Catalonia, Spain
Producer: Mas Alta
Try: 2006