Wine Varietal Pairings w/Ethnic Cuisines

I've been scouring Google for info on various ethnic cuisines that pair with different varietals... but not too much helpful or specificl information. Anyone have ideas on what general ethnic cuisines go with the following wines:

Shiraz/Syrah - Mediterranean and/or Greek??
Merlot - Indian??
Voigner
Reisling
Chardonnay

foodie1 wrote:I've been scouring Google for info on various ethnic cuisines that pair with different varietals... but not too much helpful or specificl information. Anyone have ideas on what general ethnic cuisines go with the following wines:

Shiraz/Syrah - Mediterranean and/or Greek??
Merlot - Indian??
Voigner
Reisling
Chardonnay

From my experience, Riesling can pair well with Ethiopian/African, Indian and Thai. That's hugely general, but it's a start...

I like Torrontes with Cantonese as a departure from the traditional Riesling/Gewurztraminer duo . . .

I have a handy little tool for this. It's "The Wine Wheel," #2. The one I have is a product of Spotted Dog Graphics:

http://www.wineunleashed.com/winewheel.html

I bought mine in a gourmet food shop in Galena, but apparently they're available online, at, among other places, barnesandnoble.com

One thing I have always had success with is using the wine from the region.

If you are cooking Italian, drink Italian wine. For years I tried to pair reds with Sauerbraten, and the best was a German Kabinett Riesling or an Alsatian Riesling.

Generally, the spicier the foods the lighter the wine. Hot curries are too spicy for reds, so use Sauv. Blanc with some fruit on it (like New Zealand's).
Other wines to try with spicy food are Gruner Veltliners.
You may be able to get away with a Rose if you have to have red. And sometimes wine just doesn't work, so with spicy stuff I have had good luck with sweeter Belgian beers.

I find that if I grill stuff, Zinfandel from California or Shiraz from Australia work well.

Is it common practice to match a varietal to an entire cuisine? It seems like a tall order even in a general sense since there's so many nuances between different dishes even within regions.

kanin wrote:Is it common practice to match a varietal to an entire cuisine? It seems like a tall order even in a general sense since there's so many nuances between different dishes even within regions.

Not necessarily common practice. The reason for my post was see IF there were any cuisines that do fairly well with a specific varietal. I host monthly wine & dine events where we focus on a specific varietal paired with foods brought in potluck style. To help plan out future events, I inquired if certain ethnic cuisines pair well with certain wines.

Example: sushi & reislings pair fairly well, hence a Japanese potluck would be suggested where folks would bring foods that fit that theme when we focus on reislings.

I highly recommend champagne as a pairing with sushi. I'm not sure that there is a better wine for sushi. Just my 2 cents.