München - Which Wine Suits Which Dish?

A good wine, carefully chosen, doesn't just elevate the culinary experience in the city in the southern half of Germany. What matters is that the food and wine complement each other.

To help you make the right choice, we'd like to offer some advice here. We'll follow the usual course of a meal and, of course, we also recommend taking your time over both the wines and the dishes so you can enjoy them properly.

Aperitif recommendations for Munich's food lovers

An aperitif is usually a wine-based drink served before a meal. It prepares the palate for the first course. It also fills the waiting time and has a social significance too. The wine should be relatively dry and fruity, so as not to mask the flavours of the dishes that follow.

Champagne is well suited as an aperitif, though not exactly cheap. Grower sparkling wines from European wine regions or Prosecco are also highly rated. Sherries or a light rosé from southern France or Spain are recommended as well.

Wines to match starters

Whether it's national or international regional cuisine, typical and characteristic starters vary considerably.

If things lean towards the Mediterranean, as with our Italian and Greek friends, seafood or fish are often served. A dry white wine goes perfectly with this. A Sauvignon Blanc or a Riesling are well suited here.

Also typical of the Italian menu are starters like Caprese or Bruschetta, where tomatoes take centre stage.

Red wines from Italy, such as a Barbaresco, go well with these, as do low-acid white wines from the Burgundy family, such as Chardonnay or Pinot Gris. You'll find recommendations for Italian restaurants in München in Bavaria here.

Greek cuisine, on the other hand, is typified by dishes such as Greek salad, where choosing a suitable wine companion, as with all salads, isn't entirely straightforward. A rosé wine goes rather well with such a salad. Dry, light white wines, such as Pinot Blanc or Silvaner, also pair nicely with it. You'll find ideas for Greek restaurants in München in Bavaria here.

Wine enjoyment in München

There's no clear blueprint for which wine best suits soup in the city on the Isar. The variety of soups is simply too vast, so at most we can distinguish between clear soups and their thickened counterparts. Classic examples of clear soups include fish soup, chicken soup or beef broth, while bean, pea or potato soup represent the thickened varieties. As thickened soups tend to be more filling, we'll cover the relevant wine recommendations under main courses instead.

Clear soups, on the other hand, are considered appetite stimulants. Chicken soup is usually served with a Chardonnay, which best brings out the delicate meaty flavours of poultry. Other Burgundy wines, such as Pinot Gris or Pinot Blanc, also pair ideally with chicken soup. Fine white wines also round off beef consommé or bouillon nicely.

Of course, the choice of wine also depends on what's in the soup: a Riesling suits noodles, while a Silvaner suits semolina dumplings in the broth. With fish soup, there are quite a few options for pairing suitable wines: a Sauvignon Blanc works just as well as a Riesling or a Pinot Gris. If you're enjoying a lighter vegetable soup, such as an Italian minestrone, a good Chardonnay is just as fine a companion as a modern red wine.

Choosing an off-dry wine makes sense whenever cheese is involved, as is often the case with onion soup. After the starter, anticipation builds for the main course and the wines to go with it.

Wine recommendations for meat

A meat dish often serves as the main course of an extensive menu, and naturally deserves a fitting accompaniment. Which wine is recommended with meat mainly depends on two factors:

Firstly, the animal the meat comes from plays a major role, and secondly, so does the way it's prepared. This can range from the conventional, such as pork, beef or poultry, to the more unusual, such as ostrich or crocodile. Roasting, braising, poaching, grilling – depending on the method, different flavours are emphasised or released, and the right wine needs to work with them.

If pork is the meat of choice, white wine always works, though a dry red wine can also taste good with heavier preparations. Aromatic, fruity white wines pair well with briefly fried cuts such as fillet, chop or Kassler. If you fancy something hearty for the meaty main course: a rich roast pork enjoys red wine, such as a Pinot Noir, for example.

While a Riesling pairs well with pork schnitzel, its veal relative, Wiener Schnitzel, is usually served with a Grüner Veltliner. A simple Müller-Thurgau also goes excellently with a chop, which is fairly undemanding in its preparation. With pork fillet or pork medallions, Burgundy wines come into their own once again: a good Chardonnay, as well as dry or off-dry Pinot Gris, are safe bets here.

Tender veal, whether it's the Italian classic Vitello Tonnato, veal strips or Wiener Schnitzel, is accompanied by fruity white wines. A Sauvignon Blanc, a Chardonnay or a Riesling always cut a fine figure alongside it.

Nevertheless, red wine is also served with veal, particularly when it's been braised or fried. A Merlot or a Shiraz, for example, would work well here.

München: wines to pair with beef

Beef deserves particular mention, being a premium cut of meat that many people are happy to pay a little extra for. It therefore makes sense to consider which wine pairs well with a good beef steak. Only the best wine should be served with the finest cut, beef fillet, and in this case that's an aromatic red wine.

The wonderful roasted aromas of a perfectly cooked beef fillet are only truly matched by red grape varieties, such as a Cabernet Sauvignon, for example. Much the same applies to other robust cuts like rib-eye or rump steak, which pair perfectly with a Chianti or a Merlot. With a rustic tomahawk steak or T-bone steak, a Blaufränkisch or a Shiraz would be a good choice.

Goulash, Hungary's national dish, is best enjoyed with a robust red wine such as a Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon. With lamb, the preparation method also matters. If it's grilled or pan-fried, a light red wine is recommended, and it can be heavier the more the lamb's own distinctive flavour comes to the fore, such as when it's braised.

Poultry, lamb and pork with München wines

Red wine is traditionally drunk with game. A Pinot Noir pairs well, but a Blaufränkisch or a Sankt Laurent, for example, also taste very good with venison. With deer, hare or wild duck, mature and full-bodied red wines are a good choice.

But white wines also pair very well with the finer cuts of wild boar, for example a Gewürztraminer or a Riesling. A Pinot Blanc or Pinot Gris also works nicely as a Spätlese. Poultry is best enjoyed with light white wines such as Pinot Gris. If poultry dishes are served cold, rosé wines are also a very good choice.

For more intense flavours, such as chicken curry or grilled chicken breast, fruity, dry white wines like a Sauvignon Blanc are recommended. But red wine can also taste good with poultry: a Pinot Noir pairs very well with roast chicken or turkey, while a light to medium-bodied red wine such as a Blaufränkisch suits duck, and incidentally also goes well with goose.

While a good Burgundy or Bordeaux wine is enjoyed with pheasant or partridge, quail is usually served with a Pinot Gris from the Pfalz. Chicken fricassee is perfectly rounded off by a fruity, off-dry Riesling and its characteristic aromas.

With ostrich fillet, you can either go the classic route with a Bordeaux wine or be a little more adventurous with, say, a Shiraz. As a rule, the wine shouldn't be too fruity, but should still have enough body.

Bavarian wines to pair with seafood or fish

Meat isn't the only thing that can give an extended meal that special something – many fish and seafood dishes can also serve as the main course. Although this recommendation still applies very often, it can no longer be treated as an absolute rule.

Of course, fish is finer and more delicate than meat, which makes it perfect for white wine, although a light red wine can certainly work with salmon or tuna steaks too, such as a subtle Merlot or a fine Portugieser. With seafood, too, you can't go far wrong with white wine. If it's steamed or poached, delicate wines with subtle aromas tend to work best: dry and fruity, such as a Riesling, though Champagne also rounds off the enjoyment of mussels and oysters perfectly.

If seafood has a spicy aroma with roasted notes, having been cooked in a pan, on the grill or on a griddle, it calls for a more assertive, full-bodied wine instead. Prawns also pair excellently with a fruity Weißherbst, a rosé wine or a Prosecco.

München wine to pair with international cuisine

With Italian pasta in the city in the München region in the southern half of Germany, you should choose white or red wine depending on the sauce. If meat is involved, a full-bodied red wine tends to work best. If the pasta dish contains fish or vegetables instead, a white wine is better suited.

With tomato sauce, a red wine such as a Valpolicella or Bardolino is recommended. If Bolognese or similar sauces with beef are being served, you can't go wrong with a Chianti Classico. There's no general rule for rice dishes either, so both red and white wines can generally be served.

If the dish contains meat or fish, a red wine is generally better suited. For dishes with vegetables or without any special ingredients, a white wine can be chosen.

Asian ingredients and dishes are characterised by their bold aromas and heat – you'll find restaurant tips on this here. The wine needs to be able to hold its own against this, and a dry Pinot Blanc or Riesling from German wine regions works best. Fruity wines from countries such as Italy or Spain also go excellently with Asian dishes.

Culinary trends and the wines to match

Of course, Sake, the Japanese rice wine, is also an excellent match.

As with Asian cuisine, Turkish cuisine also tends towards the spicy. A typically Turkish dish, for example, is Kuzu Tandir, a lamb dish served with flatbread and a yoghurt-cucumber salad. A Riesling pairs excellently with this dish. It's not too heavy and has enough acidity to balance out the fat of the lamb.

Thickened soups can definitely be served as a main course too. For soups such as mushroom soup, a rather exotic Grüner Veltliner can be used. Legume soups pair nicely with a Scheurebe or a Gewürztraminer. For the asparagus soup so beloved by gourmets, a Silvaner or a Sauvignon Blanc is often chosen.

Pinot Blanc, on the other hand, makes pumpkin and potato soups a special treat. Vegetarian dishes have also been on trend for years. When looking for the right wine, the first thing to consider is the ingredients the vegetarian dish is made from. Green vegetables, for example, pair well with white grape varieties such as Silvaner, Sauvignon Blanc or a Scheurebe.

If mushrooms play a major role, it becomes difficult to give a universally valid piece of advice, as the right wine varies greatly depending on the preparation. While you can safely reach for a simple Pinot Blanc with fried mushrooms, a dish prepared with cream calls for a fuller-bodied wine, ideally from the Pinot family. The Pinot repertoire also scores well with grains, potatoes or pasta: Auxerrois, Chardonnay or Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc all work nicely, though a Grüner Veltliner or a Riesling also do a good job. Riesling is also a good choice if the vegetarian dish consists of pulses and stews. Serving wine with dairy products is trickier — the wine you sip alongside should bring little character of its own and lean towards neutral.

München combinations – wine with dessert

Classically, noble sweet white wines such as Eiswein, Beerenauslese or Trockenbeerenauslese go well with dessert.

Upmarket restaurants usually have a selection of these on the menu. These wines are comparatively sweet and can hold their own against rich desserts.

For chocolate lovers, a wine with pronounced acidity, such as an aged port, is recommended. A dry wine like a Riesling Spätlese could even suit fruit as a dessert. Champagne can also be enjoyed with desserts, depending on the occasion.

Cheese rounds off the meal and often appears as a dessert in the form of a varied cheese board. That's why we've included a few tips on cheese and wine here at the end: while white wine generally goes well with fresh cheese such as mozzarella, red wine tends to be drunk with matured cheese.

Red wine and blue-veined cheese, for example, are a traditional pairing. But even with matured cheeses, it doesn't always have to be a red wine, as cheese itself has a strong flavour, so it usually also goes well with a dry or sweet white wine. Soft cheeses such as Camembert or Brie usually pair better with a medium-bodied red wine, while hard cheese tends to call for a full-bodied red. As a general rule of thumb: regional wine with regional cheese.

Wine with food remains a matter of taste

Those were our tips for prominent and popular wine and food pairings. There's undoubtedly much more that could be written on this subject if you were to include every conceivable food in every conceivable style of preparation.

In the end, though, much of it simply comes down to personal taste. In very good restaurants, you can of course also rely on the advice of a wine waiter. Wine connoisseurs can also occasionally be found among the serving staff, who are happy to advise you and draw on their professional experience. If you want to cook and dine at home, you can already rely on the experts at the wine merchants in München when you do your shopping.