When one thinks of beverage pairing with sausage, we automatically think of beer. However, did you know the great thing about sausage dishes is that there is a variety of wines we can pair with them? We can elevate our dining experience with a dry white and red wine by complementing and balancing the flavors in our sausage dishes to the flavor components of wine. Since there is a delightfully wide array of both sausage dishes and wines, we can get creative with our pairings.
Best Red Wine To Pair With Sausage
When choosing red wines, it is best to pair to consider the characteristics of the wine and the sausage. Sausages are rich in flavor and texture, and a red wine’s red and black fruit notes will beautifully match the body and flavor intensity of the sausage dish. The wines should also have high acidity to cleanse and refresh the palate to be ready for the next bite! In addition, the tannins in red wine bind to protein and fat, which makes select red wine and sausage pairings both sophisticated and delicious! Try to pair more red wines to more robust flavored sausages.
Here are some red wines to consider:
- Lambrusco
- Rioja
- Bordeaux
- Californian or Oregon Pinot Noir
- Beaujolais
Best White Wine To Pair With Sausage
White wines are delicious with sausage as well. Similar to red wines, select a white wine that is high in acid since they will lighten the richness of the sausage on your palate to create balance. Sparkling wine is always fun and the naturally high acidity and bubbles cut through the tongue coating richness of the dish. Champagne is not too high brow to make an excellent pairing with sausages! If your dish has bolder flavors, select a white wine that has some oak aging to complement the body and flavor intensity.
These whites will enhance your dining experience:
- Cava
- White Burgundy
- Jura whites
- Napa Chardonnay
- Grüner Veltliner
Pairing Wine With Kielbasa
This is a sausage that is quite salty, and mild in flavor. A great choice would be a Grüner Veltliner since most are relatively light in body and unoaked, thus would pair well with a mild flavored sausage such as this. The naturally high acidity would create balance with the fat in the sausage as well.
Pairing Wine With Italian Sausage
A delicious example of a dish made with Italian sausage is a skillet of Italian sausage, peppers and caramelized onions. The classic wine pairing for this is a dry Lambrusco, a red sparkling red wine. This is a rare treat, and the high flavor concentration of the wine will pair beautifully with the meat, plus the bubbles will lighten the richness on your palate. What is special about dry Lambruscos is that they have savory notes of Italian herbs and spices, which complement similar herbs and spices found in Italian sausage.
Bratwurst is a German sausage that is generally enjoyed with mustard and bread. A great wine choice with this is a German Pinot Noir (locally known as Spätburgunder), best from the Baden region. This is a southern region, and thus the Pinot Noirs there are full bodied and more opulent than the other cooler regions of Germany. The earthiness of the Pinot Noir wines pair well with the spices that go into the sausage, and the higher fruit concentration of this wine will stand up to the boldness of the condiments.
Pairing Wine With Smoked Sausage
Smoked sausage is rich in flavor. A good wine to pair with this type would be a Cabernet Sauvignon or a Zinfandel from California. These wines tend to be fuller bodied and have bolder fruit notes that will be an excellent pairing to stand up to the bold flavors of this dish. Additionally, these wines tend to be oak fermented or oak aged, thus often have smoky notes that will complement smoked sausage beautifully. New World Cabernet Sauvignons work best as the fruit profile of these wines would stand up to the bold flavors of smoked sausage. Not to mention, the naturally high tannins will bind to the fat in the meat, and thus will not overpower each other and thus creating balance!
Best Wine To Drink With Sausage
There are so many excellent options to pair with sausage dishes because there are so many types from around the globe! One thing all sausages have in common is their richness, and so one thing is important to remember, and so we need high acid wines to lighten up the dish and cleanse our palate. Pair more robust sausage dishes with bolder wines, and lighter sausage dishes with lighter bodied -yet interesting whites. The ones listed below are classic pairings for a reason – they create balance and they complement the dish!
- Dry Lambrusco
- Pinot Noir
- Grüner Veltliner
- Dry Sparkling Wines
- Cabernet Sauvignon
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