Pairing Wine With Gumbo

Gumbo is a super strong flavored soup/stew containing a random mix of ingredients such as alligator, duck, chicken, vegetables, sausage and seafood, which is served over a bed of rice which is famously from the state of Louisiana.

Wine Characteristics To Pair With Gumbo

Characteristic	Detail
Sweetness	Dry – Off Dry
Acidity	High
Tannins	Low – Medium
Body	Low – Medium
Notes	Citrus, Apple, Almond, Black Cherry, Cinnamon

Best White Wine To Pair With Gumbo

White wine is best with Cajun Gumbo. This is because whites with off-dry style, low in alcohol and wines with high acidity, enhances the sweet seafood and spicy flavors of the dish.

Prosecco

Prosecco is a crisp sparkling wine from Italy that is inexpensive, being off-dry and offering a sweet and bubbly contrast to the spicy rich flavors of the Cajun Gumbo. Prosecco has high acidity and ensures you will taste all the seafood in the Gumbo, this is because acidity works as a flavor amplifier. It also is the perfect palate cleanser as the high acidity and bubbles wipes your mouth fresh with its notes of apple, almond, apricot, pear, melon, toast, lemon and honey; which means your palate is kept fresh between each bite of Gumbo!

Off- Dry Riesling

Cajun Gumbo contains spice, so something like a high acid off-dry riesling with some sweetness to calm the heat on the palate. Off dry means that the wine has a slightly sweet, not sickly sweet sugar on the palate. Riesling is an incredible food-friendly wine and can range from dry to slightly sweet or lusciously sweet, and as it goes with everything it also goes with nearly every ingredient in Cajun Gumbo but pairs better with Gumbo containing seafood or chicken than Gumbo with duck or sausage.

Sauvignon Blanc

Sauvignon Blanc pairs beautifully with a Creole Seafood Gumbo! Sauvignon Blanc is crisp white wine with notes of grapefruit, citrus and green herbs/ grass. The herbaceousness notes blend wonderfully with deep vegetable and lighter spices of the Creole Gumbo, and the vibrant citrus notes elevate the flavors! Sauvignon Blanc is a dry wine which means it is not a great match with a spicy Cajun Gumbo; as the dry flavors of Sauvignon Blanc are too steely for the heat and will not offer up any refreshment against the fiery flavors of a Cajun Gumbo.

Best Red Wine To Pair With Gumbo

Red is best with Creole Gumbo. This is because reds with tannin structure and decent acidity enhance pairs wonderfully well with the tomato flavors of the dish.

Zinfandel

Zinfandel is red and pairs beautifully well with duck & sausage Gumbo! A medium ranged Zinfandel has the perfect amount of fruitiness and smoky spiciness to complement the sausage in the Gumbo; the wines have notes of black pepper, coffee, cloves, smoke, cinnamon to meld with the rich flavors of the gumbo; this is in contrast to the fruity flavors of blackberries, black cherries and raspberries to help soothe the gaminess of the duck. A middle ranged Zinfandel has low tannin which gives it higher acid to create a wine with enough acid to pair super well with the Creole Gumbo which contains tomatoes!

Beaujolais

Beaujolais is a light and fruity red wine from France which pairs wonderfully with spicier dishes as it is also low in alcohol. This wine is a great pairing for a Cajun Chicken & Sausage Gumbo. Now, high alcohol wines and spice is not something you want to pair together, that is why Beaujolais is a great pairing. Instead, you’ll find pure refreshment with Beaujolias, with flavors such as cherry, strawberry and raspberry, which are bold enough to hold against the sausage but not so bold to crush the chicken in the Gumbo. This wine has a touch of earthiness to it which melds wonderfully to those deep Cajun flavors which are found in the sausage!

Pairing Wine With Gumbo Prepared Different Ways

There are usually two different types of Gumbo;

Cajun Gumbo which does not contain tomatoes, is spicier, has a darker color and mostly contains seafood or sausage.
Creole Gumbo often contains tomatoes and is not as spicy as Cajun Gumbo.

Wine With Cajun Gumbo

Find a sweeter wine that is low in acidity. That will balance out the spiciness in the dish. Some great options are Prosecco and a sweeter Riesling.

Wine WIth Creole Gumbo

For this dish, which has tomatoes and thus more acidity, you will want a wine with more acidity so it doesn’t get overpowered by the dish. We also recommend a fruit forward wine with some body to it. Try a Zinfandel with Creole Gumbo and we think you will really enjoy it!

Best Wines to Pair with Gumbo

Because of the many different variations of Gumbo, there are many possible pairings for them! If the Gumbo is spicy think dry whites, but if you are wanting to pair with a red, think lighter reds or reds with low tannin levels; this is because bold reds with lots of tannin and alcohol causes the mouth a lot of discomfort as the tannins and alcohol will clash with any spice causing the mouth to burn; even if the Gumbo is not spicy like Creole Gumbo, most bold red wines will crush all the intricate flavors it has!