Pairing Wine With Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Pie is one of those iconic Fall treats, often served during Thanksgiving dinner, or just as a delicious belly filler during the colder months of the year. It’s a dessert pie, but pumpkin’s undeniably rich, earthy flavor, combined with the typical warming spice mix, makes pumpkin pie sweet and savory at the same time. 

So, it’s safe to pair a dessert wine with pumpkin pie – you aren’t going to overpower your palate with sweetness. You can either go for something rich and spicy, to complement the pie, or something slightly brisker, to contrast it. 

Wine Characteristics To Pair With Pumpkin Pie

An off-dry or sweet wine is going to be absolutely delicious with pumpkin pie. Most dessert wines have pretty good acid levels, to counteract the residual sugars, but it’s often barely noticeable. You can pair pumpkin pie with any sort of body. It really depends on what kind of experience you want, or how full you feel after Thanksgiving dinner. Wines with spicy notes are preferable. They will mingle beautifully with the notes of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger that you find in pumpkin pie. 

Best Red Wine To Drink With Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin pie is filling and savory, as well as sweet. The best way to complement these characteristics is with a glass of fortified wine. These are usually rich, satisfying and full of spicy elements. The extra alcohol punch that you get with fortified wine is just the cherry on top. 

Port

Port comes from Portugal and is usually a blend containing a lot of different grapes. The location is not so important in this case, but the style of Port is. We recommend going for a Tawny Port – these are always slightly sweet, lower in tannins, and often exhibit some nutty and spicy flavors from aging in wood barrels. This will complement any of the spices in your pumpkin pie beautifully. Port also has an extremely smooth profile, which will match the creamy texture of pumpkin pie. 

Sherry

Sherry is another fabulous fortified wine to match pumpkin pie. It ticks many of the same boxes as Port, but it’s great to have more than one option. Sherry is filling, smooth and full of spicy and nutty flavors.  The main difference between Sherry and Port is that Sherry is made primarily of the Palomino grape, while Port can be a blend of up to 80 different varietals. Additionally, Sherry is Spanish, and Port is Portuguese. Any off-dry or sweet Sherry will do, but we recommend looking out for the Oloroso or Palo Cortado varieties in particular.

Best White Wine To Drink With Pumpkin Pie

White wine offers more of a contrast with pumpkin pie, and won’t leave you as stuffed and sleepy as a glass of fortified red. You’ll mostly be looking for late-harvest whites, the grapes that have shriveled up slightly on the vine, leaving them full of residual sugar. There’s an entire world of white wines like this. There is also something charming about the fact that late-harvest grapes, at least in the Northern Hemisphere, are harvested around the same time as pumpkins. These are the picks of the bunch. 

Riesling

Riesling is frequently made in a sweet or off-dry style. Even in its sweetest iterations, Riesling manages to keep a refreshing crispness, which will offset the creaminess of pumpkin pie wonderfully. Riesling is a great pairing for anything with spices, even if they aren’t particularly spicy, like the warming notes of cinnamon and nutmeg in pumpkin pie. Just be careful not to buy a dry Riesling by accident – they are delicious, but won’t pair as well with something sweet. If you’re looking for a classic German Riesling, keep an eye out for the word “Spätlese”. It means late-harvest, which is exactly what you want. 

Gewurztraminer

Gewurztraminer is a brilliant option for pairing with pumpkin pie. The name means “spiced” or “perfumed” Traminer, and its profile is absolutely perfect for Thanksgiving dessert. It’s frequently made in sweet styles, and even dry Gewurztraminer has hints of sweetness. It is highly aromatic, with notes of honey and ginger, the perfect complement to pumpkin pie’s flavor profile. It can also have a luscious mouthfeel, slightly thick and round, ideal for pairing with creamy desserts. 

Moscato

Moscato can be a confusing road to go down because there are so many varieties. Thankfully, a lot of Moscato ends up as off-dry or sweet wine, and its profile is brilliant for pairing with pumpkin pie. It can contain notes of orange, honey and ginger, and its often creamy mouthfeel is delicious following a slice of pumpkin pie. There is some actual chemistry to back up this pairing too. Moscato has an intense floral nose, which comes from a compound called linalool. Linalool is also found in cinnamon, so it really is the ideal pairing for Fall themed desserts. 

Sparkling Wine

Apart from sweet wines, you can also go down the sparkling route. Cava or Prosecco are classic choices for family gatherings, like Thanksgiving or Christmas. Look for something with intense fruits that isn’t too mouth-puckering, like a Dry Prosecco from Veneto. Sparkling rosé is also a solid, food-friendly option, with plenty of red fruit flavors. Sparkling wines will cleanse your palate after a thick slice of pumpkin pie – and make room for more. 

Best Wine To Drink With Pumpkin Pie

The best wines for pairing with pumpkin pie will be sweet and flavorful, ideally with some spicy characteristics. You can with red or white, it’s entirely up to you. These are your best options: 

• Port
• Sherry
• Gewurztraminer
• Sweet Moscato
• Riesling

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