Pairing Wine With Spanakopita

Spanakopita is a savory pie, made out of thin pastry which is filled with spinach and cheese. It can also be made from various vegetables such as chard or leeks. The Spanakopita is quite creamy and rich, with a cheesy texture.

A style of wine that would go best with this pita would be a medium to full bodied white wine. We would look for a wine with lots of green and herbal elements to enhance the flavors of spinach but also with a bit of texture to complement the cheese and pastry. We are looking at a medium to high acidity wine, medium to full body with a long finish and low tannins if we were looking at our red selection.

Wine Characteristics To Pair With Spanakopita

Characteristic	Detail
Sweetness	Dry
Acidity	Medium to High
Tannins	Low
Body	Medium to Full bodied white, Light Reds
Tasting Notes	White Wine Notes – Herbal, green fruit, cheese Red Wine Notes – Red fruit, red berries, cream

Sweetness – A dry wine is what we need since most of the components of the dish are not sweet and not too salty.

Acidity – Medium to high acidity will do the trick for Spanakopita, we need freshness and a wine that won’t seem flabby compared to the saltiness of feta cheese that is often used for spanakopita.

Tannins – Low tannins is what we would look for in our red wines, as here we do not have any meat component or anything that would call for a higher tannin level.

Body – Medium to full bodied whites are the right call and light reds will do the trick.

Tasting Notes – We would look for a herbal, green fruit oriented wine with a bit of cheese, butter, cream aromas. For our reds we would look for the same herbal and cheese element but with predominantly red fruit aromas and a bit of earthiness.

Best Red Wine To Drink With Spanakopita

With Spanakopita we would recommend having lighter red wines since the dish itself does not have any meat and it is not as heavy. Looking for a red wine to go with this dish we would recommend looking for wines with low tannins, medium to high acidity, a bit of earthy aromas and herbal, vegetal notes accompanied with red fruit aromas.

Pinot Noir from Burgundy

A good entry level Pinot Noir from Burgundy will always have a light body, low tannins and lots of herbal notes. With a bit of age it will display earthiness and red fruit aromas.

Nerello Mascalese from Italy

A grape variety grown on the slopes of Mount Etna in Sicily, it makes wines quite light in body with a lot of herbal and green notes. It produces wines mostly low in tannins with lots of red fruit aromas and a nice earthiness to back it up.

Cinsault from South Africa

Cinsault has been planted in South Africa since the mid 19th century. Originally from France, this grape variety has adapted well to South Africa and when it was crossed with Pinot Noir it created Pinotage, a grape that South Africa is known for. Cinsault produces light bodied wines with low tannins, red fruits, earthiness and spice.

Best White Wine To Drink With Spanakopita

White wine would be a natural choice for Spanakopita, since we have flaky dough filled with spinach and cheese. Quite naturally white wine will enhance this dish due to its freshness and lighter body compared to a red wine.

We would recommend looking for a younger white wine with medium to high acidity, fresh fruit aromas, herbal touch and a bit of oak influence.

Semillon from South Africa

Semillon originates from the Bordeaux region in France where it is usually blended with Sauvignon Blanc. Due to its rise in popularity, it is now used to produce single varietal wines instead of blends. It would make a great pairing for Spanakopita since it has amazing acidity, herbal and green nose, lots of freshness and when aged in oak it gets an amazing creaminess to its palate.
Semillon is a go to grape variety for this dish.

Verdejo from Spain

Originating from North Africa, this grape variety is widely planted in Spain, mostly in the Denominacion de Origen Rueda. It produces slightly lighter wines with lots of freshness, green fruit, citrus fruit and herbal notes. It is mostly produced as a fresh, unoaked style of wine which makes a perfect pairing for cheeses and salads. For this reason we would recommend it with the spinach and cheese Spanakopita.

Fiano from Italy

Grown in the DOCG of Fiano di Avellino, it produces wines with an aromatic, herbal nose and lots of citrus notes. It has a medium body and almost a waxy texture, it works great with pastry and cheeses.

Best Wine To Drink With Spanakopita

We have shortlisted here the wines we have mentioned in this article, in an order we would suggest. These wines will have all the necessary features to make the pairing with Spanakopita the most delicious experience.