The Best Wine and Food Pairings for Date Night
Having dinner with your significant other is a great way to bond and get some one-on-one time. There’s no need to wait for a special holiday to take your honey out for a good meal, either! Here are some delicious food and wine pairing ideas for your next date night. Consider giving these a try, whether you’re having dinner at home or at your favorite restaurant.
Seared Steak and Cabernet Sauvignon
This dish is one of the easiest meals you could prepare to impress your date, and it is a basic wine pairing. Cabernet from the Napa Valley is best for this dish, but if you don’t have one from that classic location, that’s perfectly fine. Cabernet is rich, with bold taste and structure that will stand up to the heft of the steak.
Roasted Chicken and Pinot Noir or Chardonnay
There are few meals more satisfying than a basic roast chicken. Between the lightness of the chicken and the savory taste of the herbs, either a white or light red wine is a great choice. If you’re in the mood for red, try a pinot noir. A viable option for white is a chardonnay. If the chicken is heavy on spices and herbs, a Grüner Veltliner’s citrus and clove flavors would pair nicely with the chicken’s herbaceous tones.
Eggplant Parmesan and Chianti
Eggplant parmesan is not only a cheap dish to make, it’s also delicious and available at most Italian restaurants. The tomatoes used in the sauce have a high acidity (which provides a lightly sour taste), and most Italian wines have a high acidity as well. The dish provides a mix of earthy, cheesy, and vibrant tastes, and since acidic wines pair well with acidic foods, it makes sense to pair this meal with a good chianti. A viable alternative to this is Pinot Noir.
Tuna Casserole and Rosé
If you’re craving comfort food, tuna casserole is a great go-to dinner. The creaminess of the casserole calls for a wine with fruity notes and slight acidity -- Rosé matches this perfectly. If pink isn’t something you’re up for, the subtle acidity of a chardonnay would work well, too!
No matter what you’re eating on your date night, there’s a great wine to go with it. Consider trying some of these examples and remember that you can always ask your waiter for recommendations! If you’re staying home, a quick internet search can turn up some great ideas for you as well.