Indian experts highlight why you should change the way you look at wine and food pairings

Have you ever had red wine with a dosardquo Anushka Malkani asks us She smiles pouring a vibrant berry red into our glass mdash one of her favourites Beaujolais a fruity mediumbodied French wine mdash as steaming dosas are placed before usldquoThe idea came to me one day when I was missing the crepes Irsquod have with wine when I was in Parisrdquo says Malkani who trained as a chef in France before returning to Mumbai and setting up Masa Bakery hereWe start by swirling and sniffing the wine followed by a sip we find it beautifully light and fruitforward with bright notes of strawberry raspberry maybe even some cherry Then we turn to the dosas mdash crisp and buttery one stuffed with cheese the other laced with podi We try the cheese dosa first and then take a sip of the wine again Instantly the wine feels more rounded on our palates The wine is low on tannins to begin with and the dosarsquos richness softens it to a silky finishDiners enjoy wine pairings with Indian food at a session by All Things Nice right Tiger prawn till bugga Amritsari vadi rice with Chardonnay at Indian AccentEven the dosarsquos aftertaste changes mdash it feels richer sweeter upon interacting with the wine Next we try the podi dosa with a tomatobased chutney and its effect is completely different the combination leaves a buttery impression on the palateldquoUsually most people wouldnrsquot pair a red with podi dosa This combination works because Beaujolais is low on tannins and doesnrsquot fight spicerdquo says Malkani ldquoOtherwise tannins amplify the heat of chillies and both the food and wine feel harsher And thatrsquos why most people tend to pair Indian food with offdry whites some of which come off as sweeterrdquo says MalkaniItrsquos a fallacy that the global wine industry has repeated time and again Indian food is spicy so it must be paired with an offdry Riesling or Gewurztraminer Itrsquos become one of the many fallacies that govern ldquowine culturerdquo such as red wine goes with red meat whites go with white meat it depends on the sauce more than the protein or red wine must only be served at room temperature that rule was meant for European climate or Indian food is too strong to explore more diverse wine pairingsldquoWine doesnrsquot have to be had with steak or pastardquo she says ldquoFor example Irsquod love a Chablis with our humble dal chawalrdquoldquoI think people are a bit afraid to experiment and judge for themselves whatrsquos good and whatrsquos notrdquo says Malkani And thatrsquos part of the reason why she founded the Bombay Wine Club a year ago to take away the hesitation and fear that so many people have around wine and also to help people redefine how to explore wine in an Indian context ldquoI started small with just six to eight friends at my home tasting seven to eight wines through the course of the eveningrdquo says Malkani who is WSETcertified from the UKWine clubs are particularly crucial to the wine scene thatrsquos exploded in the last five to 10 years especially because of the high cost barrier that comes with buying an entire bottle In these clubs enthusiasts can pay a fraction of the cost and try out multiple variants Bombay Wine Club for instance hosts sessions for anywhere between R3000 to R6000 with five to six international wines up for tasting industry standard is to serve 6075 ml samples as there are many varietals to cover in each session These are safe spaces for firsttimers and experienced drinkers alike to dismantle assumptions tied to class and Eurocentricity that gatekeep who gets to understand and enjoy wineThe dream she says is to open a wine bar in the city in the next year or so ldquoI want to build a community of people who like wine and want to explore it on their own terms learn how to do food pairings When it comes to wine therersquos only one rule that matters If you like it it worksrdquolsquoWhite gaze in the wine worldrsquoMohona Chowdhury a winewriter educator based in France is reeducating the world about Indian cuisine and how well it pairs with wine one Reel at a timeMohona Chowdhury and her partner Corentin Le Reste did a yearlong social media series on wines to pair with food from every Indian state including Berry Pulao paired with Pinot NoirMohona Chowdhury thewinediangirl a wine writereducator and consultant living in Beaune France has lost count of how many times she has heard from someone ldquoIndian food is so spicy you must pair it with Riesling and GewurztraminerrdquoldquoThatrsquos a very Eurocentric way of looking at things mdash spicy food okay Irsquoll pair a sweet wine with it Even the wine books many of us have studied say thatrdquo she saysldquoFirst of all Indian food is not one flavour how can you pair the same wine with a mutton rogan josh and a rajma chawal We have so many cuisines and flavour profiles across the country in reality the wine pairings are limitlessrdquo she saysMohona ChowdhuryTo prove her point and educate other wine lovers Indian and nonIndian alike she and her partner a Frenchman started a yearlong Instagram series on wine pairings with food from each state of India ldquoEach video wersquod cook a dish from one state and pair it with a French winerdquoThey paired Hyderabadi biryani with a Beaujolais and Pinot Noir with rajma chawal and berry pulao They did pairings with mutton rogan josh and Chettinad chicken too And slowly she began to see other creators and colleagues address the ldquowhite gazerdquo in the wine world as wellldquoHonestly wine culture has been gatekept by white people for such a long time In India that gatekeeping translates to a class barrier where many traditional wine drinkers refuse to see past Bordeaux wines But Irsquom starting to see changes in India too since 2020rdquo she says adding ldquoDonrsquot let anyone tell you your food is too Indian or too spicy to pair with wine mdash winemaking has been around here since at least the fourth century BCE Wersquove been fermenting fruits to make alcohol at home for centuries Itrsquos just that that culture got eroded first by the Mughals discouraged under Islamic rule and then by the British because they were more interested in India growing other cropsrdquoHow restaurants and clubs are changing the gameNikhil AgarwalIn March members of the All Things Nice wine community came together at Pali Bhavan in Churchgate to sample a sixcourse sixwine pairing menu that founder Nikhil Agarwal dubbed ldquoThe Maharaja Wine Dinnerrdquo From bhel to Amritsar chicken tikka to pudina pani puri and pulao the dinner menu exclusively featured Indian food paired with wines from France Italy Germany and even ChileHersquos held similar pairing menus at Lower Parelrsquos Indian cuisine restaurant Comorin as wellldquoIn the last 10 years Indians have started looking inwards in terms of just how good our cuisine is I see a lot of consumers happy to enjoy their sabzi roti with a glass of wine And why not In Italy pasta is their everyday food so it makes sense that theyrsquod pair that with wine Wine is not for occasions it was always meant to be an everyday beverage The only way for us to enjoy it that way is to pair it with what we eat every day Indian foodrdquo he saysKevin RodriguesldquoWhy not have sev puri with C Sauvignon Blancrdquo quips Agarwal who recently posted a video on Instagram experimenting with this very combination ldquoI like how the tamarind in the chaat complements the citrusyness of the winerdquo he says in the videoWhile high net worth individuals in India have always had access to good wine and more room to experiment the high cost of an entire wine bottle has been a significant barrier for the larger population he admits But herersquos where Indian cuisine restaurants are changing the game by expanding their wine menus and offering more options by the glass rather than the whole bottleAt Churchgatersquos Nksha for instance Agarwal curated a wine menu spanning across 100 options all offered by the glass ldquoWe wanted to make wine more accessible to people Now you can come in order your butter chicken and pair it with wines from all over the world Instead of paying R20000 for a bottle you can buy a glass for a fraction and experiment with versatilityrdquo he saysAt Comorin all 60 wines on the menu mdash curated by Head of Wines Kevin Rodrigues mdash can be bought by the glass At the Indian Accent too 50 of the wines from the extensive menu can be bought by the glass ldquoThe idea to keep it approachable for guests who might want to try something new without having to commit to a bottlerdquo says Rodrigues ldquoOver the years Irsquove seen that people will shy away from a bottle of wine because it is too expensive Most restaurants only offer the good stuff by the bottle People get put off by the price point and switch to a cocktail or straight serverdquoIndian Accent is also one of the few places in the country to regularly offer wine pairings with their sevencourse Chefrsquos Tasting Menu We go through the menu and find several unusual pairings that bend the unspoken rules of the wine world Such as a duck course thatrsquos paired with a white Clairette and Grenache Blanc BlendldquoItrsquos not about the proteinrdquo says Rodrigues ldquoThis dish mdash Dry aged duck with khandvi and fajeto mdash has more elements that pair well with the white The khandvi in particular goes very well with the wine as do the sweet and sour chutneys Basically here the duck is just a texture the flavour profile comes from the khandvi and the citrusy zesty wine amplifies thatrdquoRs 1K5KPrice range of international wines by the glass 150 ml at city restaurantsWho says wine is just grapeThatrsquos just a colonial hangover says Vidita Mungi founder of Rhythm Winery in PuneVidita Mungi founder of Rhythm Winery pours a glass of their natural jamun wine PicSayyed Sameer AbediPeople have been making fruit wine in their homes since the Bronze agerdquo says Vidita Mungi founder of Rhythm Winery in Pune ldquoIn Himachal Pradesh apple and peach wines have been fermented for generations The Northeast also has a tradition of making fruit wines from surplus harvests It was just not done at a commercial scale because of our hot climate and difficulties transporting wine across the countryrsquos vast terrainrdquo These are problems technology has solved and today Rhythm Winery makes a bouquet of different versions of the fermented drink from strawberry to pineapple and kiwi to indigenous fruits like the Alphonso mango and jamunFor their newest offering jamun wine the fruit is sourced from Mahabaleshwar and is processed as a natural wine with ldquono added sugar no blendingrdquo ldquoWhen we launched it in December 2025 my grandmother said it brought back a childhood memory of the jamun tree at her neighbourrsquos house and the wine theyrsquod makerdquo says MungiNatural wines are all the rage internationally and Rhythm Wineryrsquos Alphonso mango wine is served at several gourmet restaurants in London UK ldquoAbroad people have experimented enough to know that wine doesnrsquot have to be a certain way Here many still believe that the only way to make wine is from grapes or that only the imported ones are good But sometimes that imported bottle is the cheapest wine in its country of origin sold here at thrice the costrdquo she says ldquoTherersquos a new wave of consumers though who have realised that Indianmade wines pair better with Indian food because the makers understand the cuisine and climate deeply Indian food is high in spices and salt and needs acidity to balance that A paratha and pickle eaten with a cabernet will break you into a sweat in this heat But with a chilled strawberry wine each bite and each sip will be complementaryrdquo she adds ldquoGrape wine proliferated in the West and was spread across the world by colonial powers Thatrsquos no reason to turn away from our own traditions of wine from fruits indigenous to our country like mango or jamunrdquoIndian wine schools take the story forwardSonal HollandldquoSince I began my wine journey more than two decades ago perhaps the most significant change is that Indians have become more confident in interpreting wine through their own culinary experiences Earlier wine appreciation was largely guided by Western frameworksHistorically much of the worldrsquos wine education was developed in Europe and later adapted globally Naturally the examples used in teaching food pairing and wine communication were often centred around European cuisines and dining traditionsToday consumers sommeliers and chefs are exploring how wine interacts with the extraordinary diversity of Indian cuisine from coastal seafood preparations to rich regional curries and vegetarian dishes Rather than challenging Western wine knowledge we are expanding it by adding perspectives that were previously underrepresentedAt the Sonal Holland Academy our goal is not to replace global wine knowledge but to make it more relevant and meaningful for Indian consumers and professionals We teach internationally recognised wine qualifications and standards but we also encourage students to think critically about how those principles apply within an Indian context Alongside classic international pairings we spend considerable time exploring how wine works with Indian ingredients cooking techniques and regional cuisines We also expose students to Indian wines and discuss the unique opportunities and challenges of the Indian marketrdquoSonal Holland Indiarsquos first Master of Wine and founder of the Sonal Holland Academy MumbaiPairings to inspire youSonal Holland thinspChilean Cabernet Sauvignon with dal makhani thinspChampagne with bhajiaNikhil Agarwal thinspVada pav with chilled Chardonnay thinspCurd rice with chilled Pinot GrigioMohona Chowdhury thinspHyderabadi biryani with Beaujolais thinspRajma chawal with Pinot NoirKevin Rodrigues thinspBengali fish fry and kasundi cream with Valpolicella thinspButter chicken and ChiantiAnushka thinspCheese dosa with Beaujolais thinspDal chawal with Chablis