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What to drink with curry

Wine and beer for curry, tacos and anything with chilli: something to cool the burn, or something crisp to reset your palate.

The short answer

Wine: a fruity, lower-alcohol wine with bubbles or a touch of sweetness, such as Prosecco, Lambrusco or Riesling, cools the burn. Or an ice-cold, crisp sparkling such as Cava or Champagne resets your palate.

Beer: a crisp lager. Big tannic reds and hoppy IPAs are best avoided.

🤝 Harmonise

Cool the burn: fruity wines and soft lagers

Harmonising with spice means taming it, not matching it heat for heat: fruit, bubbles and lower alcohol cool the burn.

Wine

Fruit, bubbles and a touch of sweetness cool the burn, and lower alcohol keeps the flames down.

Prosecco
Lambrusco
Riesling
Sparkling wine
Gamay

Beer

Soft malt sweetness and lively bubbles cool the chilli heat; bitterness and booze would fan the flames.

Reschs Real Lager
Pure Blonde Ultra Low Carb Lager
Stone & Wood Pacific Ale

⚡ Contrast

Reset your palate: ice-cold bubbles and crisp lagers

Contrasting means choosing a drink that balances the food rather than mirroring it: something ice-cold, dry and crisp to scrub the heat away between bites.

Wine

Ice-cold, dry and crisp: bubbles and crisp whites scrub and reset the palate between fiery bites.

Cava
Lambrusco
Champagne
Pinot Grigio
Albariño

Beer

A bone-dry, highly carbonated beer scrubs and resets the palate between fiery bites.

4 Pines Japanese Lager
Hawke's Underdog Session Lager
Pure Blonde Ultra Low Carb Lager

What to avoid

Big, tannic reds. Tannin scrapes against the chilli and turns bitter. Cabernet Sauvignon, Nebbiolo and Shiraz are marked down for spicy food.
High alcohol. Alcohol fans the chilli flames, in wine and in beer.
Hoppy beer. Hop bitterness makes the burn harder. IPAs, black IPAs and strong ales are marked down.

Questions

What wine goes with curry?

Something to cool the burn: a fruity, lower-alcohol wine with bubbles or a touch of sweetness, such as Prosecco, Lambrusco or Riesling. Or an ice-cold, crisp sparkling such as Cava or Champagne to reset your palate between bites.

Does red wine go with curry?

Big, tannic reds are best avoided: tannin scrapes against chilli and turns bitter, and high alcohol fans the flames. Cellar Sage marks down Cabernet Sauvignon, Nebbiolo and Shiraz for spicy food. If you want a red, softer, lighter ones make its list: Lambrusco and Gamay.

What beer goes with curry?

A crisp lager, whose bubbles cool or scrub away the heat. Hoppy IPAs are best avoided, because hop bitterness makes the chilli burn harder.

Does this work for tacos?

Yes. In the app, spicy curry and tacos are one option, so these suggestions apply to both.

Get picks for your own palate

Tell Cellar Sage how you like your wine or beer, and it finds bottles and cans you can buy from Australian shops, with prices.

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These picks come from the Cellar Sage pairing engine, run on 11 October 2026 with every taste dial in the middle. Your own picks change with how you like your wine or beer, your budget, and what Australian shops have in stock.