Roast Chicken

Roast Chicken

Roast chicken is the most accommodating dish on the table, but the wine still has two jobs: matching the gentle savoury weight of the bird and meeting the crisp, roasted skin without burying the herbs. Keep the body moderate. Avoid heavy tannin and heavy oak.

Pairs Perfectly

A white Burgundy, France. Chardonnay with a light touch of oak mirrors the golden, roasted skin while its quiet weight carries the meat and any bread sauce alongside.

Pairs Well

A Cru Beaujolais, France. Gamay from a cru such as Fleurie brings juicy red fruit and the softest tannin, the natural red for white meat; a simple Beaujolais-Villages does the same for a weeknight bird at an everyday price.

A Pinot Noir, Central Otago, New Zealand. Bright cherry fruit and supple structure flatter the chicken without weighing it down.

Avoid

Big, tannic reds such as young Cabernet or Barolo, which flatten the delicate meat, and heavily oaked whites, which smother the herbs.

Failing That

A Soave Classico, Italy.

If All Else Fails

Unoaked Chardonnay, Chile.

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