Chilli is stimulating to eat but it can make wine taste quite peculiar. Perhaps you’re already familiar with the experience. You have, let’s say, an aromatic glass of sauvignon blanc, succulent with flavours of gooseberries, passion fruit and lemon sorbet. Then you start on the spicy coconut curry and find that the next mouthful of wine tastes completely different. The acidity and alcohol still come through but that’s all. The effect is that the wine tastes hard and flat. What’s going on here? And what can you do if you still want to drink wine and actually taste it? We know part, but not all, of the answer.

The active component in chilli is capsaicin. As with the pungency of garlic, the prickle of ginger, the burn of wasabi, the cool of menthol and the tickle of Szechuan pepper, we sense the fire of capsaicin through receptors found at trigeminal nerve terminals. The largest cranial nerve, the trigeminal controls the muscles involved with chewing and passes information about touch, temperature and pain to the brain.

Capsaicin stimulates receptors that can also be activated by heat, which helps to explain why we perceive chilli as being hot. Although the trigeminal nerve isn’t part of our taste (gustatory) or smell (olfactory) systems, we do perceive this sensation as being a part of the flavour of a food or drink.

In addition, when we eat chilli there is an interaction with the sweet and the bitter receptors on our taste buds. The effect is that our perception of both sweet and bitter flavours is suppressed. In turn, sweetness can damp down the fiery perception of the chilli, as you might have noticed if you eat mango chutney with spicy food.

What does this mean for wine? Well, if you are eating chilli and drink a wine that has a bit of sweetness, it will appear dry. The hotter the chilli, the more sweetness you can have in the wine without noticing it. Also, when you go sweeter with chilli, the other flavours in the wine don’t collapse – you can still perceive the fruity and floral notes. The whole thing tastes better.

Effervescence also reduces the impact of chilli, as anyone who likes a G&T or cold lager with spicy food will know. This is why the much-mocked Mateus Rosé from Portugal – sweet and slightly sparkling – tastes really good with hot food. You could also try a sweeter vinho verde or prosecco.

Astringency, meanwhile, aggravates the impact of chilli and is in turn aggravated by the chilli. So if you enjoy the abrasive feel of tannin and the burn of chilli meshing together then by all means pick a tannic red wine, but try to go for one with richer fruit, because the fruit will still be dialled down. I’m thinking of a plush sunshine cabernet or syrah rather than a bony wine from a cooler climate. 

If you don’t want the clatter and pungency of that grainy-roughness, go for a gentler red, with lower alcohol, such as a pinot noir or a marzemino from Italy. To hang on to the fruity flavour, you could also look for a red that isn’t completely dry. This might sound odd but quite a lot of reds that look as if they’re going to be dry, actually aren’t. Italian primitivo, for instance, is great with spicy salami or with a pasta sauce made with a pinch of chilli.

Here are three more wines to try with chilli spice...

Try these...

The Wine Atlas Feteascâ Regalâ NV, Romania 

11.5%, Asda, £6

A beautiful just-off-dry white, astonishing at the price, that smells of green mango and yellow plums. Good for mildly spiced dishes.

Taste the Difference Pignoletto Brut NV, Italy

11%, Sainsbury’s, £8

A gently effervescent white made from the grechetto grape that I’d put with, say, a salad that combined a sweet dressing with chilli.

Zalze Shiraz-Mourvèdre-Viognier 2021, South Africa

14.5%, Waitrose, £9.99

A red with notes of brambles and grilled plums and a touch of wood spice, this works with mild chilli.

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