The Best Snacks That Go With Wine

Wine fans love pairing their favorite blend with delicious meals, like ribs and steak. But what if you’re like a majority of wine fans and simply enjoy a glass of wine at the end of the night?

Are there any snacks that go well with your favorite wines? You bet your Riesling there are! Here are 10 fantastic wine and snack pairings that we know you’ll love.

Try them out the next time you open your favorite vintage. Experiment with flavors and aromas to get the experience that you deserve here.

1. Chicken Wings: Including Spicy and Barbecue Styles

Chicken and wine remain a fantastic pairing, particularly barbecue or spicy chicken wings at the night’s end.

While this pairing takes more work than other snacks, spicy chicken wings blend perfectly with an off-dry Riesling or a slightly sweet option like Gewurztraminer.

Sweeter sauces typically blend best with fruitier wines, like Pinot Noir. That fruity wine will accentuate the delicious sauce and create a perfect blend of flavors.

If you add no sauce to your wings, consider a Zinfandel or Grenache. This combination provides the slightly peppery touch that you want.

2. Chocolate: Works With Reds and Whites

If you’re like the average person with rich taste buds, you probably can’t get enough chocolate in your life.

What if we told you that plain dark chocolate blends perfectly with many different wines? Pairing this chocolate with any red or white wine is a beautiful combination.

We, in particular, suggest a chilled Moscato with chocolate. This wine’s light undertones of fruit and caramel blend beautifully with any chocolate option.

Thankfully, it should also work well for things like cakes and brownies, so get baking today!

3. Berries: Any Berry is a Great Option

Berries are a fascinating fruit because they’re sweet despite being low in sugar and contain staggering amounts of nutrients and vitamins.

As you might imagine, they also naturally blend well with just about any wine, particularly those similar to your favorite wine’s taste.

For example, raspberries go well with a glass of sparkling white wine because their lighter flavor is an excellent combination with sparkling wine.

Blueberries go perfectly with richer red wines, like a Cabernet Sauvignon. Pro tip: drop your berries directly into your wine for the best results. Another handy hint: Try blueberries paired with blueberry wine!

4. Meatballs: A Perfect Easy Snack Combination

Is there anything more universally enjoyed than slow-cooker meatballs? Well, perhaps, but this snack is the kind of thing that anybody can cook perfectly without any experience.

In addition, these snacks are easy to make and keep for a long time and work well as a snack with many wine types.

For example, Sangiovese goes well with a rich tomato sauce and compliments the meat’s rich flavors nearly perfectly.

Zinfandel is, as always, a great option for barbecue sauce, particularly thick and rich types. A Pinot goes perfectly with sweeter meatball sauces.

5. Mozzarella Sticks: Quick, Easy, and Kid-Friendly

Now when we say mozzarella sticks are kid-friendly, we don’t mean that you should serve your kids wine with these snacks! Instead, we mean that you can serve them any leftover mozz sticks along with their favorite juice or soda, depending on your child’s preference.

However, crispy dried foods like mozzarella sticks are perfectly served with sparkling wines, like Champagne or Prosecco.

Since Prosecco is a little cheaper (but just as good) than Champagne, it might be your mozz stick snack go-to. Chianti is a good choice if you use a marinara sauce with your sticks.

6. Bacon-Wrapped Dates: You Need This Snack in Your Life

We’re not kidding when we say you need bacon-wrapped dates in your life ASAP.

The bacon renaissance has created some amazingly diverse and rich snacks, and this sweet combination of salty bacon with delicious dates is something that goes well with just about any wine.

However, we think they typically pair best with red wines, like Garnacha or Grenache. These wines bring out the meat textures and add some density to their overall taste.

You can also pair them with sparkling wine, particularly Cava, though Prosecco works well.

7. Cheeses: Obvious But Worth Discussing

Now, of course, we can’t write an article about wine snacks without mentioning cheese.

This topic is so apparent that we wanted to highlight a few other snacks before getting to it. First, however, it is still important to know what cheeses go best with which wines.

For example, soft cheeses like mozzarella or feta go perfectly with Riesling, while mild cheeses like brie or camembert need a Rose or Pinot Noir.

Likewise, goat cheese goes well with sparkling wines or a Sauvignon Blanc, while any baked cheeses need a fruity wine like Merlot.

As for aged cheeses, like Parmigiano or Manchego, you need a bolder red wine, like Chianti. A Cabernet may also do in a pinch.

Any stinky or “funky” cheeses pair well with a sweeter wine. Try a port with a bleu cheese to get the flavor combination you want.

8. Crab Cakes: A Light and Tasty Snack

Crab cakes provide a delicious and fishy snack that is slightly lighter than regular fish but not as overpowering as shrimp or other seafood.

It typically pairs best with a more delicate wine, usually a white option. Not quite sparkling but with a lighter and more balanced acidic texture.

For example, crab cakes often blend perfectly with a Chablis or a Sauvignon Blanc. Their lighter white textures and flavors sit well on the tongue and don’t overpower your crab cakes.

You can typically pair these wines with shrimp or tempura, as well, for a wide variety of tastes.

9. Potato Chips: Surprisingly Good With Wine

While potato chips might not immediately scream out at you when you think of wine snacks, they pair well with many wine options.

Sparkling wine is your best bet here because they help cut into the intensity of the salt and fat flavors you get with most potato chips.

However, the potato chip flavor may also affect the quality of your wine pairing. For example, barbecue chips typically pair best with a Pinot Noir, while a Chardonnay blends beautifully with any chips with a sour cream flavor.

Pay attention to the chip dips, as well, as this can affect your pairing.

Depending on your preference, any tomato-based dips you use may blend well with a Cab or Pinot. However, creamier sauces typically go best with a lighter wine, such as a Riesling or a sparkling white.

So make sure you carefully choose your options here to get the best results for your needs.

10. Popcorn: Goes Well With a Richer Flavor

Lastly, we have to bring up popcorn because it’s secretly one of the best wine snack options on the market.

The varying flavors available with popcorn make this a unique combination, with a Chardonnay typically going perfectly with the buttery flavors you get from most popcorn.

When you start adding things like cheese to your popcorn, you may need to tweak up your wine option. Look to our section on cheese to see what kind of wine combination works best for you.

And remember, don’t neglect the critical underlying popcorn flavor when choosing your wine.

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