Pairing Wine with Dim Sum

Gone are the days when white wine is strictly paired with fish and red wine with red meat; Chinese dishes and wine pairing should not be overlooked. Whilst making pairings may be a little more complicated due to its sauces, spices, flavours and textures – their pairings should not be overlooked!
Let’s talk Dim Sum, which translates to “to touch the heart,” whilst originally created to accompany tea drinking, they also taste great paired with wine. As dim sum meals are usually not times to impress with expensive wines, they are particularly suited to great value, everyday wines that you would gladly share with friends, family members or colleagues – crowd and bank pleasers!
Dim Sum as a cuisine is ever expanding, and more and more culinary delights are appearing on menus and it can get tricky to know where to start… so we will start with the staples. 
When pairing at home or in a restaurant without guidance, we recommend you think about the dish’s components, cooking method, and sauce.

Example:
Siu Bao (barbecue, pork-filled bun)
Main component: Pork
Cooking method: Steamed
Sauce: Barbecue

Typically, when pairing wines, there are two categories, contrast or compliment. A complimenting wine for Siu Bao would be a Chardonnay such as Aegerter Les Enfants Terribles, which has pairing points of sesame oil and soy sauce, and a contrasting wine would be a red. We suggest you pick lighter, fruitful varieties when choosing ‘dim sum reds’ such as Aegerter Les Enfants Terribles Pinot Noir which has subtle tannins. Or a more structured Red such as Aegerter Nuits-Saint-Georges.

​Example:
​Wu Tao Go (fried yam cake)
Main component: Yam
Cooking method: Fried
Sauce: None, so focus on the cooking method

Here we would suggest Aegerter Les Jolies Filles Côtes-de-Provence Rosé, which is both crisp and subtle (HK$230 a bottle at Le Bistro Winebeast’s Happy Hour), in fact typically speaking, Rosé pairs well with most fried dim sum, including Siu Mai (steamed shrimp and pork dumpling with crab roe on top), haam sui gok (fried pork dumplings) or Guotie’s (pork potstickers) which would each be particularly well suited with a fruit forward bubbly Rosé such as Champagne Drappier, Cuvée Antoine Rosé (HK$560).
Whilst not Dim sum, or Chinese, our French sister restaurant; Le Bistro Winebeast will be offering wines mentioned above throughout their June/July Happy Hour promotion. Buy one, get one free @ HK$88 Or HK$230 per bottle. Available wines;

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​Les Jolies Filles Côtes-de-Provence Rosé; Beautiful Girls. 
Les Beaux Gosses Côtes-du-Rhône; Handsome Guys
Les Enfants Terribles Chardonnay; Terrible Children
Les Enfants Terribles Pinot Noir; Terrible Children