12 Ideal Wine Pairings for Taco Night

Simply put, tacos are one of the greatest foods around. So why not pair them with one of the greatest bevis around? Enter: wine. While a beer-taco combo might be more prevalent in a lot of circles, a wine and taco pairing can be just as delicious. It offers up some really nuanced flavor profiles that play well into a wide variety of tacos we all know and love. Mixing it up from that Pacifico or margarita brings a whole new world of flavors and mouthfeels to the pairing that can soften the spice in a taco or add a refreshing edge through brilliantly acidic bubbles.

Now that we’ve established tacos should absolutely be hanging out with wine, pairing what with what is the part that takes a little bit of thought. There are so many grapes and wine styles that it can be overwhelming when thinking about how to pair them, so I’ve done the hard work for you and paired several wines with tacos based on my own culinary research and background as a sommelier. Needless to say, I love tacos of all kinds and have a continuous supply of bottles cycling through the house. 

When it comes to pairing rules, well, I don’t really like rules. But sometimes I find like goes with like, while other times the contrast of flavors between a taco and wine profile can really enhance each and make for a more compelling pairing. From fish tacos to barbacoa, we’ve got you and your wine and taco pairings covered — so you can focus on the eating and drinking part. These combinations are lively and balanced, bringing out the best of every sip and bite.

One of my personal favorites, a plate full of fish tacos and a cold glass of albariño makes a juicy good pairing. Whether you are going for cod, mahi mahi, or another finned friend, flaky white fish, avocado mash, and salsa verde on a blistered corn tortilla can truly be transformative. Fish tacos can lean in many directions in terms of weight, texture, and depth of the dish. A mild cod with pickled red onion and citrusy slaw is quite light compared to crispy Baja-style fish tacos. So, what to pair? 

A crisp, slightly salty, and oh-so-refreshing albariño is a great match for both, and many other renditions. The Iberian grape has zippy acidity with underlying citrus notes that make it a refreshing and dreamy match for fish tacos in their many forms. Chill the bottle right down and pour it up cold. The acidity and coastal saline will play into the light and fresh fish taco vibes and/or cut the fat in a fried fish taco, making for a refreshing finish.

Tongue can be hit or miss, but when cooked with patience, it can turn out to make some of the most tender and flavorful tacos around. A long simmer with all the aromatics from garlic to bay leaf followed by a hot pan-sear is the secret to getting that quintessential tender lengua taco you’re craving. The meat is then packed with flavor while being buttery on the inside and crispy on the outside. 

Lengua tacos can be on the richer side, thanks to the generosity of the meat. So they pair well with a dry, high-acid white that kinda has the opposite personality. Opposites attract, right? A sharp and zingy high-elevation riesling cuts into the fattiness and richness of the meat, bringing some much-needed balance and freshness to the pairing. Be sure to go for a dry riesling when searching out the wine. You don’t need it so bone-dry it makes your mouth feel like the Sahara desert, but you do want it dry and with good acidity. The acidity will edge into the rich cut while matching the toppings of onion and lime juice. 

All rieslings can be fermented to dryness. If you’re looking for a German one, look for “Qualitätswein” or “Trocken” on the label. The acidity will come from the grape itself, the growing conditions and elevation, and the pick time. When you look hard enough, you can always find outlier styles from various regions. Buy them. Drink them. Pair them with your lengua tacos.

Perhaps the most ordered taco around? Maybe. The perfectly fatty, slow-cooked pork seared to sublime crisp bits is a master class for all other on-looking tacos. Carnitas is inherently richer thanks to the much-appreciated fattiness of the pork. Once marinated, slow-cooked, and pan-fried, the meat takes on a complex flavor and texture that, in my opinion, calls for punchy acidic bubbles with a bit of funk. A light and spritzy rosé pét-nat is a great wine pairing for carnitas because taught little bubbles cut right through the fat and balance the duo out, bringing brightness and some much-needed acidity with a tinge of tart red berry. 

There are a bunch of different rosé péts to choose from out there, like barely there Provencial styles or heavily saturated, deeply hued rosés that offer more body. I’d go for something in between but leaning towards the latter style of rosé. You want something with a bit of body and texture (ahem, hello lees) to stand up to the taco. Think crunchy red raspberry, zippy acidity, bay leaf, peppercorn, and brilliantly textured bubbles bursting at the surface of your glass.

The well-loved carne asada taco has that perfect char grill, served up on a two-bite size taco. In the best versions, the overall flavor is a balance between smoky and sweet, with the thin strips of steak yielding a pink and tender center and a crispy BBQ charred exterior. The simply perfect addition of diced white onion, cilantro, and lime all cut into the meat and add a piquantness.

When it comes to the wine pairing for carne asada, garnacha or grenache is a good pick. The medium-bodied red is a great match for barbequed meats, particularly steak, as it plays into that charred effect with its inherent grilled plum, dried herb, and spiced strawberry notes. Go for a juicy rendition that gives developed fruit notes while maintaining nice acidity. Look for a grenache from a cooler site where the fruit flavors can develop slower, almost in a more luscious way. The wine maintains its acidity, bringing an edge and bite that is welcomed by the carne asada.

Al pastor tacos are likely something you’re more often ordering up from the taqueria than making at home, but whether you’re BYOB-ing your wine in your tote bag or making up your version at home, the pork should be highly aromatic from the achiote, giving juicy and crisp pork bits with rich chili flavor along with quintessential sweet and sour pineapple. It’s a distinct taco for sure, and one that needs an equally showy wine. 

Que gewürztraminer. Gewürz’s unique profile gives up tropical fruit like lychee and pineapple, along with stone fruit, grapefruit, ginger, and rose. It’s one of the most distinct grapes off the vine and can make some really expressive wines. It’s an aromatic and frilly white that, when served cold, is a great match for al pastor tacos, playing up the pineapple and bringing a lot of complexity and interest to the overall pairing. The dominating floral and fruit aromas can almost give the effect of a lingering sweetness at times, something that mellows spicy notes in food. It’s a little bit of an oddball pairing, but it works! It’s kinda like the two eccentric kids becoming friends on the playground — chances are, they’ll go on to do great things. 

Barbacoa literally translates to barbecue, and references the origin of cow, lamb, goat, etc. being pit-cooked and picking up a slightly smoky flare. While it’s more often pressure-cooked beef cheek that you’ll find being served up in taquerias today, the sentiment of the slow cook to tenderize the meat remains. Smoky chili, bay, and oregano are strong flavors that typically ring through in barbacoa, all things that can play into the profile of pinot noir quite nicely.

Pinot noir is typically lighter in body, yet it can have complex, layered flavors where red fruit and earthy profiles overlap. The latter is what makes pinot a good pairing for barbacoa. There is a depth of savoriness that comes with the earthy notes in the way the meat is cooked, just as there is in the wine. The ripe raspberry, smoky tobacco, and spicy notes that are often found in pinot pair really well with the flavor profile of the taco. In addition, pinot noir can often layer in an umami-like profile with characteristics of mushroom, wet leaves, and herbaceousness.

Chicken tacos may be a bit more common stateside than across the border, but it doesn’t make them any less delicious. A citrus-marinated, barbeque-charred chicken thigh shredded into a taco and topped with salsa verde is hard to beat. The juicy interior with crispy char exterior can go with a white or red wine. But, where I believe chicken really shines its brightest, is when it’s paired with orange wine. Honestly, so many chicken marinades lend themselves to a skin-contact wine. I believe they were kinda just meant to be.

As for a chicken taco, go with a skin contact sauvignon blanc that has puckering acidity and notes of white peach, grapefruit zest, and lime with a hint of salinity and a textured, grippy palate that pairs beautifully with the charred chicken. Some of these wines even offer up an herbaceousness, which taps into any tomatillo or coriander that is (hopefully) involved in the taco. The textured palate and a little bit of tannins give the wine more body for heavier dishes while the aromatic and zesty nature of orange sauv blanc brings a lot of brightness and edge to the pairing. This has got to be one of my favorites.

Suadero is rich and beefy in taste while being smooth and tender in texture. A long slow braise gets this cut of beef lusciously tender and flavorful. When it gets a little bit of color on it, it’s ready to be showcased in a taco. The cut of beef and intensity of flavor developed over the long braise calls for a wine with a bit more oomph and body. Zinfandel fits the bill with its medium-body and saturated dark fruit notes.

This is somewhat of a “like with like” pairing, where the weight and depth of the taco and wine fall at similar points on the scale. Zinfandel typically has aromas of blackberry and plum crumble tinged with cinnamon and black pepper. It tends to give a pretty fruit-forward, almost zinger-like profile that doesn’t have the defined structure of a nebbiolo or Rioja. The nature of this pairing is a bit heavier and slightly sultry. In the end, they complete each other perfectly.

Hate them or love them, tacos gringo are the middle America tacos (hopefully hard shell!) loaded with seasoned ground beef, grated orange cheese, and shredded iceberg lettuce. And I love them. I mean a hard shell taco?! Absolutely underrated and under-consumed. The textural layers of crunch from the crispy taco to the iceberg lettuce are divine. These aren’t particularly heavy tacos, though there is often a good amount of fat from the ground beef that takes on a bright orange hue from the packet of spices. Add a handful of cheese to this and you are gonna want to wash it down with something light and refreshing.

A sparkling piquette is a great match. Piquette is a low-ABV wine-like wine that’s made with already crushed grapes. It’s round two! Recycling everyone. It actually makes such an airy little bevy that still gives up some delicious flavor. For tacos gringo, a sparkling piquette from red-skinned grapes will give a nice underlying red fruit flavor and act as a palate cleanser with bright acidity and energetic bubbles.

Birria is a complex flavor profile where adobo chili, vinegar, and other aromatics intermingle. A birria taco is big on flavor, delivering a trifecta of savory, sweet, and spicy. There is both an earthiness and spiciness to birria which is such an evocative place to start when contemplating what wine to pair. It’s a taco combination that could go with either a white or a red, depending on your mood.

In this case, I found the depth of flavor and earthy characteristics to complement a wine like syrah quite nicely. And vice versa. Typically a more full-bodied wine, syrah’s weight is on par with that of birria. Syrah typically has notes of dark blue and black fruit, like blueberry and Italian plum with peppercorn, chocolate, and even tobacco. Meanwhile, birria has prominent cumin, garlic, and black pepper notes with underlying bay leaf, oregano, and clove. The spices in traditional birria bring out syrah’s fruitier side and balance the taco’s heat nicely. This is one of those “pair like with like” matches that really works.

Traditionally cooked in an underground oven, the Yucatán-style cochinita pibil, has a uniquely sweet and earthy profile from the citrus, achiote, and other aromatics that penetrate the pork while cooking. Char-grilled garlic and bitter-sweet Seville orange juice contribute a lot of flavor to the taco and make it subtly edgy in the best of ways. Smokiness is also very apparent and largely defines the overall flavor of the taco.

So, the pairing. Sparkling rosé, perhaps a Nero d’Avola, is a delicate yet lively wine that brings fresh acidity and palate-cleansing bubbles often needed with a smoke-driven dish. You’ll want one with a bit more body and enough texture to stand up to the flavor combination of citrus and spiced chili. The right sparkling rosé can also bring in similarly bright notes of citrus, like preserved orange and grapefruit, along with additional notes that build on the overall pairing like red apple skin, ripe strawberry, and fresh thyme. This is a somewhat unconventional pairing, yet really pleasing.

Cabeza translates directly to “head” in Spanish. While it is often the cow head, whichever animal, it’s the works cooked slowly until all the bits are tender and falling away. It makes a very roasty and slightly fatty taco, typically topped with onion, cilantro, and some sort of salsa. While it’s somewhat rich, it is also surprisingly relatively mild in the overall profile. There isn’t any distinct smoke or overbearing chili here to really push this taco to one spectrum or the other, rather, it leaves a bit of a blank canvas to add layers of complexity to with the addition of the wine.

Nebbiolo is a fitting pairing that brings in red fruits like cherry, red raspberry, dried fig, and strawberry and matches a bit of the already present subtle spice. Avoid a classically structured nebbiolo so you don’t end up with any underdeveloped tannins or astringency. Cabeza is better suited to a fresher take on the grape that is a bit juicier, has good acidity, and has brighter red fruit notes. There are actually some beautiful renditions coming from wineries near Baja that fit the bill.