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Spicy food tastes best with wine, if you know what you’re doing.

Choosing a wine to go with a specific dish is usually all about flavor. But when it comes to pairing wines with spicy food, you need to consider more than your taste buds. The foods we tend to categorize as spicy don’t just impart flavor — they cause a physical reaction.

Whether it’s mapo tofu with its tingly heat, sushi with a dab of nose-zapping wasabi, or tacos liberally doused with Cholula, deciding which wines work best with spicy dishes depends on what type of spiciness you’re working with.

Chiles derive their spiciness from capsaicin, a compound found naturally in them. The numbing type of spicy found in Szechuan peppercorns originates from a completely different compound. In contrast, the sharpness in ingredients like mustard and horseradish emanates from another distinct compound.

These different kinds of spiciness can provoke various physical reactions, which influences the pairing of food with wine. A general guideline is to steer clear of tannic wines such as red Bordeaux and Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, which can feel bitter, astringent, and thin when paired with spicy foods.

The sensation of heat from capsaicin in chiles is not a taste but rather a reaction of our nervous system, similar to how it would react to something scalding. Capsaicin is mostly insoluble in water, so drinking cold water might not help much, but consuming a bit of sugar might.

To temper that heat, pair a chile-hot dish with an off-dry white wine, recommends Michael Dolinski, wine director at Junoon in New York City. To reduce the spiciness of the restaurant’s chile-marinated chicken tikka, he suggests a lightly sweet Chenin Blanc. “I pour Champalou Vouvray with our Ghost Chili Murgh Tikka,” Dolinski mentions. “The wine has a slight sweetness that perfectly balances the spice of the tikka.”

To enhance the heat of chiles, alternatively, choose a high-acid, peppery wine like a Cabernet Franc-based red wine or a cool-climate Syrah.

Wasabi, horseradish, and hot mustard share a chemical compound known as allyl isothiocyanate, which activates receptors in our nose, prompting our eyes to water and our sinuses to tingle without lingering taste like capsaicin does.

Opt for fruity wines to enhance the flavors of your dish and help soothe the fiery spice. Nelson Harvey, co-owner of Annette in Aurora, Colorado, recommends a chilled, light Grenache rosé with floral and red-fruit scents as a complement to shrimp served with a spicy horseradish-and-hot-mustard sauce.

A fruity, slightly sweet Riesling is another excellent choice for strong spices, according to Jeff Cleveland, sommelier at Birch in Milwaukee. He notes, “The slight sweetness softens the spiciness, and the wine’s minerality and stone-fruit profile make it an exceptional pairing.”

The tingling sensation on your tongue from foods containing Szechuan peppercorns is due to a compound called hydroxy-alpha-sanshool affecting your nerves. No wine can completely counteract this sensation, but a silky, rich white wine can help balance the numbness.

Harvey pairs Szechuan peppercorn–dusted fried chicken with the Weingut Emmerich Knoll Loibner Grüner Veltliner Federspiel. “Grüner has a roundness that coats your mouth and softens the tingly, numbing heat,” he says.

Want to lean in to the numbing spice? Choose a Champagne: The effervescence doubles down on the tingling sensations, says Ronni Heard, wine director at Zoé Tong in Austin: “The combination of bubbles, acidity, and bready notes cuts through the spice and enhances all the flavors.”

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