Red wine with fondue? Why the answer 'no' is wrong
Everyone says Fendant. But why? What melted cheese does to wine, which red wine actually works, and which bottle turns a fondue evening into one your guests will still be talking about.
The question that comes with every fondue evening
Someone puts a bottle of red wine on the table, and the objection comes immediately: you drink white wine with fondue. The rule is usually right. But it's right for a reason hardly anyone knows, and once you know it, you can also find the red wine that works.
Melted cheese coats the palate with fat and salt. The wine then has one job: to clear away the fat and make the next forkful taste fresh again. Only acidity can do that. Instead of acidity, red wine brings tannin, and tannin reacts with cheese fat to taste harsh and metallic. Hence the white wine. Not because of the colour, but because of the chemistry.
That's why Fendant became the Swiss standard: dry, light, with clear acidity. But it has two weaknesses. It is often very neutral, and alongside raclette with bacon, gherkins and pickled onions, it quickly gets lost.
What works besides Fendant
Dry Riesling. More acidity than Fendant, plus fruit and minerality. It holds its own as the white wine in the fondue and brings a freshness Fendant lacks. If you want to turn the fondue into an occasion, reach for the Pieroth Grosses Gewächs Burg Layer Hölle, CHF 34.90: a dry Riesling from a single steep site on the Nahe. The difference from a twelve-franc Fendant is there from the first sip, and with truffle or porcini fondue it becomes something of an event.
Grüner Veltliner. The Austrian classic for anything involving cheese and pepper. Spicy, dry, with the typical peppery note on the finish that suits raclette pepper like nothing else. Unsterblich Grüner Veltliner, CHF 22.90.
Sauvignon Blanc. The freshest choice. Grass, citrus, plenty of acidity. With vegetable raclette and white-wine-and-kirsch fondue, it is hard to beat. Ligeris Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire, CHF 29.90, or the more affordable Sauvignon Blanc Piccolomini, CHF 19.90.
So red wine after all?
Yes, if it is low in tannin and comes to the table lightly chilled. Young Merlot, Gamay, Pinot Noir. With raclette featuring bacon, chorizo and pickled onions, such a red wine is actually the better choice, because the meat calls for red. From our range: Merlot IGP Pays d'Oc, CHF 17.90, served at 14 degrees. For something more: Meerendal Velo-Wine, CHF 25.90, soft and fruity, from South Africa.
What doesn't work: Barolo, Amarone, a powerful Cabernet. These are too good for fondue and taste poor alongside it. Save them for the roast.
Three rules for the evening
- Serve white wine cold, 8 to 10 degrees, and keep the second bottle in the fridge. Fondue takes time.
- No wine with residual sweetness. Sweetness and salt reinforce each other, and that tires the palate quickly.
- Pour the same wine into the fondue as into the glass. Whatever is in the caquelon automatically suits the glass beside it.
