This Wine Shop Offers a Mixed Case of Bottles Picked to Pair with Fast Food

Lighthearted wine pairings have pretty much become a genre all of their own. We’ve written our own wine and Halloween candy pairings and wine and holiday cookie pairings. Wine and Girl Scout Cookie pairings were a bit of a thing at one point. So that fact that people in the United Kingdom are interested in a wine and fast food pairing certainly isn’t shocking.

But what is a bit unexpected is that a British wine merchant is luring in customers selling a mixed case of wine that he’s hand-selected to pair with well-known fast food items.

Matt Ellis, the owner of The Smiling Grape Company in St Neots (about 60 miles north of London), is currently selling a six-pack of wine called the “Take-Away Wine Matching Case,” where every bottle is intended to pair with a takeout staple.

For example, to pair with a Big Mac or Whopper, the case includes Canoe Tree Shiraz Cabernet from Australia. A bottle of Bagordi Rioja Joven from Spain is meant to pair with a Domino’s pizza. And a KFC Zinger Twister apparently goes well with a bottle of It’s Almost Wine O’Clock Chardonnay from Chile. The half case of wine also comes with tasting notes that explain the pairings, all for just ￡55 – or under $13 a bottle.

Ellis told The Sun that crafting the case wasn’t as easy as you may think. “It took months because of the strong flavors you get from the different takeaways – and we had a lot of takeaways while we were researching,” he said. “But we’re really happy with the end result. Why not stroll out to pick a nice bottle of wine then grab your takeaway on the way home?”

Turns out a lot of his customers are doing just that. Ellis said he’s sold 70 of the six-packs since he first started offering them last year, making it one of the best-selling mixed cases he’s ever offered in his store. “There are so many dos and don’ts these days – and the truth is there are times when it’s ok for food and wine to just be an indulgence,” he stated. “I think that’s how most families live their lives – you have to enjoy yourselves too. So we wanted to do something that related to that.” And what better way to enjoy yourself than a six-pack of wine?