The beautiful thing about pairing wine with your dinner is that every night presents a new opportunity to discover a winning combination. Food and wine can do so much to enhance one another and having the right bottle on the table can be the difference between a decent meal and a truly memorable dining experience.

Regardless of what you’re planning to serve tonight, here are several of the best wines for dinner:

1. Chardonnay and fatty fish

If you’re thinking of serving up a rich piece of salmon or any other kind of fish accompanying by a decadent sauce, a silky Chardonnay will be the perfect partner. Look for something from Chile or California and you’ll have the perfect balance of oakiness and crispness to stand up to a rich, fatty dish.

2. Cabernet Sauvignon and red meat

How do juicy steaks hot off the BBQ sound to you? Meat like steak or lamb chops is perfect served with a big, flavourful glass of Cabernet Sauvignon or a Bordeaux-style blend. Thanks to the fact that these bold wines contain firm tannins, they refresh the palate after each bite and allow you to enjoy your steak from start to finish.

3. Pinot Noir for earthy flavours

If your dinner tonight heavily features mushrooms, grains, or other earthy flavours, you’ll likely be well served by a bottle of Pinot Noir. This light-bodied wine is versatile but also full of savory depth that will help to fully develop the subtle flavours of ingredients which taste of the earth they were grown in.

4. Syrah and spice

This is one of the best wines for dinner dishes that are on the spicy side. Heavily seasoned or spicy dishes need a strong wine that can mimic their effect on the tongue. Seek out a Syrah with plenty of spicy notes to do the job. Dishes full of cumin or harissa with both be well-served by this dark-skinned grape variety.

5. Zinfandel to offset pâté

When a menu is full of rich, rustic components like mousses, pâtés or terrines, the complex flavours of Zinfandel are almost always a good match. With tasting notes of blackberry and sweet tobacco, this wine will provide a nice counterpoint to a subtle, creamy dish and will combine on the tongue harmoniously.

6. Dry Rosé to cut through richness

A meal that features cheese heavily will almost always benefit from being served with a Dry Rosé. The pairing of wines and cheese has been the subject of many book length explorations, but if you’re serving something with melty, gooey goodness, like a baked brie, Dry Rosé is a great choice. It still provides the welcome acidity found it most whites, but also has the fruity character of red.

7. Malbec to stand up to barbecue sauce

A love for the thick richness of spicy barbecue sauce can leave you at a dilemma of which wine to pick that won’t be overshadowed. Typically, a bold Malbec or Shiraz is your best bet. These full-bodied heavy hitters are big on flavour and won’t get lost in the sauce, so to speak.

8. Chianti and pasta

Some things simply belong together, and you really can beat the timeless Tuscan combination of Chianti and pasta. This old-world wine simply begs for the rich rustic flavours of ragù served atop a plate of homemade pasta. If you feel like paying homage to a classic, this is a great way to do so.

9. Moscato and fruit

Serving a different wine with dessert is a great way to elevate your evening meal to a fine dining experience. When serving a dessert that features fruit, a demi-sec Moscato can be the best wine for dinner because it highlights the flavours of the fruit without adding too much sugar.