14th March 2023 | Cork Talk | 5 minute read
Aside from being two of the nation’s favourite drinks, coffee and wine have a lot more in common than you might think. From parallels in how they’re produced to what your taste in one says about your taste in the other, we spill the beans on all the similarities between coffee and wine.
We tend to think of them as opposites, with one giving us that much-needed boost of energy in the morning, and the other being our drink of choice with an evening meal, yet coffee and wine share so much in common.
For starters, coffee and wine are inherently similar in how they are produced. We all know that wine is made from grapes that are crushed and fermented, but did you know that coffee also comes from fruit and involves fermentation? Coffee beans are actually the seeds (or stones) found inside coffee berries, and these are then pulped and fermented in cement tanks (sound familiar?).
With this in mind, it may come as less of a surprise that, just like wine, coffee flavours, body, acidity and characteristics are all shaped by the climate, altitude and soil type where the coffee plant has grown. So, coffee beans from Kenya, for example, will be lighter in body than coffee produced elsewhere due to the environment surrounding the plant.
Another huge similarity in coffee and wine production is that each has a “belt” across the globe where they can be produced. All wine regions sit within the circles of latitude at 40° to 50° north of the equator and 30° to 40° south, and these two longitudinal zones where healthy grapes are able to grow is known as the wine belt. Coffee berry plants also require specific conditions to thrive, and the optimum environment for them is in the circles of latitude at 25° north of the equator and 30° south, collectively known as the coffee belt.
Not only do coffee and wine both have their own belt, they also have their own flavour wheels, which measure very similar characteristics. The wine flavour wheel is a diagram many wine experts use to write accurate tasting notes when assessing wine. The coffee flavour wheel is used for similar reasons, enabling coffee producers to describe and categorise their blends.
Once you’ve seen the flavour wheels, you begin to get an idea of how seriously us wine and coffee nerds take tasting. In the world of coffee, a professional tasting is known as coffee cupping, and it follows an eerily familiar process… analysing aromas, flavours, sweetness, acidity, mouthfeel and aftertaste. It sounds just like a professional tasting wine, and that’s because it is!
Wine and coffee are both drinks we enjoy with an evening meal. Whether or not we drink coffee late in the day at home, there’s just something about rounding off an indulgent dinner in a restaurant with a cup of coffee that feels so damn right. The reason for that may simply be that coffee is delicious, or it may be because the caffeine makes it a great digestif.
Once you begin to see just how alike these two supposedly opposite drinks are, you can understand how those of us who enjoy the complexities of wine would also have an appreciation for coffee. Here at Virgin Wines, we think that, given there are so many similarities between coffee and wine, it makes perfect sense to try coffee that shares qualities with your favourite wines.
If you’re a fan of smooth and fruity reds such as an Argentinian Malbec or a warm climate Merlot, Brazilian coffee may be the one for you. Malbec typically has low levels of acidity, medium body, and a smooth, velvety mouthfeel, while Brazilian coffee also has low acidity, and a silky, milk-like texture that feels smoother than other coffee varieties.
Anyone who adores the silky, black cherry and spice palate of our Wild Elevation Malbec will find plenty to love about soft, bittersweet Brazilian coffee.
Floral and fragrant white wine drinkers will enjoy the floral and citrus notes of African coffee. Viognier, for instance, is famous for its perfumed aromas of honeysuckle and tangerine, while Ethiopian coffee beans evoke aromas of jasmine flower and citrus flavours of lemon and bergamot orange. African coffee is a more fragrant variety of coffee bean, typically having a lighter, tea-like mouthfeel.
The Black Pig Viognier is a fragrant white from sunny South Australia, boasting an elegant balance of orange blossom and elderflower floral notes with citrus and lemonade aromas. If you like this, we think you’ll love African coffee.
Enjoy wines that are packed with sweeter notes of jammy fruit, toasted nuts and chocolate? If this is right up your street, try Columbian coffee, which displays strong caramel sweetness, hints of nut and a syrupy mouthfeel.
The same goes for dessert wines fans, especially if you adore the Yalumba Antique Muscat for its soft, syrupy, luscious texture and notes of orange peel, caramel, dates and raisins. With so many flavours matching up to Columbian coffee (which also has notes of citrus), Muscat drinkers should definitely give it a try, perhaps with a little brown sugar.
If this article has given you a thirst for more coffee knowledge, we’d highly recommend taking a look at Pact Coffee, who grind down all the facts into easily digestible blogs, such as this article about comparing coffee and wine.
Pact also take an ethical approach to coffee and put sustainability at the heart of everything they do. As the first certified carbon neutral wine retailer in the UK, qualities like this are hugely important to us and we’re proud to work with them.
