White wines are fairly safe for any type of Japanese food. A clean, high-acid wine, like sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio is good for sushi or sashimi. Spicier, heartier dishes go well with wines with some residual sugar, like a Riesling.

Spicier foods lend themselves well to cold, sweet wines. It helps for your wine to have lower alcohol and medium tannins to cut the spiciness of Mexican dishes.

To balance out the spice in Indian dishes, it’s best to find a slightly sweet wine. You want to avoid tannin and oak with spicy dishes.