Sort-of Secret: Wine Pairing Company

The sort-of secret: Wine Pairing Company, a pop-up dining series that highlights drink pairings with Chinese cuisine You may have heard of it if: You follow them on Instagram But you probably haven’t tried it because: The monthly events fill up fast

Pairing Chinese food with wine isn’t a mainstream proposition at the moment, but Tia Zhang and Kori Wan, the co-founders of Wine Pairing Company, intend to change that—one pop-up event at a time.

Zhang, who has a background in design and advertising, started exploring the world of wine in 2020. She and some foodie friends were gathering to cook Chinese dishes together, and this piqued her curiosity about potential pairings. Later, she spent two years working in China as an art director at an advertising agency. On weekends and holidays, she explored the cuisines of Shanghai, Hangzhou and Guangzhou, falling in love with the concept of a Chinese fusion bistro. “I was inspired to challenge the traditional notion of Chinese dining that wine is almost always reserved for special occasions rather than using it to enhance everyday dining experiences,” she says.

After returning to Toronto, Zhang launched her pilot event in January of 2023 at the restaurant 915 Dupont. She paired Yunnan street food cooked by chef Lewen Ding—who used to work at Dream Yunnan, a Chinese restaurant on Baldwin Street—with natural wine, cider and sake. After overwhelmingly positive feedback from her first 25 guests, Zhang joined forces with Kori Wan, who handles marketing, and officially launched Wine Pairing Company that May.

Now, WPC runs monthly tasting events at restaurants like Labour of Love and 915 Dupont, featuring curated selections of Asian dishes paired with complementary wines, sakes, ciders and craft beers (they plan to add zero-proof pairings soon). The chefs and locations rotate—they recently partnered with Mhel’s Eddie Ling—and diners are alerted about upcoming events via their Instagram or by signing up for their newsletter.

At WPC events, guests receive detailed notes about their pairings, which often include hard-to-find bottles like Party!, a natural wine from Paradise Grapevine that was made in collaboration with Revel Cider and goes well with Asian flavours like pickled long beans and fermented bamboo shoots. At another event, Domaine Maby’s Tavel Rosé La Forcadière was paired with Sichuan dry-fried green beans—the rosé‘s white-pepper notes enhanced the spiciness of the beans. For Zhang, these events are about establishing sensory bridges to help people pair wine with Asian dishes more confidently. “You’ll often find wine descriptions that reference the most common Western foods,” says Zhang. “At WPC, we integrate Asian ingredients and spices to describe wines.”

Here’s a closer look at at a summer event WPC threw to celebrate the Toronto International Dragon Boat Race Festival.