Pairings
Wine for the food.
Pick the dish. We’ll name a wine that fits — and one that doesn’t.
Meat
Cheeseburger
Salty, fatty, a little sweet from the bun. You want juicy fruit and enough acid to reset.
- Zinfandel or ripe Grenache
Jam and spice for ketchup and char.
- Beaujolais (Gamay)
Chillable, gulpable, high acid — the secret sommelier burger wine.
- Côtes du Rhône
Everyday structure without ceremony.
- Zinfandel or ripe Grenache
Vegetable
Green salad, asparagus, vinaigrette
Vinegar and chlorophyll murder most reds. Go high-acid, herbal, cold.
- Sauvignon Blanc
The rare grape that likes asparagus.
- Grüner Veltliner
White pepper and lentil for bitter greens.
- Dry rosé
When the salad has cheese or egg.
- Sauvignon Blanc
Cheese
Goat cheese
Tangy, lactic, often with herbs. Sancerre exists largely for this moment.
- Sancerre / Loire Sauvignon
The pairing textbooks are written about.
- Chenin Blanc
When the cheese is aged or honeyed.
- Dry Provençal rosé
For a chèvre salad in the sun.
- Sancerre / Loire Sauvignon
Cheese
Aged cheddar, Comté, Gruyère
Crystalline, nutty, salty. Cabernet, oxidative whites, and old reds all work.
- Cabernet Sauvignon
Tannin and black fruit for the crystals.
- White Burgundy or aged Chenin
Nuts with nuts.
- Amontillado Sherry
The sommelier flex that actually tastes right.
- Cabernet Sauvignon
Cheese
Blue cheese (Roquefort, Stilton, Gorgonzola)
Salt and mold want sweetness. This is the dessert-wine moment of the cheese course.
- Sauternes or late-harvest Riesling
Botrytis honey vs. salt.
- Vintage or Tawny Port
The Stilton ritual, for good reason.
- Banyuls or PX Sherry
Darker blues, darker sweetness.
- Sauternes or late-harvest Riesling