Wine for the food.

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.

Bird

Duck or squab

Richer than chicken, often with fruit or spice glaze. Pinot is classic; Pinot's cousins work too.

• Red Burgundy / Pinot Noir

  The textbook pairing — fruit, acid, silk.

• Barolo or Barbera

  Nebbiolo's tar and rose with gamey birds.

• Pinot-friendly Merlot

  Plum and velvet when the sauce is darker.

Spice

Barbecue (smoke, sauce, bark)

Sweet sauce plus smoke. Ripe fruit, a little spice, nothing too precious.

• Zinfandel or Shiraz

  Jam and pepper for sauce and bark.

• Grenache / GSM

  Red fruit that can take a chill outdoors.

• Sparkling rosé

  For the fatty bits, and because picnic.

Dessert

Dark chocolate

Bitter cocoa needs fruit sweetness or oxidative depth. Dry reds usually fail.

• Tawny Port or Banyuls

  Nuts and dried fruit for cacao.

• Late-harvest Zinfandel or Recioto

  If you insist on a red.

• PX Sherry

  For the darkest bars.

Skip: Tannic dry Cabernet — cocoa plus tannin is ashes.

Dessert

Apple tart, fruit crumble

Match fruit with fruit, and keep the wine at least as sweet as the plate.

• Vouvray moelleux or Coteaux du Layon

  Chenin, apple, honey.

• Spätlese / Auslese Riesling

  Lime and peach for orchard desserts.

• Calvados (after the plate)

  If the tart is the last word.