Universal Pairing
Fetzer Gewurztraminer
My easy universal pairing pick: floral, a little spicy, friendly with salty snacks, cheese, spicy food, and weird dinner-party spreads.
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Dessert Wine
Taylor Fladgate 20 Year Tawny Port
My value pick for 20 year tawny port. Nutty, caramel-like, dried-fruit goodness without jumping to collector-bottle pricing.
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Dessert Wine
Inniskillin Vidal Icewine
My icewine pick: honeyed, bright, concentrated, and fancy-feeling in a tiny glass without needing a huge pour.
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Cabernet Sauvignon
Francis Coppola Cabernet Sauvignon
A classic my mom really liked, and I agree: it has that useful taste-to-value ratio that makes a bottle worth remembering.
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Sauvignon Blanc
Bread & Butter Sauvignon Blanc
Bright, crisp, and easy to pair. Bread & Butter usually gives me good balance and complexity for the price.
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Riesling
Bread & Butter Riesling
A harder-to-find Bread & Butter bottle, but Riesling is exactly the kind of grape I want near spicy food, pork, cheese, and dessert-adjacent snacks.
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Cabernet Sauvignon
Bread & Butter Cabernet Sauvignon
A good-value Cab with enough richness for comfort food and enough polish that it still feels deliberate.
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Merlot
Bread & Butter Merlot
Soft, approachable, and still interesting enough. This is the kind of Merlot that makes the case for Merlot again.
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Chardonnay
Louis Jadot Pouilly-Fuisse Chardonnay
A Burgundy Chardonnay I like when I want richness, minerality, and fruit without going full butter-bomb.
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