Sauvignon Blanc
$14 – 26Grassy and high acid, the green note met head on
Cook it with: tomatillo, haricots verts, asparagus, goat cheese, and anything carrying a fresh herbal edge.
Browse Sauvignon BlancWe recommend a grape and a price band, never a single bottle. Vintages sell out and labels change hands. A variety and a range will still be true in five years.
Grassy and high acid, the green note met head on
Cook it with: tomatillo, haricots verts, asparagus, goat cheese, and anything carrying a fresh herbal edge.
Browse Sauvignon BlancCitrus driven, faintly bitter on the close
Cook it with: fennel, citrus, olives, light seafood, and vegetables that want cutting rather than covering.
Browse VermentinoWhite pepper and citrus, dry straight through
Cook it with: shishito peppers, sweet corn, white asparagus, hop shoots, and vegetables that turn sweet under char.
Browse Grüner VeltlinerProvençal in style, pale and properly dry, never sweet
Cook it with: grilled peaches, figs, zucchini blossoms, charcuterie, and everything eaten outdoors in August.
Browse Dry RoséA touch of sugar held up by acid. Not a dessert wine
Cook it with: Japanese eggplant, miso, ginger, and chilli heat, where a little sweetness cools the burn.
Browse RieslingCrisp, saline, salt-air finish
Cook it with: black sea bass, shishito peppers, blistered vegetables, and any seafood that came off high heat salty and charred.
Browse AlbariñoNo sugar, all acid. Look for Trocken on a German label
Cook it with: trout, walleye and freshwater fish, brown butter, toasted almonds, capers, roasted beets.
Browse Dry RieslingChablis in spirit. Look for Chablis, Mâcon or unoaked on the label
Cook it with: halibut, spot prawns, crab, oysters, brown butter, and fish cooked gently rather than hard.
Browse ChardonnayPlush, dark fruited, soft tannin
Cook it with: skirt steak, chimichurri, char, and anything that came off a grill hot and fast.
Browse MalbecPeppery, savoury, more structure than Malbec
Cook it with: skirt steak, black pepper crusts, grilled lamb, and smoke.
Browse SyrahJammy and warm, built for smoke and sweet glaze
Cook it with: pork ribs, tri-tip, barbecue, sticky glazes, and anything that spent hours over indirect heat.
Browse ZinfandelLight bodied and earthy, red fruit carried on acid
Cook it with: duck breast, veal, mushrooms, salmon, and warm plums with something fatty alongside.
Browse Pinot NoirFirm tannin and dark fruit, the classic answer to fat
Cook it with: ribeye, dry-aged beef, hard cheese, and any cut with a heavy fat cap.
Browse Cabernet SauvignonEvery pairing here comes from a MackFoodie post about one ingredient. The wine is chosen for the dish, not for the label, and if it changes on the post it changes here.
We only point at wine we would pour ourselves, and we say the price band out loud so nobody has to guess whether good meant twelve dollars or eighty.