Asian Chicken Salad

The Muscat grape family — covers everything from dry Alsace styles through sweet Beaumes-de-Venise to ancient Greek dessert wines. Always perfumed; always smells like grapes.

Works with Thai Chicken And Asian Green Salad · Malaysian Style Barbecued Chicken With Asian Salad

Red · Light · Dry

Burgundy's most temperamental grape, but the rewards are real — translucent ruby with a perfumed lift of red cherry, forest floor, and clove. Silken tannins and bright acid make it the most versatile red on the table; serve cool, around 58°F.

Works with Asian Noodle Chicken Salad · Asian Grilled Chicken Salad

Red · Full · Dry

The classical red blend — Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and friends — from southwest France. Black currant, cedar, tobacco; serious structure; rewards patience and decanting.

White · Medium · Dry

The most-planted white grape and the most chameleon-like. Crisp and steely from Chablis; rich, oaky, and tropical from California. Read the label, then match the style to the dish.

White · Medium · Off-dry

Lychee, rose petal, and a touch of ginger; medium-bodied, low-acid, and unmistakable. The wine for any cuisine where the spice cabinet did the heavy lifting.

Dessert · Light · Sweet

The Muscat grape made into sweet, low-alcohol, aromatic wines. Asti is the sparkling expression; still versions range from dry (rare) to dessert-sweet (common). Always smells like grapes.

Shorthand most often for Pinot Noir — light-bodied, perfumed red wine with cherry and earth. Burgundy's most temperamental and rewarding grape.

White · Light · Dry

Italy's everyday white — light, lemony, neutral by design. Pleasant with anything; profound with very little. The best Friuli bottles are quietly excellent.

White · Medium · Off-dry

Same grape as Pinot Grigio, different attitude — the Alsatian style is richer, fuller, faintly honeyed, with the structure to handle pork, smoked fish, and Asian aromatics.

Rosé · Light · Dry

Provence's gift to summer — dry, pale, faintly strawberry-and-citrus, with low alcohol and crisp acid. Made to drink cold, with food, in the shade.

Red · Medium · Dry

The soul of Tuscany — bright red cherry, dried herbs, and a savory line of acidity that craves tomato sauce. Chianti is the everyday face; Brunello is its serious cousin.

White · Light · Dry

Citrus, cut grass, and a wire of acid. Marlborough makes it loudest; Sancerre makes it most refined. Either way, it cuts cleanly through goat cheese, herbs, and anything with shellfish.