Peri Peri Chicken

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.

Works with Peri Peri Chicken · Peri Peri Chicken Livers

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.

An uncatalogued varietal or single-vineyard wine. Taste before pairing: assess color, weight, and any obvious sweetness, then plate accordingly.

Red · Medium · Dry

Cabernet's softer sibling — plum, black cherry, and a whisper of chocolate, framed by rounder tannins and earlier drinkability. The wine that built Pomerol and the one to reach for when Cabernet feels like overkill.

Portugal's Setúbal classic — Castelão-based red, smoky, plummy, soft. The everyday Portuguese table wine.

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.

An Alentejo sub-appellation — Portuguese reds based on native grapes (Aragonez, Trincadeira), warm and food-friendly.

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.

Portugal's young, slightly fizzy white — Alvarinho, Loureiro, and other native grapes, low in alcohol, bright in acid, made for hot afternoons. The perfect summer porch wine.