Roasted Pumpkin Soup

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.

Works with Roasted Pumpkin Soup · Creamy Parsnip Soup With Roasted Pumpkin Seeds · Fresh Pumpkin Soup With Ginger And Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

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 Roasted Pumpkin Soup · Fresh Pumpkin Soup With Ginger And Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Red · Medium · Dry

Spain's name for Grenache — old vines and high elevation give wines of remarkable depth at modest prices. Bright red fruit, dried herbs, and a chalk-and-pepper finish.

White · Light · Off-dry

Aromatic, racy, and shapeshifting — bone-dry in Alsace, off-dry on the Mosel, syrupy and ageless when late-harvested. The single most versatile wine for spicy food on earth.

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.

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.

Fortified · Medium · Dry

Andalusia's fortified white — runs from bone-dry Fino through nutty Amontillado to syrupy PX. The dry styles pair brilliantly with tapas; the sweet ones replace dessert entirely.

A wine outside our reference catalogue — likely a single-producer or single-vineyard bottling. Open with a small pour to assess body and sweetness, then pair to match its weight.