Lemon Rice 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 Lemon Rice Soup · •soupa Avgolemono: Egg-lemon Chicken Soup With Rice

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.

Works with Lemon Rice Soup · •soupa Avgolemono: Egg-lemon Chicken Soup With Rice

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 Lemon Rice Soup · •soupa Avgolemono: Egg-lemon Chicken Soup With Rice

White · Full · Dry

California's flagship white — rounder, riper, and oakier than the Old World original, with tropical fruit, butter, and vanilla. Sonoma Coast and Sta. Rita Hills bottlings are leaner; Napa stays plush.

Sparkling · Light · Dry

Méthode champenoise from the most chalk-rich corner of France — fine bubbles, brioche, lemon zest, and a finish that goes on for half a minute. The wine for anything fried, salty, or special.

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.

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 · Medium · Dry

A medium-bodied dry white in the European tradition — crisp acid, citrus and orchard fruit, a clean mineral finish. Pairs reliably with most lighter dishes.

White · Medium · Dry

The Northern Rhône's grandest red — pure Syrah from a single granite hillside, age-worthy for decades. Black olive, smoked meat, violet, and a tannic spine that demands time.