Would you squeeze a lime on it? That’s all we need to know. A sip of zippy Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc has the same effect, only better. Plus, it’s a sleeker beverage than a beer or super-sugary margarita (alcohol free or not) if it’s made like our Sauvignon Blanc: cold-fermented in stainless, with zero sugar and a lower abv than many other Sauvignon Blancs.

The high acidity and herbal and tropical notes in our SANNA Sauvignon Blanc pair nicely with cilantro, lime, Mexican oregano, tomatillos, fresh tomato salsa, seafood, and more. Juicy acidity also cuts like a knife through rich and bland foods like cheese, tortillas, and beans, refreshing the palate.

My only caveat? If you’re going for the extreme end of the Scoville Scale, you’re probably better sticking with cold beer or something sweet to put the fire out. Super spicy peppers will obfuscate the delicate floral and fresh fruit flavors in wine.

Like all of our food and wine pairing blogs, this one is work in progress. From time to time we’ll add to it when we cook or taste something that really hits. So, here are some of our top pairings…

CHICKEN SOPAS

I think sopas are special, and I don’t often see them on a menu, so I make them myself. It’s surprisingly easy to make these little rafts for flavor - sweet and smoky, more substantial than tortillas, both crisp and pillowy soft. You start with masa harina, which is nixtamalized corn flour, meaning the corn has been soaked with lime, a process that makes nutrients like vitamin B3 and calcium more bioavailable, makes the corn more easy to digest, and reduces phytic acid, which impedes absorption of minerals. Adding a little hot water to the flour creates a surprisingly fluffy dough. Roll it into little balls and press them flat, dry cook them in a cast iron skillet, form a little ridge by pinching the edge, and fry in healthy ancestral fat until the exterior is crisp.

The thing about sopas is the symphony of complementing and contrasting flavors and textures. A base of bland yet smoky sweet and salty refried beans, topped with pulled chicken in a tomato and onion sauce, then thrillingly sour toppings like crema, crumbled queso fresco, and (my homemade, canned) escabeche (pickled jalapenos, carrots, and onions with oregano). Fresh crunchy shredded iceberg on top, maybe some cilantro. This was tonight’s dinner. So, how did the SANNA Sauv fare? Brilliantly. When I first sipped it on its own, it tasted a bit like peach tea, fleshy. When paired with the food, mandarin and other citrus notes came forward. MUCH to my surprise, the wine seemed to vibe with the vinegary escabeche, which wines are not supposed to do. A bite of pickled carrot, a sip of Sauv, and the wine had a brilliant, citrusy trajectory.

FISH TACOS

In our home, fish tacos are always a good idea. Kristof likes to stop by our local fishmonger, Osprey, when he’s in the neighborhood, which is every time he has to drop off a wine sample at the enology lab. He’s forever coming home with a little bag of steamed shrimp, a handful of oysters to barbecue, or a fillet of fish wrapped tight in white butcher paper. My recipe for fish tacos calls for Petrale sole, but to be honest, last time we went to Costco, we bought a hefty pack of wild rockfish, and that made terrific tacos.

The recipe I make most often is adapted from the recipe at Solbar Restaurant at Solage, Auberge Resorts Collection in Calistoga. It was published years ago in one of those free Napa Valley glossy magazines, so I don’t imagine they’ll mind if I tell you how I fix mine. Mix sliced green and red cabbage and white onion with olive oil and salt. Make an aioli by processing mayonnaise and chipotle peppers together. Mix 2 cups of flour and 1 cup of cornmeal in a bowl. You want to marinate your fish in buttermilk and salt for an hour, then toss it in the flour and cornmeal mixture and fry until golden brown in your choice of healthy, ancestral fats (like lard, olive oil, or beef tallow). Serve in corn tortillas with cabbage, aioli, cilantro, and fresh lime wedges.

SANNA Sauvignon Blanc pairs beautifully with all but the fishiest of seafoods (in which case the wine takes on metallic notes - certain kinds of oily, smoked, tinned fish come to mind) and is a perfect partner for the crunch and zing of these tacos. A beautifully made Sauvignon can have minerally, saline flavors, which pair so well with the layered flavors in the taco. The herbal notes in the wine complement the cilantro and cabbage, and the citrus and salt notes can have you thinking for a moment you’re sitting on the beach tasting salt air.

CHILES RELLENO

Chiles Relleno: case in point that the entire history of culinary arts is one attempt to make things that are not meat taste like meat or to stretch meat as far as possible. I am the undisputed Queen of the Relleno; it’s my thing. My specialty. Making it is a labor of love, because it’s time consuming and messy to roast and peel poblanos, carefully stuff them with cheese or shrimp, roll them in flour, then dip them in fluffy egg batter, and carefully lay them in hot oil that spatters and pops all over the stovetop. You end up with drips of batter on the floor, but oh, is it worth it. The cloudlike, meaty pepper, oozing cheese, would be too much if not for the balancing acidity of salsa roja. Sauvignon Blanc plays the same function, balancing the richness with acidity, plus the herbal notes in the wine love poblanos and tomatoes. When in doubt, Sauvignon is the gardener’s wine; anything you can grow in a garden is a natural match for the wine.

Slow-cooked Pork Pozole

On cool fall days, I like to make a pot of slow-cooked pork pozole, a dish with layers of flavor from heritage pork stew meat, cumin, Mexican oregano, chiles, garlic and onions, carrots, tomatoes, corn or hominy, and tomatillos. The warm, bright flavors are further enhanced with crisp, cool toppings: salty cotija cheese, cilantro, radishes, diced avocado, and lime, plus you use corn tortillas, with their natural, earthy sweetness, to scoop of bites. This is a sexy stew, and the dominant flavor note, to me, is tomatillo, an acidic green fruit related to gooseberries that becomes sweet and caramelized when ripe and roasted and made into salsa.

We use the flavor descriptor “gooseberry” to talk about Sauvignon Blanc, even though most of us have never eaten a gooseberry that we can remember. The last time I tasted a gooseberry, it was so tart I might have mistaken it for one of my daughters’ Sour Patch Kids candies with their coating of tartaric and citric acids. You know what, I think I’m going to start using the descriptor “tomatillo” to talk about SANNA Sauvignon Blanc, because there are definite notes of the rich yet zippy fruit in the wine. In terms of pairing, the flavors of the stew and the wine are a match, and the way I gauge harmony is that the flavors of both are enhanced, and the flavor length of the wine expands and is not curtailed.

A stew like this holds the gloom of early dusk at bay and infuses a body with warmth. And when paired with SANNA Sauv, one has the illusion of tasting ocean air because of an illusory saline/mineral/sea salt flavor in the wine that combines with lime to play tricks (good ones) on the mind. Suddenly, I feel like I’m walking at the beach, breathing contentedly, even though in reality I’m wearing a sweater and eating stew with my bedroom slippers on.

Top Pairings: Mexican Cuisine & Sauvignon Blanc