Best Wines for Pork Dishes

Stuffing this roast with figs and garlic slivers will make you feel like a modern-day Julia Child, and the results are stunning: mosaic-like slices infused with rich fruit and wine flavors.

Recipe: Pork Shoulder Roast with Figs, Garlic, and Wine

Pair with: A big red combining sweet fruit, smoke, and spice, such as a Syrah. The jammy fruit flavors in our bottle pick also have an earthy character that made us think of figs—which, in turn, are perfect with the sweet, deep flavor of long-roasted pork shoulder. A succulent package all together. Recommended bottle: Murray 2009 Syrah (Red Mountain).

Why make the same old thing when you can cook up a chili rich and smoky with bacon and Spanish chorizo, mellowed by whiskey, and fired up with chipotles?

Recipe: Whiskey and Triple Pork Black Bean Chili

Pair with: Syrah. It's often a very textural wine, uncannily reminiscent of black beans. Our bottle pick also happens to be fruity enough to tame the robust heat in this chili and juicy enough to link to the three kinds of tender pork. Recommended bottle: Twisted Oak 2009 Syrah (Calaveras County).

This carnitas-style dish is divine. Any leftover meat is excellent in sandwich rolls the next day.

Recipe: Marinated Roast Pork with Cilantro Potatoes

Pair with: Chardonnay. Pork leans to the sweet side of meat, making it a good match for the sweet core of fruit in Chard, as well as the wine’s textures. Our bottle pick is rich enough to complement roast pork, but being from a cool region, also has the acidity and minerality to work with savory herbs. Recommended bottle: Cinnabar 2011 Chardonnay (Monterey).

This bright citrus salsa is a phenomenal complement to pork.

Recipe: Honey Lime Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Citrus Salsa

Pair with: Chardonnay. It generally has great citrus flavors, but unless the wine also has vibrant acidity, it’s a tough match for actual citrus. Our bottle pick, from chilly, acid-hugging Green Valley, works. And the nuts here pull out its richness. Recommended bottle: Dutton-Goldfield 2011 Dutton Ranch–Rued Vineyard Chardonnay (Green Valley of Russian River Valley).

Grilling this roast over charcoal is a little complicated, but the results are worth it—the crust is crisper and the meat is melt-in-your-mouth tender. You can do the pork on a gas grill instead.

Recipe: Charcoal-Grilled Pork Shoulder with Fresh Herbs and Roasted Garlic

Pair with: A deep, plummy Syrah blend with intense berry and earthy spice flavors. The char on the pork goes head-to-head with the smoke in the wine. What's more, the dish and our bottle pick have herbal streaks that match well. Recommended bottle: John Duval 2008 “Plexus” (Barossa Valley).

Use your leftover cranberry sauce as a elegant finish to this pork dinner. We like it served with a fresh green salad with pears and pecans.

Recipe: Cranberry Pork Tenderloin

Pair with: Pinot Noir. The cranberries extend the berry flavors and spices in the wine so deliciously. This silky bottle pick is bright with red berry flavors edged with warm spices that make it a great choice for holiday meals. Recommended bottle: Chestnut Peak 2009 Pinot Noir (Sonoma County).

The chiles fall apart as the dish cooks, giving the meat a mellow, earthy spiciness.

Recipe: Shot-and-a-Beer Pork Stew

Pair with: Grenache. With generous, juicy fruit and loads of spice, it's an extremely food-friendly wine. That sweet fruit is especially good with Southwest-flavored pork. And in the case of this bottle pick, a combination of pepper and cocoa in the wine works really well with the dried chiles in the stew. Recommended bottle: Horse & Plow 2008 Grenache (Alexander Valley).

These tender, sweet-spicy pork kebabs are made from pounded tenderloin and combine flavors from China and Vietnam.

Recipe: Caramelized Pork Kebabs with Chinese Eggplant

Pair with: A peppery Merlot or classic Bordeaux.

Sage and pork, one of the quintessential food matches, come together in this lean and easy weeknight supper.

Recipe: Sage-Rubbed Pork Tenderloins with Sage Butter

Pair with: A mellow Carbernet Sauvignon. Our bottle pick doesn't have the serious tannins that require red meat. The brown sugar and pepper in the pork rub pull out sweet fruit and spices in the wine; the sage likes its foresty side. Recommended bottle: Educated Guess Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 (Napa Valley).

Braising the pork―simmering it for a long time in liquid under cover, with browning for flavor―makes it fork-tender. Serve with slaw. Add a little rice to fill out the meal, or pile the pork and slaw on tortillas for a scrumptious south-of-the-border dinner.

Recipe: Salsa Verde Braised Pork

Pair with: A white blend that balances sweet aromatics with herbal crispness. It can take on a hearty dish, in this case a Mexican stew with aromatic spices and sprightly green chiles (the wine’s fruitiness tames their heat). Recommended bottle: X Winery “White X” Winemaker’s Blend 2008 (North Coast).

Marinating ribs in already-prepared harissa paste, a Tunisian spice, saves time and guarantees spicy, lick-your-fingers-good ribs.

Recipe: Spicy Pork Ribs

Pair with: Zinfandel. Cultivate the urge to reach for a Zin any time you have pork ribs on the table: The two are one of the food-and-wine world’s great matches. These particular ribs are on the hot side (use less harissa if you like), but our bottle pick, blended with Petite Sirah and other grapes, has a level of rich fruit and spice to make it work. Recommended bottle: Venge “Scout’s Honor” Proprietary Red 2006 (Napa Valley).

The fragrant spice rub used to make this dish is good on spareribs as well.

Recipe: Spice-Rubbed Pork Tenderloins

Pair with: A spicy Pinot Noir. Our bottle pick is a complex one, with layers of warm spices and a touch of licorice that match up beautifully with the spectrum of seasonings on this pork: star anise, ginger, cinnamon. Recommended bottle: Sonoma Coast Vineyards Freestone Hills Pinot Noir 2006 (Sonoma Coast).

Warm apple cider is great for sipping on brisk fall days, but ever tried it for brining? You should. Sautéed apples makes this the ideal autumn meal.

Recipe: Cider-Brined Pork Chops with Sautéed Apples

Pair with: Riesling. If you can’t imagine putting a sweet wine with an entrée, give this match a try. Riesling has a special affinity to pork, and when it’s sweet but balanced with racy acidity, it comes alive with sweet-hot flavors like apples and mustard sauce. Recommended bottle: Josef Rosch Trittenheimer Apotheke Riesling Spätlese 2006 (Mosel-Säar-Ruwer, Germany).

Here's a hearty dish for a chilly night. Pork, cabbage, bacon, and caraway is a classic German combination.

Recipe: Pork Chops with Fresh Green and Red Cabbage

Pair with: Merlot. Because its tannin structure is generally a tad rounder than Cab’s, it goes well with meats that have gentle protein structures of their own. We’ve added greens since Merlot handles them better than many reds. Recommended bottle: H3 Merlot 2006 (Columbia Valley).

These are the ribs for summer. Just be sure to make plenty of the cherry-Zinfandel barbecue sauce to top the super-succulent ribs.

Recipe: Herb-Rubbed Baby Back Ribs

Pair with: Zinfandel. Pork ribs and Zin are one of summer’s best pairings―and an all-American one, since Zin is as close to a native grape as we have: While it traces its roots to eastern Europe, no one in the world does Zin like California winemakers. We’ve shamelessly spiked our homemade barbecue sauce here with the wine to lock in the match.

This spicy, long-simmered pork dish is a fixture in New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado cooking, and each state has its own version. New Mexicans use their famous green chiles, naturally. Ours is a bit of a combination.

Recipe: Green Chile Pork Stew (Chile Verde)

Pair with: Zinfandel. Lacking the firm tannins common in other big red wines—which can fight with spice—big-fruited Zinfandel is a good match for mildly hot Southwestern food. This bottle pick in particular, with its cool-weather herbal edge, works well with the green chiles in the stew. Recommended bottle: Dutton Goldfield Zinfandel 2005 (Russian River Valley).

Spicy garlic sauce gives a big flavor punch to simple stir-fry in this Asian-inspired dish.

Recipe: Spicy Eggplant, Pork, and Tofu Stir-Fry

Pair with: Riesling. A very slightly off-dry Riesling makes a great foil for the heat in many Asian dishes and maybe because of its rich mouth-feel and sweet fruit, Riesling has a special place in its heart for pork. Recommended bottle: Charles Smith Wines “Kung Fu Girl” Riesling 2007 (Columbia Valley).

Rub some spices on those ribs and baste them with a homemade barbecue sauce, and a summer Saturday couldn’t get better.

Recipe: Sunset Classic Barbecued Ribs

Pair with: Zinfandel. The juicy dark berries and black pepper in Zin make it the perfect rib wine.