The Host
Dinner parties, pairings at home, entertaining.
Cooks for eight on a Tuesday. Files what to pour with what you're making, and how to keep the room going after the plates come down.
Voice: Warm, curious, quietly exacting.
Picks
- Cardamaro AmaroBosca · Piedmont, Italy
Cardoon-based amaro, low-ABV, faintly bitter, sherry-adjacent. The dinner-party workhorse.
- Roero ArneisVietti · Piedmont, Italy
White pear and stone. What to open before the pasta arrives.
- Crémant du Jura Extra BrutDomaine Tissot · Jura, France
Champagne posture at a fraction of the ask. The house sparkling.
- Docil LoureiroNiepoort · Vinho Verde, Portugal
Nine percent alcohol and more character than most bottles at fourteen.
- Grüner Veltliner FederspielPrager · Wachau, Austria
White pepper and river stone. The dinner-party white that never argues.
- Oberhäuser Leistenberg KabinettDönnhoff · Nahe, Germany
Off-dry, low alcohol, the correct answer to chili heat.
- US*1 Small Batch BourbonMichter's · Kentucky, USA
Soft, caramel-heavy, low-friction. The bottle you hand a guest.
- Vermouth di TorinoCocchi · Piedmont, Italy
Cocoa, rhubarb, bitter orange. Upgrades every Manhattan you make at home.
- Vermouth de Chambéry BlancDolin · Savoie, France
Light, floral, chillable. Pour it over ice with a twist and stop overthinking.
- QuintessentiaAmaro Nonino · Friuli, Italy
Grappa-based, orange-peel bright. The amaro that converts skeptics.
- Braulio AlpinoBraulio · Valtellina, Italy
Pine, mint, and mountain. Drink it cold after something heavy.
- Fine SeriesMuri · Copenhagen, Denmark
Fermented, aged, and complex — the first zero-proof bottle that isn't juice.
- AdriftPentire · Cornwall, UK
Coastal botanicals, no ethanol, actual length on the palate.
- Eins-Zwei-Zero RieslingLeitz · Rheingau, Germany
Dealcoholized Riesling that keeps the acid. Serve very cold.
- Sherry Cobbler3oz amontillado · 0.5oz simple · orange wheel · crushed ice · mint
The long-session drink your dinner party has been missing.
- Americano1.5oz Campari · 1.5oz sweet vermouth · soda · orange slice
The Negroni before gin showed up. Two hours of drinking in one glass.
- Select Spritz3 parts prosecco · 2 parts Select · splash soda · green olive
The Venetian build. Olive, not orange — and yes, it matters.
- Bicicletta2oz dry white wine · 1.5oz Campari · soda · lemon
Under 10% ABV and built for a long afternoon. Name refers to the ride home.
- Adonis1.5oz fino sherry · 1.5oz sweet vermouth · orange bitters
Fifteen percent alcohol, endless nuance. The pre-dinner drink to learn next.
- Bamboo1.5oz fino sherry · 1.5oz dry vermouth · both bitters · lemon twist
The Adonis's dry cousin. Order it with oysters and thank the nineteenth century.
- Irish Coffee1.5oz Irish whiskey · 4oz coffee · 2 sugar · lightly whipped cream floated
The cream must be pourable and the glass must be pre-heated. Non-negotiable.
- French 751oz gin · 0.5oz lemon · 0.5oz simple · top with Champagne
Gin, not Cognac, unless you're in New Orleans, where it's an argument.
- Garibaldi1.5oz Campari · 4oz fluffy fresh orange juice
Two ingredients. The whole drink is the aeration of the juice.
- Amaro Highball2oz amaro · soda · long lemon peel · tall ice
The best drink to order at a bar you don't trust. Hard to ruin, easy to sit with.