Hey Reader—
It's been a full couple of weeks over here. Summer events for Flipturn Cellars have kept me on the road and behind the bar more than usual, and in the background, I've already started planning for the 2026 harvest — which always sneaks up faster than I expect.
But tomorrow, I'm giving myself the day off. I'm heading out to the Willamette Valley for the Drink Pink festival at Furioso, co-hosted with my good friend Emily of Two Sisters Drink Wine. It's a celebration of Oregon rosé — small producers and big names alike, all pouring their best pink wines in one place. If you're local, I'd love to see you there.
I'll admit, it won't be a totally work-free day. I'm debating on making a Rosé for my 2026 production. So tomorrow doubles as "tasting research" — I'm there to narrow down the style I want to make. Structured and savory vs. fruit-forward and easy-drinking (or maybe something in-between).
Before all that, though, tonight I'm hosting a Flipturn Cellars wine dinner, and I was handed a Thai-inspired menu to pair. It turned into one of my favorite pairing projects in a while, and I wanted to walk you through it before the event happens.
With that, let's get into this week's wine digest.
Cheers,
Sip Smarter: Your Weekly Wine Lesson
Why I'm Pairing Reds (Not All Whites) With Tonight's Thai Wine Dinner
One of the most fun parts of being a winemaker is figuring out what food will help each of my wines shine. So when the event coordinator sent over tonight's Thai-inspired menu for our Flipturn Cellars wine dinner, my gears immediately started turning
Most people's instinct with Thai food is to reach for white wine (and typically a sweeter-style white). But when I sat down with this menu, I saw a different opportunity: a chance to show guests that lighter-bodied reds can be just as exciting with Thai cuisine as any white.
Here's the thing about Thai food that makes it both a great and tricky pairing partner: it's not just one flavor. A single dish can hit acidity, sweetness, heat, umami, richness, and fresh herbs all at once. That combination is exactly why great pairing has less to do with a wine's color and everything to do with balance — acidity, body, texture, tannin, alcohol, and intensity all working with the food instead of against it. The old "red with meat, white with fish" rule just doesn't hold up here. It's far too simple for what's actually happening on the plate.
So let me walk you through how I built tonight's menu, course by course, wine by wine.
Course one: Fresh Salad Rolls + Flipturn Viognier. These rolls are packed with rice noodles, romaine, carrots, cucumber, red cabbage, fresh basil, and cilantro, served with a peanut sauce. Viognier's floral, almost perfumed aromatics echo those fresh herbs beautifully, while its richer texture stands up to the creaminess of the peanut sauce without overwhelming it. It's a fresh, vibrant way to open the night.
Course two: Pad Thai Salad + Flipturn Old Vine Dry Riesling. This one includes rice noodles, mixed greens, bean sprouts, carrots, cabbage, cilantro, peanuts, scrambled egg, and Pad Thai dressing. Riesling has become one of the world's classic partners for Thai food, and it's easy to see why: its bright acidity and citrus-driven fruit cut right through the sweet-savory dressing, refresh the palate after the richness of the egg and peanuts, and let every fresh ingredient on the plate shine.
Course three: Pineapple Chicken Fried Rice + Flipturn Sangiovese. This is the one I'm most excited about, mostly because it's the pairing guests will least expect. The fried rice — jasmine rice, chicken, pineapple, onion, carrots, peas, egg, and Thai seasoning — has a touch of sweetness alongside savory depth, and that's exactly where a light-bodied, high-acid red like Sangiovese does its best work. The acidity keeps everything lively, and the wine's bright cherry fruit complements the pineapple without ever tasting sweet itself. This is a good moment to remember that not every red wine needs steak or a burger to make sense. A lot of Italian reds, Sangiovese included, were built for exactly this kind of balanced, everyday meal.
Course four (dessert): Sweet Sticky Rice + my NEW Flipturn Syrah (not yet released). I could have played it safe and closed with the Riesling again. Instead, I'm finishing with my new light-bodied Syrah. Its peppery spice, blackberry fruit, and elegant structure play against the lightly sweet sticky rice in a way that's a little unexpected — and a little memorable. It's not the ending anyone predicts, which is exactly why I like it.
Across the board, the takeaway is this: high-acid, lower-alcohol reds often outperform big, bold reds when you're working with spicy, herb-driven cuisine. Weight and tannin aren't the friends of a dish like this — acidity and freshness are. Once you start tasting with that lens, a whole category of reds opens up that you might have written off for spicy food.
Next time you order Thai takeout, don't default to white wine out of habit. Reach for something with real acidity and lighter tannin — Pinot Noir, Lambrusco, Gamay, even a lighter Syrah — and see what happens. Some of the best pairings are the ones you never expected. I'll let you know how tonight goes!
Vine To Glass
Wine Of The Week: Cantina Terlano Chardonnay — Alto Adige, Italy
A while back, I posted on Instagram about my love for Chardonnay from Alto Adige, and this Cantina Terlano in particular. So when I spotted it on the wine list last night at my neighborhood Italian spot, Campana, I was thrilled.
We sat outside on a hot night — my husband Tony, our aunt and uncle, and me — and white wine felt like the obvious call. Good thing, because this Terlano Chardonnay ended up working with everything on the table: meatballs, garlic bread, Caesar salad, ricotta and corn stuffed farfalle, Italian short ribs, and a spicy eggplant Mafaldine. (yes, I was very full at the end of the night)
Cantina Terlano is a cooperative winery in the Alto Adige (South Tyrol) region of northern Italy, an area known for its steep, high-elevation vineyards and cool alpine climate — conditions that tend to produce whites with complexity and freshness. That combination showed up exactly as I hoped: the wine had enough texture and richness to stand up to the heavier, saucier dishes, but its bright acidity, minerality, and crispness kept cutting back through, course after course.
My Tasting Notes
This one is textured and full of character, but not heavy. It has crisp acidity and a distinct stony minerality that makes it perfect for summer sipping. Yet it's the kind of white that can hang with rich, savory food all night without ever getting lost.
Pairing Ideas
- Roasted or grilled meats with herb sauces
- Creamy pastas
- Garlicky, savory appetizers
- Spicy vegetable dishes
- Aged cheeses
If you've been sleeping on Alto Adige Chardonnay because you associate the grape with something heavier or more one-note, this is the bottle to change your mind.
Cork Report
This Week’s Wine News Roundup
- 7 Up-and-Coming Wine Regions That Should Be on Your Radar
- Oregon Wine Earns Multiple Honors in 2026 USA TODAY 10Best Awards
- I Planned My Entire Trip to France Around Riesling—Then Local Winemakers Changed My Mind
