If wine is in your Father’s Day forecast, guidelines on what to pour based on your father’s personality.
• Laid back dad. Simple pleasures. Juicy steak with Argentine malbec. Less tannic than cab, more assertive than merlot. Perfect for a laid back lad.
• Pop survived your teenage years. Bordeaux blend. Quality bottle here will go far toward earning forgiveness for your childhood sins.
• King of the family. Barolo—the “king of wine”—is perfect for the patriarch. Goes with steaks, goes with Italian food, wild game daddy harvested himself.
• Dapper daddy. Refined, erudite, not afraid to sip white wine. Sancerre—France’s most refined sauvignon blanc—comes from small Loire Valley town of the same name. And don’t be fooled by elegant refinement. During World War II Sancerre was a regional command center for French resistance.
• Partying papa. Pop cork on bubbly. Splurge with actual Champagne. Shoot, have dad “saber” the bottle for electric start to the festivities.
• Rhône Ranger. Dad is a blend of qualities, from smarts to quiet resolve and playfulness. A southern Rhône GSM blend—grenache, syrah, mourvèdre—is perfect. Go big with Châteauneuf-du-Pape or Gigondas, but you can find more affordable Australian and U.S. versions, too.
• High roller. Napa cabernet sauvignon is appropriate. Big fruit from the most expensive vineyard acreage in the Americas. A label to impress his friends will cost you a Benjamin-plus ($100+).
• Mellow man. He likes red wine with his dad-day grilled meat, but he also has a softer side and is not afraid to show it. That is merlot. Serious wine, just not quite as serious or puckering as cab or malbec.
• Pensive papa. He makes his living with his brain rather than his hands. He showers in the morning before going to work rather than in the evening after work. Pinot noir is his pour. Elegant, refined, nuanced, just like your dad.
• Loves your momma. Chardonnay. Real men drink chard, especially when it is momma’s favorite. Makes everybody happy. Goes well with fried catfish and buttery popcorn.
• Adventureman. Carménère. The national wine of Chile. Distinctively bold with signature bell pepper notes. Pairs with roast pork and lamb with mint. Bonus if he knows how to pronounce it.
• Father figure. Cabernet franc, parent grape of cabernet sauvignon and merlot, two of the most planted grapes on the planet. With high acidity, pairs well with tomato dishes, smokey barbecue.
Last round: Family. Where life begins. Love never ends. Wine is shared.