Mary Taylor Pierre Vidal Costières de Nîmes · 750 ml

If you could bottle all the romance of summer in the south of France—the dazzling sunlight of a Cezanne painting and the warm sea breeze blowing through hillsides of lavender and thyme—you’d wind up with something a bit like Pierre Vidal’s beautiful expression of the Costiéres de Nimes appellation. A little-known sub-region at the southernmost edge of the Rhône valley, with a history of wine production that dates back to the ancient Greeks, the region combines all the juicy friendliness of a more familiar Côtes-du-Rhône with a wild, almost rustic streak that speaks of its southerly Mediterranean origins.

Above all, this is the Platonic ideal of a “food wine,” best appreciated with rich and hearty dishes. While grilled lamb kabobs are an obvious pairing, it’s equally comfortable washing down a hot slice of pepperoni pizza as it is accompanying a perfectly medium-rare filet at your next dinner party. Mary recommends using a wide-rimmed glass to let the wine soften and evolve over the course of an entire meal.

ABV: 14%