Pairing Guide

Best Wines to Pair with Ham

Four bottles that handle salt, smoke and a sweet glaze

Ham is one of the trickiest holiday mains to pair, because it is salty, often smoky, and usually finished with a sweet glaze of honey, brown sugar or pineapple. That combination punishes the wrong wine. Salt makes tannin taste harsher and more bitter, so a big, grippy Cabernet turns hard against ham. Sweetness in the glaze makes a dry, lean wine taste thin and sour. What works is the opposite: bright acidity to cut through salt and fat, soft tannins, and generous ripe fruit that can meet the glaze halfway. That points straight at Pinot Noir and Zinfandel, with Champagne as the wild card — bubbles and acidity against salt is one of the great pairings in food. These are the four bottles our panel would serve.

1Top Pick93 pts • Sonoma Coast, California

Flowers Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir • $55

The most versatile ham wine we have tasted. Flowers Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir is light on its feet, with mouthwatering acidity, crunchy red cherry and cranberry fruit, and a cool maritime salinity that sits beautifully alongside cured pork. Tannins stay in the background, so salt never turns it bitter. It works with a simple baked ham, a spiral-cut ham with a modest glaze, or ham on a buffet next to everything else. Serve at 55–60°F. $55, 93 points.

Buy — $55 Full Review

2Best with a Sweet Glaze94 pts • Santa Maria Valley, California

Belle Glos Clark & Telephone Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir • $55

If your ham comes lacquered in honey or brown sugar, you need a wine with fruit to match it, and Belle Glos Clark & Telephone has it in spades: warm blackberry pie, cinnamon and baking spice on the nose, chocolate-covered cherries and vanilla on a velvety palate. It is richer and sweeter-fruited than most Pinot Noir, which is usually a criticism — here it is the reason it works. A drier wine would taste sour next to that glaze. $55, 94 points; serve at 60–65°F.

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3Best with Smoked Ham96 pts • Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma, California

Ridge Lytton Springs

Zinfandel Blend • $55

For a smoked or clove-studded ham, Zinfandel's spice is the bridge. Ridge Lytton Springs brings black cherry and bramble fruit over crushed black pepper and sandalwood, with silky tannins and a long, savoury finish of cracked pepper and cedar. It is substantial enough for a smoky, heavily seasoned ham and for the rich sides that come with it. At $55 and 96 points, it is also the highest-scoring red under $60 in our cellar.

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4The Wild Card92 pts • Champagne, France

Veuve Clicquot Champagne Yellow Label

Champagne • $65

Champagne with ham sounds unusual until you try it. Salt and bubbles are one of the most reliable pairings there is — it is why fried chicken is among Veuve Clicquot's recorded pairings — and the wine's high acidity cleans the palate after every rich, salty bite. The Pinot Noir-led Yellow Label has enough body and brioche depth to stand up to the meat. It is the move for a ham brunch, or for a host who wants one bottle to cover the aperitif and the main. $65.

Buy — $65 Full Review

The Verdict

Start with the Flowers Pinot Noir: it handles almost any ham you put in front of it. If your glaze leans sweet, switch to the Belle Glos; if your ham is smoked or heavily spiced, open the Ridge Lytton Springs. And if you are serving ham at brunch, pour Veuve Clicquot and do not look back. The one thing to avoid is a big, tannic Cabernet — save that for the rib roast.

Get our top pick — Flowers Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir · $55

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