Waldorf salad

Apple, celery, walnut, and mayonnaise is a deceptively tricky combination — the apple brings sweetness and acidity, the walnut brings bitterness and fat, and the mayonnaise adds creaminess that needs cutting. The wine must handle all three without being overwhelmed by the walnut's bitterness.

Vouvray sec, Loire Valley, France Pairs Perfectly. Dry Chenin Blanc has the orchard fruit to mirror the apple, enough acidity to cut the mayonnaise, and a slight waxy texture that sits alongside the walnut without amplifying the bitterness — precise and regional in its logic.

Riesling trocken, Pfalz, Germany Pairs Well. Bone-dry Pfalz Riesling brings lime-citrus acidity and a slight stone-fruit note that complements the apple and cuts the creaminess cleanly, with none of the sweetness that would push the salad into dessert territory.

A light, dry Grüner Veltliner, for example from Kamptal or Kremstal, Austria Pairs Well. The white pepper and citrus of a lighter dry style handles the walnut bitterness more effectively than most whites — the peppery note sidesteps rather than compounds the bitterness, and the clean acidity manages the mayonnaise.

Avoid

Oaked whites (the oak tannins compound walnut bitterness unpleasantly), tannic reds (same problem at greater intensity), anything with residual sweetness above a touch of off-dry.

Failing That

An Aligoté, Burgundy, France.

If All Else Fails

A Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire, France.

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