Warak Enab

Vine leaves rolled tightly around a stuffing of rice, tomato, parsley, mint, dill, lemon, and either lamb mince (the warm version) or olive oil and pine nut (the cold meze version). Cooked slowly in lemon broth and olive oil. The Lebanese cousin of dolmades, but typically more generously spiced and lemon-forward, with mint as a more prominent herbal voice. Assuming the cold meze preparation.

Pairs Perfectly

Massaya White from the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon. The Lebanese answer for the Lebanese meze — Obeideh and Merwah deliver saline, herb-driven character with regional fidelity that no European wine can fully replicate, and the moderate body and bright acid handle lemon-cooked rice and vine leaves cleanly. A Coteaux du Liban white from Chateau Ksara offers the same Lebanese logic at a similar price point with broader UK availability.

Pairs Well

Moschofilero from Mantinia, Greece. Floral aromatics with rose-petal and citrus character meet mint and dill in a single sweep — the rare aromatic white that does not fight a herb-led dish — and the dry mineral spine handles the lemon broth cleanly.

Grüner Veltliner Federspiel from the Wachau, Austria. White-pepper aromatics and a herbaceous green spine meet vine leaf and parsley, and the dry mineral profile cuts olive oil where a more European answer is preferred.

Avoid

Oaked whites — overwhelm the herbs entirely; tannic reds — wrong against vine leaf and lemon; sweet wines — clash with the savoury-citric profile; assertive aromatic whites like Gewurztraminer — fight mint and dill where Moschofilero's gentler florals work.

Failing That

A Picpoul de Pinet, Languedoc.

If All Else Fails

Sauvignon Blanc, Touraine.

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