What wine goes with ham?

An off-dry Riesling is the best match for ham — the touch of sweetness lines up with the glaze, and the acidity cuts the salt.

Ham is salty and usually glazed with something sweet, and that combination breaks most wine. Bone-dry reds taste bitter next to it. What you want is a wine with a little sweetness of its own and plenty of acidity, which is a short way of saying: Riesling, rosé, or something fizzy and red.

4 bottles that actually work with ham

• 1. Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling

  about $10

  Riesling · nearly everywhere

  The regular bottling, not the dry one — you want that hint of sweetness here. It meets the glaze halfway and washes the salt off your tongue. Ten dollars and genuinely the correct answer.

• 2. Riunite Lambrusco

  about $8

  Lambrusco · grocery stores

  Yes, that Riunite. Fizzy, slightly sweet red, serve it cold, and it is a knockout with ham. This is the cheeky pick that wins the table over.

• 3. Fleurs de Prairie Rosé

  about $16

  Grenache blend · grocery and wine shops

  Dry rosé with real acidity and enough strawberry fruit to keep up with the glaze. The safe choice if "sweet wine" makes you nervous.

• 4. Bogle Old Vine Zinfandel

  about $12

  Zinfandel · most grocery stores

  If someone at the table needs a proper red, this is the one. Jammy and a bit peppery, which works with a brown-sugar glaze better than any Cabernet will.

Depends how you are cooking it

Honey or brown-sugar glaze

The sweeter the glaze, the sweeter the wine needs to be. Lean Riesling or Lambrusco, skip the dry rosé.

Smoked or country ham

Much saltier. Bubbles do the heavy lifting — a dry sparkling wine or the Lambrusco.

Ham sandwiches the next day

Chill whatever is left. Cold rosé and a leftover ham sandwich is an underrated lunch.

What to skip

Dry, tannic reds like Cabernet or Malbec

Salt plus tannin tastes metallic and bitter. It is the single most common wine mistake at Easter.

Oaky Chardonnay

Not offensive, just pointless — it brings richness to a dish that already has plenty and no acidity to balance the salt.

Also worth a look

• What wine goes with turkey?
• What wine goes with prime rib?

Last checked 2026-09-09.