A Halloween Wine Tasting: Dry Wines
Vintage image sourced on Pinterest
I have to admit that Halloween isn’t my favorite holiday, at least not as it relates to grown-up costume parties. On the other hand, my childhood Halloween memories are wonderful; stretching cotton-y faux spider webs across bushes and trees in our yard, blasting Monster Mash and the Addams Family theme song from the boom box, watching Hocus Pocus, visiting pumpkin patches, carving the pumpkins and lighting candles inside, bobbing for apples and eating as many caramel apples as I could get my hands on during the season. And yes, those sugar-swathed apples were in addition to my annual trick-or-treat candy haul. I can only imagine how much fun my siblings and I were to be around with our sugar rush-influenced behavior.
There’s that shift in the weather, too. October is the season for falling leaves, hot apple cider, soups, stews and pot pies. My dad often made his Texas-style chili around this time of year, sometimes making two big pots’ worth: one with plenty of spice and a milder one for us kids. If we were really lucky, we might even get Tamale Pie the next day made with the leftover chili.
All of this to say that Halloween is a bigger deal to me than I realized before moving outside the US, so to honor the holiday, I’m creating not just one but two Halloween-themed potluck-style wine tasting guides: one for the dry wines, one for the sweet, since candy really is best enjoyed with dessert wines that are equally as sweet.
First up: the dry wines, each with a Halloween twist: ghosts, vampires, witches, skeletons, spiders and the devil are all coming out to play in this spooky tasting guide.
Stuff to know
When searching for Halloween-themed wines and pairings, the usual suspects are wines & wineries with creepy stories or labels: 19 Crimes, The Velvet Devil, Murder Ridge Winery, Old Ghost Zinfandel, The Dead Arm Shiraz, pretty much all of the Orin Swift portfolio and anything from Sine Qua Non (if you can get your hands on it, that is).
There are also the wine & candy pairings, which almost always feature dry wines, inevitably making me wince. While I believe that everyone should explore wine and food pairings, deciding what they like for themselves, there are reasons that the old adage that “the wine should be at least as sweet as the food” exists. Don’t take my word for it though - try it for yourself. Your favorite Pinot Noir just doesn’t taste the same with a Milky Way bar as it does with a roast chicken. And since I enjoy all three of those things, I like to let each of them shine…which to me, means keeping the dry wine separate from the candy. Accordingly, this tasting features dry wines only, with a separate one to follow for the sweet.
Since this guide is for a potluck-style wine tasting, and not all wines are available in all parts of the world, I’ve also taken a different approach: sharing some of the creepy (true!) stories connected with certain wine regions and their wines, each with a Halloween-style focus, from vampires and witches to ghosts and skeletons.
What to look for in this tasting
The commonality here is in the Halloween theme. Beyond that, there is a huge range of aromas, flavors, acidity, tannin and body levels in these wines. In this case, it’s best to get into the wine descriptions themselves to get a better idea of what you’re in for with each wine.
The wines
Vintage image source: Pinterest
#1: Witches: Pinot Grigio Ramato from Friuli
Dressing up as a witch for Halloween is almost too easy, topping any ol’ black dress with a pointed hat. But portrayals of witches throughout history are numerous and varied, many with pointedly missing hats.
In Friuli-Venezia Giulia, a region in Northeastern Italy, there is traditional folklore about the Benandanti (”good walkers”), a type of good witch who uses white magic to fight evil witches: the Malandanti (”bad walkers”), ensuring a good harvest and protecting wine from spoiling. Good harvests were thought to be signs of the Benandanti’s victory, while bad harvests meant they’d lost that year’s battles to the Malandanti. While these traditional beliefs didn’t survive the Roman Inquisition, we’re honoring the witchy history with a Halloween-hued orange wine from Friuli: Pinot Grigio Ramato.
Ramato wines, as they’re commonly known, are a baby step into the deep pool of orange wine. In fact, some Ramato producers would argue that their wines aren’t orange at all, that they’re simply their own thing. Lightly copper-colored, many Ramatos could pass for a rosé, or at least, one that leans toward the orange-y side of salmon.
Pinot Grigio, the grape used to make Ramato wines, is related to Pinot Noir and naturally has pink-ish skins, so when they’re included in the winemaking process, the resulting wine will also have a copper or even salmon-colored hue. The word ramato is thought to come from “rame,” an Italian word for copper.
Ramatos from Friuli typically only have skin contact for brief periods, between 8 hours and two days. It’s entirely possible that this style was an accidental creation, since separating the juice from the skins in old basket presses was nitpicky and time-consuming, and not necessarily worth the bother. As winemaking techniques modernized, especially after the 1960s in Italy, white wines with zero skin contact became the norm, but Ramato wines have managed to cling on, persisting, if not always thriving. Luckily, the style is increasingly popular and more widely available today, and there are even producers in other countries mimicking Ramato wines these days.
If you’ve brushed off most Italian Pinot Grigio as simplistic, Ramatos will be right up your alley, since they tend to have more body and depth of flavor thanks to the skin contact, with aromas and flavors of apricots, orange peel and thyme added to the more typical citrus, green apple and floral flavors.
What to ask for: Ask by name
Alternative(s): Stick with a Ramato wine, preferably from the Italian regions of Friuli-Venezia-Giulia or Trentino Alto-Adige
Vintage image source: Pinterest
#2: Vampires: Egri Bikavér from Hungary
Vampires have always had an association with Halloween, even if they’re also literary fodder any time of the year. While some vampiric legends attest that only human blood will do for those fanged cravings, there are plenty of other stories of vampires surviving on the blood of animals, particularly large animals like horses, deer, cows and bulls. With this in mind, there’s one wine that immediately fits the bill: the “Bull’s Blood of Egri,” or Egri Bikavér (”egg-ree bee-kah-vair”), a Hungarian red wine with a bloody legend.
Like most legends, the details of Egri Bikavér’s origins are murky, but essentially, the Ottoman Empire besieged a Hungarian castle in Eger during the 16th century. Allegedly, before the battle, the Hungarians consumed their dark red wine to such an extent that the attackers mistook their deeply stained wine teeth for evidence of having consumed sacrificial bull’s blood, thought to give unimaginable strength. Overwhelmed by the Hungarians’ show of courage (and perhaps the implied savagery?), they lost the battle.
Egri Bikavér, despite the sanguine implications, is actually a red blend. A Kékfrankos-based blend, to be specific. Kékfrankos (AKA Blaufränkisch) is typically blended with other local grapes like Portugieser, Kadarka, Oportó or Medoc Noir to create a particular style of Bikavér wine: Classic, Superior or Grand Superior.
In similar fashion to Rioja or Chianti Classico’s systems of age- and quality-demarcation, the Egri Bikavér Classic wines are the most youthful, with little to no oak aging and plenty of fruit and spice to offer. Superior wines are made from riper grapes and are aged longer in oak, and Grand Superior wines are made from the ripest grapes and aged the longest before release. These wines tend to be more full-bodied with higher alcohol levels, though their structure is balanced by equally matched acidity and complemented by flavors ranging from cherries and red currants to blackberries and cassis, along with dried mint, thyme, black pepper, clove, anise, tobacco, dark chocolate and leather.
What to ask for: Ask by name
Alternative(s): Stick with an Egri Bikavér wine of any style: Classic, Superior or Grand Superior
Vintage image source: Pinterest
#3: Skeletons: Mexican Reds
Even before losing loved ones of my own, Mexico’s Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) holiday, celebrated right after Halloween on November 1st, has entranced me with its beauty and joyful celebration of the cycle of life and death. Who could ever look away from the brightly colored costumes, flowers and skeletal face paint adorning parade-goers and cemetery visitors all over the country? They’re arresting, juxtaposing the vibrancy of life with the black-and-white starkness of death, giving us an opportunity to honor, connect with and remember those we’ve lost.
While Dia de los Muertos includes myriad traditions that vary from region to region, there’s a consistent symbol for the holiday: the skull, and by extension, the skeleton. There are the sugar skulls decorated with colorful icing, the skeletal face paint and costumes, and even skull-related décor for families’ altars, where photographs are arranged with offerings and flowers. How could we not honor Mexico’s beautiful holiday with this selection?
Mexico may not be considered a traditional wine-producing region, but grapevines have been planted in Mexico for hundreds of years, thanks to Spanish conquistadors who brought vines from home. The country’s wine history has gone by in fits and starts though, with recent successes building upon one another in what many consider is a rise that’s here to stay. In March this year, 2025, Mexico’s Querétaro wine area was even the first to be awarded its own geographical indication, an “Indicación Geográfica Protegida.”
Since Mexican wine is still developing its identity and styles vary between the country’s wine regions, for this tasting, I’m leaving the selection open: you can select any style of red wine from Mexico, single varietal or a blend. Take this as your opportunity to explore what Mexico has to offer - even better if you save some for your ancestors the next day.
What to ask for: Ask by name
Alternative(s): White or sparkling Mexican wine
Vintage image source: Pinterest
#4: Ghosts: Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa or Sonoma Valley
I once got to visit an abandoned pre-Prohibition three-story gravity-flow winery tucked into a ridge in the Monte Rosso vineyard at the top of Moon Mountain in Sonoma Valley, California. I wasn’t allowed inside; the winery was condemned after an earthquake in 2014. Getting inside would’ve been a serious undertaking anyway, with a massive fig tree and vegetation galore doing their best to reclaim the remnants of the structure built in the early 1880s by Emmanuel Goldstein and Benjamin Dreyfus. While that particular winery is now owned by GALLO, increasing its chances of future restoration, when I saw it, it was every bit the ghost winery - one of California’s best.
Throughout Napa and Sonoma Valley, there are abandoned pre-Prohibition wineries called “ghost wineries” peppering the world-famous vineyards, adding a certain eerie, unkempt quality to a region where vineyards are often meticulously straight-laced. Paranormal stories abound, since many of the old wineries are said to be haunted. No wonder they’re often left alone to make their interminable return to nature’s grave.
While there are a few particular wineries with their own ghost stories in Napa and Sonoma, like Beringer, Flora Springs and Bartholomew Park, you are welcome to select a Cabernet Sauvignon from any Napa or Sonoma Valley winery for this tasting.
Cabernet Sauvignon is without doubt Napa Valley’s signature grape, though Sonoma Valley’s offerings should not be overlooked. It’s not easy to typify Cabernet Sauvignon from either valley, since so much of the wine’s character is dependent on where the vines are grown. These are wine regions where grapes are planted on valley floors and hillsides, but also atop mountain ridges far above the fog line, reaching as high as 2700 feet (823 meters). There are sections in the valleys where the Pacific Ocean fog is pulled in every day, blanketing the vines with an uncanny mist that keeps the grapes from ripening too quickly, and there are sections where that famous California sunshine bakes the vines all day long.
Stylistically, there are huge variances between these Cabernet Sauvignon wines, some with the refinement, intensity and structure to last for decades, and some that are best enjoyed while young. They can have more or less ripeness, more or less prominent oak and more or less savory flavors, though most will generally have dark, clear fruit flavors like blackberry, blackcurrant and black plum. The tannins are often high and finely-grained, though they can be softer or more stringent, depending on grape ripeness and wine age. There is always some level of oak aging that you’ll be able to taste in the wines, whether subtle or overt in the vanilla, cedar and cinnamon flavors. Cabernet Sauvignon also has a tendency toward expressing “green” aromas, like green bell pepper, rosemary or eucalyptus.
What to ask for: Ask by name
Alternative(s): Stick with a Cabernet Sauvignon, preferably 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, from Napa or Sonoma Valley
Vintage image source: Pinterest
#5: Spiders: Primitivo from Puglia
In Puglia, a region in southern Italy’s heel of the boot, there’s an old folk belief from the area around Taranto in which venomous bites from wolf spiders cause a dancing mania called Tarantism…which can only be cured by dancing the Tarantella, a furiously frenzied folk dance that cured anyone who had been afflicted by a spider bite by helping them sweat out the venom through dance until collapsing with fatigue. Even today, certain Tarantella folk songs from other parts of Italy are some of the country’s most iconic tunes, like the Tarantella Napoletana.
Puglia is known for more than its spiders and dancing cures though, and their local Primitivo (”pree-mee-tee-voh”) red wines are some of the region’s most successful exports. Americans will recognize the region’s local Primitivo grape because it goes under a different name in the states: Zinfandel. While both countries claim the grape, DNA profiling unveiled that it’s really from Croatia, where it’s known as both tribidrag and crljenak kaštelanski. While it’s unclear exactly when and how Primitivo arrived in Puglia, it’s been there for a long time, and the region’s styles of wines made from the grape are entirely their own.
There are both regional and specific styles of Primitivo, like the famed Primitivo di Manduria from the Taranto province and the Gioia del Colle Primitivo. Styles of Primitivo can be dry, sweet and even fortified, though many of the dry wines will still have a bit of residual sugar, since the grapes have a tendency to ripen unevenly, even in a single bunch, and build up their sugar levels easily, resulting in wines with high alcohol levels, a hint of sweetness or both.
Just like American Zinfandels, Primitivos can run a gamut of styles. Some are incredibly ripe, bursting with flavors of cherries, strawberry jam and baked plums, while others offer more nuanced flavors of dried herbs and tobacco leaves complemented by leather-y aromas from oak aging. I’ve tasted Primitivos that straddle the dry-sweet border and others that were fully dry, complex and age-worthy, even difficult to identify blind except for that full body from high alcohol levels.
If you know that you and your friends tend to prefer bold, slightly sweet wines over more restrained and nuanced ones, or vice versa, just ask your local retailer to guide you to their selection’s respective styles.
What to ask for: Ask by name, ideally a Primitivo di Manduria from the Taranto province
Alternative(s): Primitivo from Australia or South Africa, Zinfandel from the United States
Vintage image source: Pinterest
#6: The Devil: Sagrantino from Montefalco
In Montefalco, Italy, a town in the center of Umbria, which lies in the center of Italy, there is a winery called Scacciadiavoli, which roughly translates to “chase away the devil.” It’s one of the oldest wineries in Umbria, still a family estate. The winery’s name comes from a 14th-century legend in which the local red wine, Sagrantino, was used by an exorcist to chase the devil away from a young woman living in the hamlet where the estate lies today. So of course, Sagrantino must be included in our Halloween tasting, ensuring that we can all banish the devil on the creepiest of holidays.
Montefalco Sagrantino (”sah-gran-tee-noh”) has been a DOCG, Italy’s highest classification for a wine region, since the 90s, though wines have been made here from the local Sagrantino grape since ancient times, possibly even Pliny the Elder’s era. Back then though, sweet wines were all the rage, so today’s dry red wine style wouldn’t have been appreciated. Modern Sagrantino wines are quite possibly Italy’s most tannic wines, with even more tannin than France’s Tannat.
In a recent blind tasting, I tried a 12-year-old Sagrantino that still had drying, sandy tannins that almost fooled me into thinking the wine was young, though scents of prune and visible sediment told me the wine had some age on it. Still, there were pretty aromas of red plums, blood oranges and vanilla blossoms that felt fresh and enticing.
Winemakers today make traditional Sagrantinos that can be aggressively tannic upon release, meant to age before being consumed, but also approachable styles that are structured without the need for lengthy cellar time. Sagrantino wines’ tannins, though huge, tend to be polished, rather than rustic, and they’re complemented by rich, dark fruit and herbal aromas like rosemary and sage that feel like drinking a moody still life from a Dutch Old Master.
What to ask for: Ask for a Montefalco Sagrantino
Alternative(s): Montefalco Rosso or a Sagrantino-based wine from another town in Umbria, or a Sagrantino wine from Australia or the USA
Tasting tips
The eats
Since this tasting is focused on the dry wines, with a separate one for the sweet ones that go best with candy, this is your opportunity to bust our your favorite autumn and Halloween-themed dishes. You can go the autumn route, with squash or pumpkin-based dishes and savory soups & stews, or you can go Halloween-style and aim for creepy visuals like dark squid ink pasta or “bloody” long-simmered wine-based beef stews. The table décor sets the tone too, with baby pumpkins, black candles and black goth-style linens adding lots to the vibe.
If charcuterie is more your thing, look to cheeses like sharp cheddar or Mimolette to add a bright orange hue, along with aged Gouda, herbed or berry-darkened goat cheese and Brie with figs or deeply-colored blackberry jam, particularly since Brie can be sliced into ghostly or skeletal shapes. Meats like Prosciutto, Salami, Mortadella, Bresaola and Chorizo all work well, and accoutrements like toasted nuts, roasted tomatoes, dark grapes and pickles add complementary and contrasting flavors and textures. Pigs-in-a-blanket “mummies” are one of my personal faves for a Halloween twist.
Admittedly, I haven’t (yet!) developed a signature Halloween charcuterie board of my own, but there are plenty of examples out there worth mimicking, from this incredible skeleton board to this classically spooky creation to pumpkin-head boards, mini coffin-shaped boards and even a Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-themed board. If this level of board creation isn’t your thing or you just don’t have time, adding a few fake spiders or skeleton hands still adds plenty of vibes to the display.
The prep
It won’t come as a surprise that most of the wines in this tasting are reds, since there’s something about that “bloody” resemblance that just sets the Halloween mood. However, there is, of course, an orange wine in the mix: a Pinot Grigio Ramato, carefully straddling the line between white and orange, with its coppery tinge.
Cost-wise, these wines’ prices can vary widely, so it’s up to you if you want to set a price range as the host, or let your guests decide what they’re each comfortable spending.
Some of the wines will be easy to find, while others can take some time, depending on where you live. Try to give your guests at least 2 weeks’ notice before this tasting.
For the Pinot Grigio Ramato, encourage your guest to give the wine some pre-tasting fridge time, since it’s best if it’s chilled, though not too chilled. Lightly chilled is the goal here, so if the wine didn’t get fridge time before arrival, just keep the ice bucket dunk time brief, since you’ll want to enjoy the texture and flavor together, and that’s difficult to do when it’s ice cold.
As to the reds, they can be served warmer, though “room temperature” is really the equivalent of room temperature in French cellars…which is quite a bit chillier than the average home temps are today. Think 65°/18°C - essentially cool enough to warrant snuggling under a blanket during couch time.
A note on the tasting order: The wines are listed in the order of which should be included first. If you have fewer than 6 wines/guests, you’ll still have a well-rounded experience. However, the order in which you taste the wines, regardless of how many wines are included, is recommended as follows:
Witches: Pinot Grigio Ramato from Friuli
Vampires: Egri Bikavér from Hungary
Skeletons: Mexican Reds
Ghosts: Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa or Sonoma Valley
Spiders: Primitivo from Puglia
The Devil: Sagrantino from Montefalco
Sources
D'Agata, Ian | Native Wine Grapes of Italy
