Absinthe, Gamay, and a Demi-Sec: Drinking Through Four Courses at Pineapple & Pearls
The wine list here has a harder job than most.
Absinthe over a sugar cube, before I'd even been shown to a seat.
That's the opening move, and it tells you what kind of beverage program you've walked into. This is the companion piece to my full review of the tasting menu, where I got into the food, the theatrics, and the star that went missing ten days before my reservation. Here I want to talk only about what was in the glass, because the pairing at Pineapple & Pearls has a harder job than most and it mostly does it well.
The room is loud. There's pop music, there are balloons, the staff are in velvet. A pairing built for a hushed dining room would drown here. What they pour instead is bright, generous, and a little bit obvious in the best sense, wines that announce themselves rather than waiting to be noticed.
Before You Sit Down
The Death in the Afternoon arrives at the door. Absinthe, apricot liqueur, and champagne over a sugar cube, which is Hemingway's drink with an apricot softening added. The anise hits first and hard. Then the apricot rounds it off, and the champagne carries the whole thing forward instead of letting it sit heavy.
It's a strange thing to hand someone standing up in a coat. It also completely resets your expectations for the next three hours.
With the Openers
The first proper pour was a 2022 Domaine Grégoire Hoppenot Fleurie "Les Garants," a Gamay from Beaujolais, and it's the smartest choice on the whole list.
Mellow, medium-bodied, red fruit that leans toward raspberry rather than anything darker. Hoppenot only started his own domaine in Fleurie in 2018 and has already been picked out as one of the region's names to watch, which you can taste in how precise the wine is without being austere.
It went against the SqUiDON, which is a dish built on acidity, and instead of fighting it the Gamay just leaned in. But it was with the Pea & Pea Chawanmushi that it really made sense. That custard is warm and savory and delicate, the kind of thing a heavier red would flatten completely. The Fleurie has enough fruit to be interesting and enough restraint to stay out of the way.
Serve a red this light slightly cool and it does things most people don't expect from red wine. This one did.
With the Pasta
Then a 2020 Domaine Blain-Gagnard Chassagne-Montrachet, a white Burgundy from a small producer, and this is where the pairing did actual work.
The pasta course at this restaurant is not shy. The Marco's Gnocchi sits in butter under parmesan and an amount of truffle that borders on confrontational. The Mont-Blanc Pasta, my favorite thing I ate all night, is rich in a way that coats everything.
Both of those needed cutting, and the Chassagne-Montrachet did it. Citrus up front, real acidity underneath, enough weight to sit alongside butter without disappearing into it. It scrubbed the palate between bites so the third forkful tasted like the first.
This was the pour I'd have ordered a second glass of. Whites from this village can be spectacular and this one was working hard for its place on the menu.
With the Main
A 2019 Giacomo Fenocchio Castellero Barolo came with the World Class Wagyu, and here's an awkward thing to admit. The wine was better than the dish.
The Barolo is medium-bodied with bright cherry running through it, more approachable than Barolo's reputation suggests, and it's poured young enough that the fruit is still leading. Against a brisket hybrid with a sweet, barbecue-leaning character, it was the right call. The cherry picked up the sweetness in the meat and the structure of the wine gave the whole plate a backbone it didn't otherwise have.
I've written elsewhere that the main course didn't land for me. The Barolo is a large part of why I finished it anyway. A pairing that rescues a dish is doing something, even if that's not quite the compliment a kitchen wants.
With Dessert
Laurent-Perrier Harmony Demi-Sec Champagne NV to close, and demi-sec is the correct answer to a dessert course that nobody ever gives.
Most restaurants pour something fortified or something sticky. This has residual sugar, yes, but the bubbles and the acid keep it from turning into syrup. Against the Dulce de Leche Brulee & Pear Sorbet, which is already three desserts negotiating with each other, it stayed light enough not to add a fourth. It handled the Epoisses Ice Cream & Hot Grayson Fondue even better, because that dessert is funky and savory and needed something with lift.
The Nightcap
After the soft serve, back at the counter, a truffle-infused amaretto warmed over candlelight. Nutty and sweet with the truffle sitting underneath it like a rumor. I drank it with the buttered popcorn ice cream and the two together were better than either alone, which I'm fairly sure was the point.
Is It Worth It
The pairing added meaningfully to my share of the evening, and the total came to just over $650 per person once everything settled. That's real money for four pours plus the extras.
I'd still take it. Partly because the by-the-glass thinking here is better than the tasting menu itself, and partly because I don't think the meal makes sense without it. The portions are small enough that the drinks carry more of the experience than they normally would. Take the pairing away and there's less evening left than you paid for.
One caveat. These were the bottles poured in December 2024. The list moves, so what I drank isn't necessarily what's waiting for you.
Notes
Restaurant:Pineapple & Pearls, 715 8th St SE, Washington, DC 20003
Reservations: (202) 595-7375 or via the restaurant's website; Dining Room and Chef's Counter bookings are prepaid
Pairing options: Wine pairing or zero-proof pairing, both running alongside the four-course tasting menu. The bar offers a shorter menu with beverages à la carte
Poured in December 2024: 2022 Domaine Grégoire Hoppenot Fleurie "Les Garants"; 2020 Domaine Blain-Gagnard Chassagne-Montrachet; 2019 Giacomo Fenocchio Castellero Barolo; Laurent-Perrier Harmony Demi-Sec Champagne NV. The list rotates
Accolades:One Michelin star (2024 and 2025 guides, following two stars from 2016 through 2023); AAA Five Diamond
Instagram:@pineappleandpearls
About the Author
Kelly Gomez is a creative director who eats well, travels far, and lives with intention. She has sat at tables that required months of planning, flown routes that cross a dozen time zones, and found herself in rooms most people never find. She is precise about what she loves and honest about what falls short.
A WSET Level 2 Wine Certified writer and Advanced Open Water Diver, Kelly covers luxury travel, hotels, fine dining, wineries, diving destinations, and the trips built around them.
Her work reaches a US-based audience of travelers between 25 and 44, with a near-even gender split and a meaningful following.
