Your LA Guide to Clink Different: Exploring Bordeaux and German Wine Styles

During the 2025 Clink Different Restaurant Week, top L.A. restaurants and wine bars poured standout, food-friendly bottles from Bordeaux and Germany. And even if you missed the event, there’s still plenty of time to discover these under-the-radar gems.

You can taste Bordeaux’s Left and Right Banks, dive into Germany’s Pfalz and Rheingau, and uncover new favorite spots across L.A.—all without boarding a plane. The wines are here year-round, but there’s no better time to explore the L.A. version of wine country than right now.

Before the 2025 Clink Different Restaurant Week kicked off, the wine organization worked with sommeliers and staff members at restaurants to give them a deeper dive into the wines of Bordeaux and Germany. Many restaurants are still offering wines from Bordeaux and Germany—now with trained staff members who can walk guests through the history and terroir of each region, while also providing them with food pairing advice.

Each participating restaurant selected two wines from Bordeaux and Germany, which means that L.A.'s eating and drinking denizens will have several unique styles to choose from across the city.

Keep reading for a complete list of L.A. spots that took part in Clink Different.

As curious wine lovers make their way around L.A., they’ll discover that many of the most talented sommeliers there have made it their personal mission to embrace the sometimes-surprising side of Bordeaux and Germany’s winemaking scene. And one of the most surprising initial discoveries they’ll share is how much these seemingly disparate places have in common.

In addition to shared history and impressive landscapes, they share similar cultures, a dedication to culinary excellence, and a desire to embrace new winemaking styles while staying rooted in the centuries of history and culture that have defined them.

Scratch just below the surface and you’ll discover a world of flavor that you never knew existed in Bordeaux and Germany.

Bordeaux encompasses a vast range of planted vines: More than 234,000 acres of grapes are planted there, which would equal about 177,272 American football fields. The cool climate, buffered by the regulating Gulf Stream, and large pine forests that protect the delicate grapes from the harshest winds off the Atlantic, create a slow and steady ripening season for the 4,600+ wine-growers there. And while Bordeaux may be most famous for superstar zones like Saint-Émilion and Margaux, there are actually 37 official AOCs to discover.

Germany has become ground zero for complex, terroir-driven wines—both red and white, but starring the Pinot family. Like Bordeaux, Germany has a seriously large area of land planted to grapes: about 253,283 acres under vine.

More than two-thirds of German wine is dry or semi-dry, and the country has been nicknamed “Pinot Paradise” by wine experts.

German wine also delivers exactly what current palates are thirsty for. Because the country’s wine regions are perched on some of the world’s most northerly latitudes for viticulture, the wines tend to be lower in alcohol, higher in acidity and particularly suited for pairing with food.

Thirsty for more? If you’re eager to take a deep dive into the intricacies of Bordeaux and Germany’s distinct terroirs, the Clink Different website offers an educational resource.

If you missed 2025 Clink Different Restaurant Week, head over to these L.A. locations for the many great German and Bordeaux wines still available.