Jonathan Waters. Photo: Robert Messick.

Strawberries with wine? It's not a pairing most people ask Chez Panisse sommelier Jonathan Waters about. In fact, he can't remember anyone ever asking him to take the sweet-tart berry -- which has dotted dessert menus for much of the summer -- and combine it with a crisp, ethereal vino. Champagne, yes, but wine, no.

"It's pretty rare that somebody would have strawberries with wine," says Waters (no relation to that other Chez Panisse Waters), who has worked at the restaurant for more than 20 years.

That said, he thinks the two are a very plausible match and was up to the challenge. We caught up with him to chat strawberries, Alice Waters' practice of finishing a meal with seasonal fruit, and his thoughts on organic wine.

Do you guys ever serve whole strawberries?
We do. We serve them at the end of a meal. Alice's idea is that the perfect end of a meal is a fruit. If you have ever read [David Mas] Masumoto's book about peaches ... we only serve strawberries for a very short window because it's a short season when they are perfect.

Does the restaurant serve them other ways?
We serve strawberries with other things for a longer period, like macerated strawberries over sherbet or strawberry shortcake.

What are you looking for in a strawberry and a wine pairing?
It has to be paired with a wine that has some residual sugar.

What don't you want?
You don't want too unctuous of a wine. You could take a Chardonnay coming out of California and it would be a terrible thing to pair with a strawberry. I wouldn't pair almost all the big reds. I wouldn't pair any wine that has alcohol over 13 percent. I wouldn't pair any wine with tannins in it. If you look at the wheels of wine, I wouldn't pair 80 percent of the wines.

So is there a grape that pairs best with berries?
I don't think there has to be. Of the wines I picked, I wanted a Gamay in there, because I wanted the brightness.

How do you go about pairing wines in general?
I don't ever just separate it to just food and wine. You pair it with the experience.

So how do you do that with strawberries?
When you come to the end of the meal [and have a strawberry], you are looking for the brightness in the wine, and I want acidity and residual sugar, which is what strawberries have. They have good acidity and good sugar.

How do strawberries differ?
You can have the fraises des bois, which are smaller. They are kind of a wild strawberry. I lived in the Midwest for a while and strawberries are fatter but they are not sweeter.

What kind of strawberries are you looking for?
I am looking for organically farmed strawberries, and organically farmed wines.

Do you only serve organic wines at the restaurant?
No. But most of them are. I don't put a gate up and leave everybody else outside of it. They have to be sustainable. But there is no sustainability that is certified. I am looking for all sustainable wines.

Below, Waters gives us his five favorites under $25, from a bubbly Gamay to a Sparkling pear cider. Though he says with his own staff and students, "I generally make people make their own tasting notes," we were able to pry a few gems out of him.

NV Effervescent Gamay, NV Terres Dorées FRV100, Jean-Paul Brun, France. "Some of the wild sour cherry and strawberry flavors of Gamay intertwined with forest notes and all pushed by the effervescence in the wine."

2008 Moscato d'Asti, Bricco Quaglia, La Spinetta/Giorgio Rivetti, Italy. "Jasmine blossoms and honey and pear aromas. Sweet pineapple and floral notes all lifted by great acidity and light texture."

2008 Vin Gris of Pinot Noir, Robert Sinskey, Carneros, California. "Organically farmed pinot from Carneros, Calif. Beautiful light onion skin-pinkish color and sweet notes of Pinot-strawberry, peach, ginger mixed with a dry finish."

2007 Sparkling Pear Cider, Poire Granit, Eric Bordelet, France. "Deeper and finer than most pear ciders-from 300-yr-old trees and made by a former sommelier. Finer and longer finish than the usual cider with more deep and clear fruit flavors.

2007 Vouvray, Le Haut-Lieu, Demi-Sec, Gaston Huet, France. "Huet always makes some of the most balanced Vouvray from his wonderful, organically farmed sites. Honey and floral notes in the aroma and the same flavors in the wine along with pear, orange and good acidity."