The perfect food-and-wine pairing is like the fateful meeting of destined lovers, best celebrated with a tiny mock wedding presided over by a curmudgeonly pepper mill with a heart of gold. Combine cuisine and wine the way nature intended with today's deal: for $15, you get $35 worth of savory small plates and drinks at Tessora's Barra di Vino. You must buy food to use your Groupon toward Tessora's grapen goodness from around the globe.

Along the walls of Tessora's Barra di Vino, a cultivated selection of boutique wines from across the globe perch on handsome wooden racks while bistro tables invite patrons to relax and indulge. A rotating list of wines by the glass (usually $9–$15 for a six-ounce glass) features more than 20 varieties at a given time, each of which may find a delightful dance partner amid the sweet and savory small plates. Sip a slightly spicy pour of the Yangarra Shiraz, hailing from Australia's McLaren Vale, with eucalyptus and anise on its breath, and prop your subsequently tipsy head up on pillowy squares of roasted-pepper and basil focaccia, served with olive oil and balsamic vinegars from Campbell's Olive Bar ($8). Asparagus fries—fresh stalks outfitted in phyllo and baked to a crisp and buttery finish—lounge beside roasted-pepper aioli ($9 for a order of eight). Allow your veggie fries to waltz with a glass of the Two Angels sauvignon blanc from the Mayacamas Mountains, where bouquets of thyme and sage dress buffets of kiwi, melon, and basil, or order up three pulled-pork sliders in rosemary barbecue sauce ($11.50) with an intense malbec and cab-sauv blend from Mendoza that is full of wood smoke, black currant, and blueberry. Tessora's also offers beers, salads, cheese and antipasto plates, desserts, and, on Thursdays, pizza.

The friendly and knowledgeable staff, which includes a newspaper woman, a local musician, and a graduate of a Parisian pâtisserie program, will happily help you find the wine-and-food pairing of your taco-induced dreams any night of the week. Tessora's owners are wine lovers who decided to pursue their passion as a livelihood, aiming to delight taste buds and educate people about the proper way to tickle a great wine along the way. The shop hosts frequent wine-learning sessions and live music on Fridays and Saturdays.

Reviews

Tessora's Barra di Vino was named one of the best wine bars and wine shops by the readers of the Metro Silicon Valley, which also featured it in 2009. Yelpers give it four stars:

• The atmosphere is warm and comfortable and the owners are fantastic people. Oh and the food was great; cheese platter was great! – Jeremy R.
• Great wine list - although it is not pages and pages long, the selections on it are thoughtful and unique. – Robin H.