What wine to pair with gazpacho

If there’s one dish more difficult to pair with wine than already tricky tomatoes it’s gazpacho, the chilled Spanish summer soup that includes raw onion and peppers as well. So what wine should you pair with it?

White rather than red I suggest and make it young, crisp and fresh without any oak influence.

Bear in mind that if you’re in the mood for gazpacho you’re in the mood for a refreshing drink

6 of the best wine pairings for gazpacho

Rueda or sauvignon blanc

Good Rueda (and I wouldn’t buy the cheapest one you can lay your hands on) is a great match with the same bright citrussy flavours as a sauvignon blanc which of course would work too. I suggest one of the more restrained styles such as Reuilly from the Loire rather than a full-on New Zealand sauvignon blanc

Albarino

Galicia’s elegant versatile white is always a good option

Picpoul de Pinet

As is Picpoul from the south of France (good value too)

Dry Italian whites

Always spring into life with food - anything from a good pinot grigio from the Alto Adige to a Falanghina, Pecorino or Greco di Tufo from the south

Manzanilla sherry

You might be surprised to find sherry so far down the list given it’s a go to match with soup but that’s because it’s unpredictable, depending on the sherry and the recipe. When it works it’s brilliant but it just might misfire. My favourite style would be well chilled manzanilla from a freshly opened bottle though with white gazpacho (ajo blanco) I would go for a fino - or even a dry moscatel.

Provence rosé - which is more like a dry white wine - is also a pretty good option if it’s not too fruity which generally would be the case.

And read about this surprise pairing with smoked vodka!

See also

The best wine matches for tomatoes

Matching wine and soup

Photo © Ramon Grosso @fotolia.com

The best wines to pair with beetroot

Beetroot is one of the few vegetables that pairs better with red wine than with white - not only for the colour though that tends to put the brain on auto-suggest - but its rich, earthy, sometimes sweet flavour.

True it’s often partnered with other ingredients that can affect the wine match - it goes well with rare game like pigeon, duck and venison, for example, but that’s still red wine territory (pinot noir in particular for me).

In a salad or dip however you may want to take it in a different direction especially when tangy goat cheese or feta and spring vegetables are involved. 

Here are some suggestions for different types of beetroot dishes.

Good pairings for beets

Beetroot risotto

Beetroot makes a deliciously rich, flamboyantly pink risotto, better made, as you can see from the recipe below with red wine than with white. Pinot noir or dolcetto would be a perfect match for this.

Beetroot and pinot noir risotto

 

Beetroot tarte tatin

Beetroot can also be cooked until it caramelises when it acquires a more intense sweetness that can handle a richer, more full-bodied red from, say, the southern Rhone or the Languedoc (the classic grenache/syrah/mourvedre blend, for instance). But malbec would work too.

Borscht (beetroot soup)

More of a beer dish than a wine one, to be honest. A good pils would be perfect. Or even a shot (or two) of frozen vodka

Beetroot salads

Beetroot salads often include some kind of sharp-flavoured cheese such as goat’s or feta cheese or yoghurt and herbs such as chives or dill.

 

Although a fruity red like pinot would still be fine if that’s what you fancy the cheesy element would steer me in the direction of a crisp white wine such as a sauvignon blanc or an albarino, as I discovered a while back in this match of the week. Especially as you might have other white wine-friendly ingredients such as asparagus broad beans, peas or salad leaves in the dish.

And beets, of course, are not always red. With stripey chiogga or yellow beets you might want a richer white like a white Côtes du Rhône.

Beetroot dips, spreads and purées

Often part of a selection of different Middle-eastern-style mezze. Dry rosé is a good all-rounder with this kind of spread.

Beetroot cured salmon

Sometimes beetroot is used to cure salmon in which case it becomes more about the salmon than the beet. A couple of years back I found a very good match in furmint, a versatile dry Hungarian wine that can take a number of dishes in its stride. You can read about the pairing here.

 

On another occasion it was Godello from the north of Spain that scooped the prize. Dry riesling would work well too.

 

Top wine pairings with asparagus

Whenever anyone talks about foods that are difficult to match with wine, asparagus always comes up but I reckon the problem is overstated.

Just like any other ingredient it depends how you cook and serve it and how many other ingredients there are on the plate. Few people serve asparagus totally unadorned.

The most popular pairing is with Sauvignon Blanc which can have a marked asparagus flavour itself so you need another ingredient on the plate such as salmon, chicken or goats cheese to revive those flavours in the wine.

Wines that can be tricky are wines with a touch of sweetness as asparagus can accentuate that. Oaked whites are generally not too successful (except with rich buttery sauces - see below) nor are wines with pronounced tannins.

Here are my suggestions with different asparagus preparations:

• With a vinaigrette - Needs a wine that can cope with the vinaigrette and won’t compete with the asparagus. I prefer an earthy, dry, unoaked Italian white such as Verdicchio or dry Orvieto to a Sauvignon Blanc here. Or a light, dry rosé without too much upfront berry fruit

• With melted butter or mayo - Where the asparagus is offset by the richness of butter or mayo but there isn’t anything else on the plate: an unoaked or lightly oaked Chardonnay such as Chablis

• With hollandaise or soft-boiled or poached eggs - Here the sauce or accompaniments begin to take over so go for a mature oaked Chardonnay (one in which the wood is well integrated but which is still fresh-tasting), traditional white Rioja or Champagne

• With goats cheese or prawns and salad - here’s where to drink Sauvignon Blanc, especially minerally Sauvignons from the Loire like Sancerre. The goats’ cheese accentuates rather than knocking out the asparagus flavours in the wine. English whites like Bacchus are also good.

• With grilled salmon - Semillon-Sauvignon blends, especially from Bordeaux or Western Australia generally work well

• With crab - a very dry Riesling, from e.g. Austria won’t overwhelm the crab

• With sautéed or fried chicken - Here asparagus is likely to be the vegetable so go for a wine that will match the chicken such as a light or moderately oaked Chardonnay

• Asparagus risotto - You’re matching the creamy risotto not just the asparagus. A crisp, fresh Italian white such as Pinot Grigio from the Alto Adige is the ideal option in my view or other dry Pinot Grigios

• Asparagus quiche - Alsace Pinot Blanc or Italian Pinot Bianco is a generally reliable choice with quiches. Alternatively go for a light, unoaked Chardonnay

• Chargrilled asparagus with mushrooms/roast asparagus with pancetta - Here’s where you can go for a light Loire red such as Bourgeuil or Saumur-Champigny, inexpensive red burgundy or other light, unoaked Pinot Noir

• In a stir fry - the sauce is likely to be the determining factor here. Assuming it’s something reasonably light to preserve the flavour of the asparagus I’d go for an off-dry Riesling from e.g. Germany

• White asparagus - Popular in central and southern Europe. My favourite pairing is young Grüner Veltliner, though others will go for dry Riesling or even dry Muscat (though the latter is not to everyone’s taste). Dry Spanish rosado is also good.

Image by Elena Veselova at shutterstock.com

Best food pairings with sauvignon blanc

Sauvignon blanc is many people’s favourite wine but what type of food pairs with it best?

As with other grape varieties its style varies markedly from one part of the world to the other - from the crisp minerally whites of the Loire to the exuberant gooseberry and passionfruit flavours of sauvignons from New Zealand’s Marlborough region.

Although many are interchangeable so far as food pairings are concerned others suit specific types of dishes and ingredients

Sauvignon blanc food pairing guide

Minerally sauvignon blancs

For instance: Sancerre, Pouilly Fumé and sauvignon blanc from Tasmania

This is the style I’d pair with simple, barely seasoned ingredients such as raw and lightly cooked shellfish like oysters and shell-on prawns, fresh crab and simply grilled fish such as sea bass.

They also go well with dishes that contain raw or barely cooked tomato such as gazpacho, tomato consommé or tomato vinaigrettes and young goats’ cheeses - or salads that contain goats cheese and have an affinity with fresh herbs especially dill

And this style of sauvignon is a good wine match with Japanese dishes such as sushi and sashimi, seafood-based steamed and fried dim sum and smoked salmon, particularly if the smoke is delicate.

Citrussy sauvignon blancs

For instance: unoaked white Bordeaux, sauvignon blanc from the Adelaide Hills and Chilean sauvignon blanc.

I like this more citrussy style with grilled fish , especially oily fish such as sardines and mackerel, big garlicky prawns and chargrilled squid. They also pair well with fried fish like goujons, whitebait and fish and chips and with simply grilled chicken or lamb (without a powerful marinade)

In terms of ethnic cuisines they work well with Greek and Mexican food and other fresh-tasting dishes with avocados, tomatoes, green onions, olives and sharp cheeses like feta (though be careful not to neutralise their character with over-lemony dressings)

They also pair well with cheeses flavoured with garlic and herbs such as Le Roulé and Boursin. And this, in my view, is the best type of sauvignon blanc to drink with globe artichokes.

Aromatic/grassy/’herbaceous’ sauvignon blancs and sauvignon blends

For instance New Zealand sauvignon blanc and wines from cooler regions elsewhere such as South Africa’s Elgin region

I tend to reach for these with salads especially if they contain seafood and/or ‘grassy’ ingredients such as asparagus, pea-shoots, green peppers and herbs.

You can drink them with similar dishes to minerally sauvignon blancs but where the flavours are more pronounced e.g. seafood with south-east Asian flavours such as lime, chilli and coriander or Thai fish cakes. Try them with pea soups and dishes accompanied by pea purées too.

See also The best food matches with New Zealand sauvignon blanc

Oaked sauvignons and sauvignon/semillon blends

For instance: oaked white Bordeaux and fumé blanc styles

You can drink these where you might reach for a chardonnay or straight semillon - with white meats such as chicken or veal especially if accompanied by a creamy sauce or with spring vegetables such as asparagus and peas. Pasta dishes with spring vegetables and buttery or creamy sauces work well too.

They also suit simply grilled or pan-fried salmon, scallops and lightly smoked fish such as smoked eel and trout.

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