The best wine pairings for eggs benedict

The ideal wine pairing for eggs benedict - that unctuous dish of poached eggs and ham topped with buttery hollandaise sauce - is likely to be dictacted as much by when you eat it as the dish itself.

Although it’s so good you could eat it at any time of day - at least I could - it’s primarily a breakfast or brunch dish which suggests, if any alcohol at all, champagne, sparkling wine or a sparkling wine cocktail like Bucks Fizz.

Does it matter which one? I’d go for a lighter style myself - a blanc de blancs or all-chardonnay sparkling wine rather than a richer, toastier blanc de noirs or vintage champagne. French ‘cremants’ like Cremant d’Alsace or Cremant de Bourgogne are low cost alternatives to champagne or you could go for a cava or prosecco though to my taste the latter are generally a touch too sweet for eggs. There’s great fizz too from England, California, New Zealand and South Africa - even Brazil these days.

Classic orange juice-based brunch cocktails like Bucks Fizz and Mimosas work well too though not, I think, a Bloody Mary which is better suited to a more robust egg dish with bacon or chorizo.

If you’re eating your ‘benedict’ at lunchtime or for supper and don’t want to drink fizz I’d go for a smooth dry white wine such as an unoaked or lightly oaked chardonnay or an Alsace pinot blanc.

These choices will work with egg benedict variations with smoked salmon* or spinach too. Scrambled eggs are also very good with sparkling wines like champagne.

* See also this very successful beer match with Eggs Royale

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