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.

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Top wine pairings with goat cheese (chèvre)

Since goats cheese and Sauvignon Blanc is such a great match it might seem redundant to think of anything else but despite its reputation for being . . . well . . . goaty, goats cheese is easy to pair with other wines.

Unless you’re slathering it on a cracker as a sneaky snack the chances are you’re going to be eating it with something else - in a salad with asparagus, say, with roast red peppers or beetroot or on a cheeseboard with other cheeses - unless you’re in Provence where they don’t seem to serve any other kind.

With all those dishes it helps to have a wine with some fresh acidity of its own so here are my suggestions:

Sauvignon Blanc - you know that already. Doesn’t matter hugely where it’s from though I personally think the white wines of the Loire like Sancerre, Pouilly Fumé and even Sauvignon de Touraine work especially well. (The classic pairing is a Sancerre and a Crottin de Chavignol.)

Wines that taste like Sauvignon Blanc so other citrussy whites such as Bacchus, Côtes de Gascogne, Rueda and other crisp whites such as Albarino, Alvarinho, Chablis, Picpoul de Pinet, Pinot Grigio and other unoaked Italian whites, dry Riesling, Gruner Veltliner . . . (See what I mean about it being versatile?)

Crisp dry rosé especially Provençal rosé. Provence-style rosé and goats cheese is a great pairing (think summer picnics!)

Fresh, fruity reds such as Beaujolais and other gamays, inexpensive red burgundy and Loire cabernet francs like Chinon, Saumur and Saumur-Champigny

So basically any wine - white, red or rosé - that’s young, fresh, unoaked and lightly chilled will go with goats cheese. Which makes it the perfect summer cheese.

PS If you’re a cheese aficionado you may be a fan of more mature goats’ cheeses in which case I would go for an aged white like a Chablis or a mature Alsace riesling too as you can see from this post.

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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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The best food matches for Semillon and Semillon-Sauvignon blends

One of the world’s most underrated grapes yet capable of making some of its most delicious dry whites, Sémillon isn’t on the radar for many. So if you get hold of a bottle what should you pair with it?

Although there’s a marked difference between young unoaked Sémillon and those blended with its habitual stablemate Sauvignon Blanc it helps to look at it as similar to but less pungent than Sauvignon. Without that marked green, grassy edge that can make sauvignon too much of a good thing with foods that have herbaceous note of their own such as asparagus, peas and mangetout.

If I had to sum up the ideal match in a few words think shellfish, fish and spring vegetables. Here are a few more specific suggestions:

Hunter Valley Semillon and other lighter styles

The Hunter Valley in Australia is the place to go for Semillon and has its most distinctive style. Fresh and zippy when it’s young, more complex and oily (in a nice way) as it ages this is the perfect wine for raw and lightly cooked shellfish especially with Asian flavours. (Think the delicious kind of food you get in Sydney.) Remember Hunter Valley wines are light - generally only about 11-12% ABV. Try them with:

Oysters, especially with an Asian dressing - the best match bar none

Fresh crab

Clams

Sashimi

Seafood salads

Spring veg such as asparagus and peas - a pasta primavera would work well with a Hunter Valley Semillon

Dishes with fennel

Dishes with a touch of citrus

Lightly cooked fish dishes such as seabass and razor clams

Fried soft shell crab - I owe this one to my colleague Victoria Moore

Salt and pepper squid

Young goats’ cheese or salads with goats’ cheese

For older vintages try smoked fish such as smoked salmon, smoked trout and - this is surprisingly good - kedgeree

Barossa Valley Semillon and other richer styles

Fuller and riper, often with a lick of oak, Southern Australian Semillons can take richer fish and shellfish dishes and light meats like chicken and pork - again with an Asian accent. Try:

Scallops (probably my number one choice)

Grilled lobster, prawns or Moreton Bay bugs

Salmon and salmon trout

Fish or chicken in a creamy sauce such as this kingklip with prawns and a white wine sauce I had in South Africa

Seafood risotto

Thickly sliced ham off the bone

Roast gammon

Pork or chicken satay

Other spicy but not over-hot pork dishes

Grilled and barbecued fish

Semillon-Sauvignon blends

Found chiefly in the Margaret River region of Western Australia and in the Bordeaux region of France where it’s mainly oaked

For Australian sem-sauv I’d go for much the same sort of dishes as I would for a Hunter Valley Sémillon - perhaps a shade richer or with a little more citrus. This dish of pan-fried scallops with orange braised chicory, celeriac remoulade and lotus crisps was a perfect match or you could go for scallops with a pea purée. It would also stand up to a mild Thai green curry.

With oaked white Bordeaux I’d be looking at more classic French or European-style dishes like this light raviolo of prawns, simply cooked fish in butter like a Dover sole, poached salmon or a posh fish pie.

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