Top pairings | The best wine - and other - pairings for leeks

Top pairings

The best wine - and other - pairings for leeks

Leeks generally feature in dishes in their own right rather than as a side and have a mild sweet flavour you want to respect.

Here are my favourite pairings:

* Smooth dry white wines such as Chenin Blanc and unoaked or subtle oaked Chardonnay or Italian whites such as Gavi or Soave work with dishes that have a creamy texture or a light cheese sauce or leek dishes with eggs like a leek and cheese quiche. They’re also the type of wine I’d pick for a leek and potato soup or if I was serving leeks with salmon.

* Crisper whites such as Chablis, Albarino, Vermentino and citrussy Sauvignon Blancs are good with other fish dishes or where the leeks are served in a salad such as leeks vinaigrette. I wouldn’t pick a more grassy, gooseberryish style of Sauvignon like a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc which tends to overpower leeks’ delicate flavour

* An afterthought, following the comment below. Alsace Sylvaner - always good with light vegetable dishes. Or a fruity but not oversweet riesling.

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Comments: 2 (Add)

Fiona Beckett on March 1 2014 at 09:47

Agree - I think that would work. Maybe a sylvaner/silvaner too

Paul Hillsmith. on March 1 2014 at 09:36

Would also recommend a fruity, off-dry Riesling as the touch of sweetness in the wine picks up the sweetness of the leeks, especially with quiches.

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