Asparagus & Wine

Welcome to Vine to Wine this is your host Linda Moran. With spring comes one of my favorite vegetables, asparagus. Although asparagus when cooked has a rather assertive flavor, it isn’t impossible to find a wine to go with it.

When it comes to asparagus, I make my wine decision based upon how I plan to cook it. If the asparagus is on the large side, I trim any dry ends and with a potato peeler I remove the outside skin from the lower part of the spear. That way it won’t get tough when I cook it. Next I roll the spears in olive oil and put it on a hot grill or in a very hot pan. Roll it back and forth and char it ever so slightly and then lower the heat and let it finish cooking. This preparation will lend itself well to fuller bodied Chardonnay and even lighter style red wines. You can steam the asparagus and chill it, to use as a simple salad with a mild vinaigrette dressing, perhaps topped with roasted hazelnuts on top. With that preparation I will serve a Sparkling wine or a drier style of Chenin Blanc. If the asparagus is served more traditionally with a hollandaise sauce I will look for a Sauvignon Blanc that is a little bit herbaceous and has good crisp acid. Don’t be afraid of serving wine with asparagus just think more about the preparation and focus on what wine will go with that grilled flavor or your favorite sauce recipe. Remember to send your wine questions to Linda at vine to wine dot net and thanks for joining me on today’s Vine to Wine.