Wines for vegetables?

[JohnMag]

@Andrew_K

One of the courses was asparagus. I told her it was going to make the Lafon Monty taste like cat piss

Or like NZ Sauv Blanc — without the acidity.

[James_Mc]

‘20 Ultramarine?

[Rahsaan_M]

@RichardFlack

Use lemon juice or possibly white balsamic, and sparingly , for a less wine-unfriendly vinaigrette. Also a some Dijon and emulsify very well, apply sparingly, and ‘bien fatiguer la salade’. It’s all about harm reduction.

Yes, I can tweak things to get in the realm of acceptable. But salad with vinaigrette is still sufficiently far-removed from wine friendly, that I prefer to just take those few minutes to pause on the wine drinking.

Interestingly, I don’t think asparagus is too much of a killer. Look to all the wines from asparagus country: riesling, gruner, silvaner, weissburgunder. You can get some lovely spring pairings.

Artichoke is much tougher in my experience, unless it’s fried/sauteed baby artichoke hearts, but that’s transfiguration anyway.

[Sarah_Kirschbaum]

I agree that asparagus needn’t be a killer, especially very sweet early season asparagus. And of course prep matters.

[Matthew_Brown]

While the wines themselves aren’t my favorites, a lot of the more natural wine styles do fairly well imho. Seem to handle vinegar preps fairly well, generally are avoiding oak so won’t throw much in the way of harsher tannins, and lean into being lower abv. I’m not a pickle person at all, but regional pickled veggies seem to get in there pretty well.

[DaVid_B2]

PERFECT! In a way.

[Otto_Forsberg]

@Sarah_Kirschbaum

I agree that asparagus needn’t be a killer, especially very sweet early season asparagus. And of course prep matters.

This. I eat quite a bit of asparagus, at least now in springtime / early summer, in all kinds of dishes and cooked on its own. Never really noticed any difficulties in pairing it with whites.

And never really understood why some people are so damn keen on always pairing asparagus with new world Sauvignon Blanc. If I’m already eating asparagus, I don’t need to drink it too.

[RichardFlack]

Absolutely prep. A other harm reduction (from wine perspective) technique is to finish it on the BBQ. I boil for a couple of minutes then toss in a low acid vinaigrette and finish on the grill (lid open) for a couple of minutes. I guess this is food pairing not wine pairing though lol.

[Paul_Bruck]

@Otto_Forsberg

@Sarah_Kirschbaum

I agree that asparagus needn’t be a killer, especially very sweet early season asparagus. And of course prep matters.

This. I eat quite a bit of asparagus, at least now in springtime / early summer, in all kinds of dishes and cooked on its own. Never really noticed any difficulties in pairing it with whites.

And never really understood why some people are so damn keen on always pairing asparagus with new world Sauvignon Blanc. If I’m already eating asparagus, I don’t need to drink it too.

In Germany the go-to wine with asparagus is Pinot blanc (Weissburgunder), but I prefer Silvaner or Grüner Veltliner.
No Riesling

[Kirk.Grant]

Sounds like you haven’t found or tasted a really good Sherry yet. The problem with really good Sherry (IMHO) is the high alcohol content. I could crush a good half bottle, but then, I’m no longer sober.

[Paul_Bruck]

@Kirk.Grant

Sounds like you haven’t found or tasted a really good Sherry yet. The problem with really good Sherry (IMHO) is the high alcohol content. I could crush a good half bottle, but then, I’m no longer sober.

Oh I don’t think do.
Sherries from 1918 to present … do qualify?

[RichardFlack]

Fino typically 15% ABV.
Napa Cabs can exceed 14.5%.
Kistler Chardonnay is 14%.
So only 3% to 7% more alcohol.
(Yes the wines suggested here in this pairing would be lower. But even at 12.5% say the sherry is only 20% higher alcohol, it’s not like double).