A guide to wine pairing with asparagus
Addressing a common wine and food pairing question - ‘What wine goes with asparagus’?
Asparagus is one of the most popular Spring vegetables and many people await the asparagus season with much joy and anticipation - the green asparagus grown in England is often referred to as ‘the King of Vegetables’ and Germany’s white ‘Spargel’ variety is often referred to as ‘White Gold’ - however, wine pairing with asparagus can be tricky.
So let’s examine first of all why this lovely Spring vegetable is notoriously challenging for matching with wine, before sharing some wine tips with you so you no longer have to face serving asparagus with trepidation!
Why is wine pairing with asparagus difficult?
Asparagus is a versatile, nutritious vegetable that can play almost any role in a meal, from a hearty main dish to a delicious side dish to a base for soups and salads. It is a highly nutritious vegetable, packed with calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, and a host of other vitamins and minerals.
Asparagus is also a very ‘vegetal’ vegetable and produces a distinctive ‘chlorophyll-driven’ green flavour, which is why it clashes with a lot of wines and makes this particular wine and food pairing challenging. In fact asparagus is high in a type of sulfuric compound that’s called, appropriately enough, ‘asparagusic acid’ and this is what’s responsible for the acrid, bitter taste when it’s cooked as well as making your urine smell rather pungent! when eaten with wine, it can make many wines taste metallic and herein lies the challenge!
Types of asparagus
There are many different varieties of asparagus, all with varying colours, tastes and textures, however the core varieties are: green, white, purple and wild.
Green asparagus:
The green variety is probably the most commonly found in shops and supermarkets. It is a very versatile vegetable can can be grilled and sautéed as well as poached.
White asparagus:
White asparagus is thicker than the green variety and is not so bitter when cooked as green asparagus. It is also tends to be a little tougher. White asparagus is prized in Europe and you will find it on many menus, especially in Germany and Austria, during ‘Spargelzeit’ in May/June. It is most often served simply, with a butter or hollandaise sauce, maybe with fish or ham.
Purple asparagus:
Purple Passion is one of the most popular "specialty" varieties of asparagus and is often eaten cold in salads. It has a sweeter taste than the other asparagus varieties. Note that when cooked it loses a lot of its colour, hence why it’s popular served and eaten raw.
Wild asparagus:
Wild asparagus can be foraged, if you know where to look (!), in late spring. The plant tends to be thinner than the cultivated variety and likes to grow in undisturbed, sandy and moist soils.
What wine goes with asparagus?
An easy way out of the asparagus wine pairing dilemma is of course to serve it with a more wine-friendly accompaniment. Common asparagus accompaniments include eggs - scrambled or poached, or in an omlette or a quiche - and egg sauces such as hollandaise, all which pair happily with smooth, dry whites such as a pinot blanc, a lightly-oaked white burgundy, a new world Chardonnay, or a toasty, citrussy Champagne or English sparkling wine would also be perfect!
A popular asparagus accompaniment is also salmon or ham and a creamy sauce - here a Portuguese Alvarinho or Spanish Albariño would go really well as well as an Austrian Grüner Veltliner or a German Riesling.
If you prefer to serve your asparagus simply poached and served in a butter sauce, then go for something citrusy, herbal and unoaked, for instance a Sancerre or Pouilly Fumé from France’s Loire Valley, a Grüner Veltliner from Austria, a Silvaner from Germany, an Alsace Riesling, an English Bacchus or a light Sauvignon Blanc. Take care with the latter though - don’t go for a too ‘green, herbal, grassy’ New Zealand Sauvignon as this is can be too similar in flavour, especially to the stronger green asparagus.
Asparagus and red wine - a no-no?
If you love your red wine and aren’t a white wine fan, you do have some options!
Especially if you roast or sautée your green asparagus then you could venture towards a rosé - perhaps a lovely Spanish rosé - or a lighter red, such as a fresh, cool-climate Cabernet Franc from the Loire.
Summary
So there you go, if you love asparagus but you don’t love the headache of what to serve it with, take inspiration from these suggestions and give one of them a try! You might find your perfect asparagus - wine combo!
