Grape Gossip - Jack finds the perfect wine match for Asparagus

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Asparagus! A handy hint well in time for asparagus season...

Asparagus - it looks like nothing you've really ever seen before. It's easy to undercook and easy to overcook. It has a texture and a mouth-feel that sets itself apart from other vegetables. Oh, and it makes your wee smell. No wonder people get themselves in a right mess over matching wine with this misunderstood food, but like anything else, a dip into the wonderful realms of the world-wide-web, your local fruit-and-veg shop (and you local, neighbourhood wine shop!) produces results that will have you ringing up your mum with your new found culinary masterpiece. Go on, I won't tell a soul you stole it from me...

First of all, lets begin with the don'ts of this lesson. Avoid big, tough, tannic reds like Cabernet Sauvignon which will just clash, both in terms of texture and the unmatchable flavour profiles: like matching a garden salad with a Bordeaux, the delicate green-ness sitting uncomfortably next to chewy tannins and powerful red fruits. The only red which might work would be a light and acidic Pinot Noir. Our Anakena Pinot could well be worth a go, but I wouldn't risk your Gevrey-Chambertin on this. You should share it with me instead.

The internet offers many solutions for this supposedly wine-unfriendly food. Most centre around Sauvignon Blanc as the freshness and grassy-ness complement the vegetal taste of the crunchy spears. Riesling is another hot favourite. But these wine and food matches get a bit samey, and the recipe for the food either very complicated (at least for me) or they have meat in them (a primary requisite of vegetarianism being not to eat meat). But I found just one website, devoid of any in depth commentary, that just suggested 'Viognier'. After enjoying Yves Cuilleron's awesome Condrieu 'Les Chaillets' a few nights previous (incidentally I ate asparagus later in the evening) I had my grape to venture with. I'd decided on not over-complicating the dish so that I could create something I could make with as little money and effort as possible (to save effort for working hard at the shop!). And so I got to work.

Asparagus tastes best in lots of butter. Though this foils the low sodium content of it and the fat perhaps counters the many vitamins and minerals contained within the asparagus, I'm not too bothered about it - you only live once. Also, the oodles of antioxidants in there make up for those lost from not drinking red wine. For other veg in the meal I settled on corn on the cob - it's big, crunchy, fleshy finger food that tastes best smothered in butter, not unlike asparagus. I threw some butter in a pan, sliced some garlic thin and fried it, this way there was another crunchy element in the dish but the browning of the garlic made the flavour less prominent. Then I added the asparagus, whole spears (except the tough, unpalatable base) to soak in all the butter it could, for about 10 minutes. At the same time, I put the corn into a pan of boiling water adding only a touch of butter and a touch of salt. As I lazily watched it come together, I tasted the wine I chose. Now, if I could I'd drink Condrieu every day, but I'm not willing to sell my possessions for wine (yet) so I settled on Cuilleron's Vin de Pays Viognier.

A lovely golden colour showing its oak ageing, the nose was alive, changeable and complex, it evolved as the temperature of the wine fluctuated bringing out fresh ripe peach along with smoky, meaty characteristics that just left me smelling so long my asparagus was done by the time I came to taste the wine. I took the veg off the heat and took a sip of the wine - creamy and lush on the palate, with very gentle spice and sweet fruits right at the end of the finish. Wonderful stuff. I put the asparagus on the plate, cooked to perfection, and then the corn on the cob. I took the rich garlic-butter from the asparagus and poured it over the corn and watched it soak in. I was hungry now. I took a first taste of the asparagus - crunchy and yet supple, oozing butter and underpinned by subtleties of roasted garlic. As I finished the mouthful and rinsed it with the Viognier, the whole thing just *clicked* right into place. Flawless simplicity, the crunchiness of the vegetables and the fat of the butter working in harmony with the oiliness of the wine, the fruit flavours balanced perfectly with the greener flavours of the asparagus.

On the subject of Viognier, it's not just Cuilleron who works wonders with this delightful, incredibly aromatic grape variety. Clonakilla makes an amazing Aussie Viognier that is more expensive, and good ol' DA make a much more affordable but just as admirable example. But if it's your birthday, go for 'Les Chaillets' as you will not be disappointed. Though asparagus might seem tough to match with wine, experiment and don't over-complicate your dish. Often it is the foods that are hardest to match that give the greatest satisfaction when a plan comes together.