Got artichokes or other ‘difficult’ food to pair? #WinePW to the rescue!

Spring has sprung! Whether you’re an avid gardener or health-conscious foodie (or both!), spring is the long-awaited season of fresh vegetables. We’re talking peas and asparagus for starters, followed by such earthy treats as beans, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and kale. Yum!

But… all of these veggies have high levels of naturally occurring sulfur (organosulfur), as bon appétit explains. That can spell disaster for food pairing. Too much sulfur in the food may cause the wine to taste flawed.

And what about artichokes? While artichokes don’t have organosulfur compounds, they do have cynarine, a chemical that makes everything taste sweeter than it actually is by inhibiting acidity, bitterness, and saltiness taste receptors.

No need to fret – there are solutions to these and other common pairing dilemmas. One wine that plays well in the veggie sandbox is Sauvignon Blanc, thanks to the sulfur-containing thiols it releases and because it has the same methoxypyrazines found in fresh peas and beans. (Source – Nose Dive: A Field Guide to the World’s Smells by Harold McGee, Penguin Press, 2020.)

Next month, the Wine Pairing Weekend (#winePW) bloggers are exploring “Wine Pairings for Hard to Pair Foods.” Everyone is welcome to join the Twitter chat (see below for details). Should be fun to see what challenges these bloggers are tackling!

Have a blog post you’d like to include?

If you’d like to write on this topic, simply follow these easy instructions:

• Send your title, blog url, and Twitter handle by Tuesday, June 8, to be included in the preview post. Email Linda at lbwhipple@gmail.com, or drop your title and info in the designated thread on the Facebook event page in the #WinePW Coordinating Group. We’ll be posting updates to this event, including chat questions and links to other blogs. Need to join the group? Let me know, and I’ll connect you with the site administrator.
• We ask that blog posts for this event be published either on Friday, June 11, or Saturday, June 12, prior to the chat (see below). Please use the #winePW tag in your title.
• Our live Twitter chat about Wine Pairings for Hard to Pair Foods is set for Saturday, June 12, at 8 am PT/11 am ET. No need to have published a post to join the conversation — just an interest in learning and sharing. Simply tune into the #winePW hashtag during the hour we’re chatting. Hope to see you there!