Asparagus is the delectable harbinger of Spring. With a short season of six to eight weeks between April and June, the tender stalks flood the markets. Less prolific is green asparagus’s chubbier ghostly twin, white asparagus, which in Germany and Peru is more beloved and celebrated. White asparagus is pricier than its green sibling because of how it’s grown, and both white and green asparagus notoriously clash with most wine. We reached out to Erin Henderson, Founder and Chief Sommelier of The Wine Sisters, for her recommendations on the best wines to drink with asparagus. “People freak out about pairing wine with asparagus because the vegetable has a compound,” she told us, “which is also what makes your pee smell a little funky, that clashes with wine.” That compound, asparagusic acid, which our bodies have trouble metabolizing, exudes a sulfurous smell and affects our taste buds.
“Asparagus on its own makes a wine taste metallic, overly bitter, or tart,” Henderson said. White asparagus is the same as green asparagus, except that it’s been grown either in total darkness or buried in mounds of dirt. Without sunlight, white asparagus doesn’t develop chlorophyll, so, as Henderson explained, “it lacks the herbal, grassy aspect of green. It’s milder, maybe slightly sweeter, and generally earthier.” For this reason, she recommends a Grüner Veltliner, which is produced in about one-third of all vineyards in Austria, and has a crisp, citrusy flavor with herbal tones that work harmoniously in balancing asparagus’s earthiness.
The best wines for asparagus recipes
As Henderson notes, we rarely, if ever, chomp down on a raw asparagus spear, and when cooked, it’s often draped with Hollandaise sauce. “At its most basic, simply steamed asparagus with a bit of lemon and butter, we want to acknowledge the creamy, sweet butter and the tart lemon in addition to the green note of the vegetable,” Henderson told us. For such a preparation, she recommends a high-acid white wine with some citrus that cuts through the richness of the butter and also echoes the lemon in the sauce. According to Henderson, the best wines to pair with asparagus are Soave and Vermentino from Italy, Assyrtiko from Greece, and Verdejo from Spain.
Soave is one of Italy’s most famous white wines with its crisp fruit-forward flavor, and Vermentino, grown throughout Italy, in regions including Sardinia and Corsica, is affected by its terroir and can be redolent of apples, pears, lime, and almonds. You may be familiar with retsina, Greece’s pine-flavored wine, but there are other Greek wines, such as Assyrtiko, which is grown mostly on the volcanic island of Santorini, and shares some of sauvignon blanc’s attributes. Another white wine compared with sauvignon blanc is Henderson’s last suggestion, Verdejo, a lovely light wine with essences of Meyer lemon, grass, and fennel.
When it’s asparagus season, grab a bunch of green stalks — or at a farmer’s market, the white variety — and try pairing asparagus recipes with Henderson’s expert recommendations. You’ll enjoy asparagus as you’ve never done before.
