Pairing Principes: Wines to Serve with Vegetables

Importer Terry Theise has a simple rule for pairing wines with foods: the wine should serve the food. He offers these ideas for choosing wines to go with vegetables.

• Select wines with mineral flavors. They naturally complement vegetables, which, after all, grow in soil. Grüner Veltliner is probably the best example.
• Avoid wines with too much oak, such as heavy Chardonnays. Vegetables hate the foreign, obtrusive taste.
• Match flavors. Sweetish wines, such as German Riesling Spätleses, go well with carrots, squash and pumpkins. Dry, snappy whites—Sancerres, for instance—can stand up to zucchini, green beans and asparagus. Low-acid red wines, like light Pinot Noirs, taste great with tomatoes.

Published October 1998