Cauliflower

Assuming cauliflower as the centre of the plate, roasted or charred whole or in steaks, rather than boiled as a side.

Cauliflower carries the sulphur compounds of its family, which most wines exaggerate into something faintly bitter and eggy, and it has a bitterness of its own that any tannin will stack on and amplify. Roasting changes the terms: the browning brings nuttiness and sweetness that a wine can meet head on. So the answer is bubbles or oxidative depth to carry the sulphur away, no tannin at all, and a nutty register to mirror the roast.

Pairs Perfectly

Cremant d'Alsace, France. Pairs Perfectly. Made by the same method as Champagne from Pinot Blanc, so it is rounder and gentler than the Burgundy version, which suits the butter and the char. The carbonation physically disperses the sulphur that makes brassicas awkward with wine, and the lees character meets the roasted nuttiness without a trace of tannin to catch on the bitterness.

Pairs Well

Fiano, Campania, Italy. Pairs Well. Hazelnut and honey over a firm mineral line: the nuttiest white in southern Italy, and roasted cauliflower is a nutty dish pretending to be a vegetable.

Amontillado Sherry, Jerez, Spain. Pairs Well. Aged first under flor and then in air, which is precisely the oxidative character that resolves sulphur, with a dry hazelnut depth that matches a charred head of cauliflower better than any fresh white.

Worth Seeking Out

Greco di Tufo, Campania, Italy. Grown on volcanic tufa, firm and citrus-driven with real substance behind it. It has the weight to sit with a whole roasted cauliflower where a lighter white would be pushed aside.

Avoid

Any red with meaningful tannin. The bitterness of the vegetable and the astringency of the wine stack on each other and both turn harsh.

Failing That

A Muscadet, Loire, France.

If All Else Fails

Unoaked Chardonnay, Chablis.

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