Gnocchi

Gnocchi

Assuming potato gnocchi dressed in butter and sage, with grated cheese.

Gnocchi is soft, starchy and mild, and its real risk is that the whole plate turns into stodge. The wine has to bring lift and perfume that the dish does not have, and enough acidity to carry the butter. The cheese adds a savoury depth that makes tannin taste hard, so this is white wine territory or nothing.

Pairs Perfectly. Malagousia, Imathia, Greece. A grape rescued from near extinction in the 1970s and now northern Greece's finest white: peach and orange blossom with a green herb edge, carried on real acidity. The perfume is what a soft, mild plate is missing, and the acid line keeps the butter moving.

Pairs Well. An Austrian Grüner Veltliner in its medium weight, more aromatic style, a Kamptal expression. White pepper and green herb over green apple, with the body to sit under butter. The peppery note runs straight into the sage.

Pairs Well. Pinot Blanc, Alsace, France. Gentle, softly appley and quietly food friendly, and inexpensive almost everywhere. It flatters simple cooking rather than competing with it.

Worth Seeking Out

Trollinger from Alto Adige, Italy. A pale, light red with barely any tannin, drunk cold in the Alps with exactly this sort of food. Strawberry and almond over a fresh line, and it shows that a red can work here if it is light enough.

Avoid

Oaked whites and tannic reds. A barrel buries sage completely, and tannin turns hard against grated cheese.

Failing That

A Gavi, Piedmont, Italy.

If All Else Fails

Unoaked Chardonnay, southern France.

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