Lemon posset

Lemon posset

Assuming a set cream of lemon, sugar and double cream, served with shortbread.

Lemon posset is sharp, sweet and rich at once, so the wine must be at least as sweet as the pudding and carry high acidity to match the lemon. A wine less sweet or less acidic tastes thin and sour beside it.

Pairs Perfectly. Riesling Auslese, Mosel, Germany, sweet. Lemon, peach and honey over a streak of acidity as sharp as the posset itself, with the sweetness to meet the sugar and the freshness to lift the cream.

Pairs Well. Late harvest Riesling, Marlborough, New Zealand, sweet. Lime and apricot with bright acidity, a little lighter than the Mosel and very good with citrus puddings.

Pairs Well. Moscato d'Asti, Piedmont, Italy. Gently sweet and lightly sparkling, with orange blossom and grape, low in alcohol and an everyday bottle that keeps a rich pudding feeling light.

Worth Seeking Out

Jurançon moelleux from southwest France. Made from Petit Manseng, sweet but piercingly fresh, with pineapple, quince and citrus peel that echo the lemon.

Avoid

Dry wines and heavy, low acid sweet wines. Dry wines turn sour against the sugar, and a heavy fortified wine smothers the lemon.

Failing That

A Monbazillac, Bergerac.

If All Else Fails

Asti, Piedmont.

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