Poppy seed — flavouring profile

Poppy seed is among the mildest of all spices — a gentle, nutty, faintly creamy seed that turns richer and a little bitter once ground — so the wine usually follows the dish, whether a sweet poppy-seed pastry or a savoury, nutty curry.

The compounds that matter. There is no single loud aroma here; poppy seed's appeal is a nutty, oily creaminess from its high oil content, with a slight bitterness that grinding releases, and a toasty note when baked. The flavour is quiet, so what shapes the pairing is the company it keeps. In Central and Eastern Europe poppy seed is ground with sugar, honey and lemon into cakes, strudel and rolls — sweet. In Bengal it is ground as khus khus into creamy, nutty curries — savoury. As a bread or bagel topping it is barely more than texture. The wine, then, is chosen for the dish around the seed as much as for the seed itself.

What it demands of a wine. For sweet poppy-seed bakes, a wine at least as sweet as the pastry, with a honeyed or nutty note to mirror the filling — a dry wine tastes thin and sour against sugar. For savoury, creamy poppy-seed curries, a nutty, textured high-acid white to meet the richness. Across both, keep tannin low so it does not sharpen the faint bitterness, and oak gentle. Where poppy seed merely tops a loaf, follow whatever it is served with.

Seek. For poppy-seed cake, strudel and pastries, an off-dry to sweet, honeyed white — quince and honey, or apricot and citrus — meets the sweetened, nutty filling. For Bengali posto and creamy curries, a nutty, lightly textured white with bright acid carries the richness. For breads and savoury bakes, a fresh, high-acid white or a dry sparkling is plenty.

Avoid. Bone-dry wines with sweet poppy-seed desserts, which they leave tart and hollow. Firm, tannic reds, which sharpen the seed's slight bitterness. Heavily oaked wines, whose vanilla overwhelms a quiet, nutty flavour.

Three to reach for. Chenin Blanc, off-dry (Vouvray); Late-harvest Riesling; white Rioja (Macabeo).