Tenderstem broccoli, flavouring profile

Tenderstem broccoli, flavouring profile

Broccoli is green, faintly bitter and sulphurous, and it is often charred and dressed with chilli, garlic or almonds, so the wine needs freshness first and a little texture second.

The compounds that matter. The sulphur compounds of the cabbage family, which give broccoli its bite and clash with a wine that smells of struck matches. A gentle bitterness, which tannin makes harsher. Where the stems are charred, a smoky, toasted edge, and where they are finished with chilli or toasted almonds, heat or nuttiness to meet.

What it demands of a wine. High acidity, a green or citrus register and no tannin. Light to medium body, a touch fuller for charred stems. Low alcohol if chilli is involved.

Seek. Macabeo from Rioja, unoaked, lemony and faintly herbal. Fiano from Campania, with hazelnut and a little texture, for broccoli with toasted almonds or brown butter. Kerner from Alto Adige, off dry and sharp, where chilli is in the dressing. Albariño from California, saline and citrus bright.

Avoid

Tannic reds, which turn bitter against the cabbage family. Reductive whites with a smoky, struck match smell, which compound the sulphur. High alcohol wines where chilli is in the dressing.

Three to reach for. Macabeo, Rioja, Spain. Fiano, Campania, Italy. Off dry Kerner, Alto Adige, Italy.