All of Holland eats white asparagus. But with which Dutch wine?

You drink the traditional white asparagus dish with white wine. Every lover knows that. But which white wine? To our great surprise, the internet does not provide a clear answer. One connoisseur thinks that a Chardonnay without oak goes excellently with asparagus. Another connoisseur swears by Sauvignon Blanc. Yet another connoisseur knows exactly: a Piedmont DOCG Roero-Arneis complements asparagus perfectly.
Text: Ilse Swank | Image: Pexels and Ilse Swank

You drink the traditional white asparagus dish with white wine. Every beer drinker knows that. But which white wine? To our great surprise, the internet gives no clear answer. One connoisseur thinks that a Chardonnay without oak goes excellently with asparagus. Another connoisseur swears by Sauvignon Blanc. Yet another connoisseur knows exactly: a Piedmont DOCG Roero-Arneis complements asparagus perfectly.

Remarkably, no wine connoisseur mentions a Dutch wine. We think then: connoisseurs don't know it. After all, the Netherlands offers a wide palette of excellent white wines with different flavours: with and without wood, low and high in acidity, fruity and mineral, bold and slim, and so on and so forth. However, in general, Dutch wines characterise themselves with qualities that form a perfect marriage with traditional asparagus dishes.

Marrying off a Dutch wine to the traditional asparagus dish naturally requires great care. We entrusted this challenge to the chefs and sommeliers of thirteen award-winning restaurants in Utrecht. The names of the restaurants are listed at the bottom of this article. All (!) twelve were immediately enthusiastic. Chefs and sommeliers felt that the traditional asparagus dish deserves a full-fledged Dutch partner.

Dutch winemakers also fell in love with the idea of pairing a Dutch wine with white asparagus. They reacted enthusiastically to the idea and were eager to participate! They chose the wines they think go best with asparagus and sent them to us. Some houses even sent 2 varieties. Naturally, only outstanding wineries are allowed to compete. All wines come from wineries that mostly win medals. The blind tasting is therefore not to find the best wine but to find the best wine with asparagus!

The wines were tested by sommeliers and chefs at the end of January. According to a recent survey, chefs experience the highest workload in the job market. Against this background, their enthusiasm for our initiative is surprising. The sommeliers have been invited to a venue where everyone will have the opportunity to taste the wines blind.

This will give chefs and sommeliers time to assess which Dutch wine goes best with the traditional asparagus dish. In February, all of the Netherlands, and perhaps beyond, will know which Dutch wine raises asparagus to heavenly heights.

Restaurants participating (all in Utrecht):

C'est ça
Concours
Goesting
Heaven and earth
Koenraad
Charles V
Le Jardin
Stadsjochies
Terroir
Water tower
Wilhelmina Park
Shimmer

Winemakers participating:

On the Breede Beek (Nijkerk)

Betuws Wijndomein (Erichem)

Dassemus (Chaam)

Heerenhuys (Noorbeek) 

Hesselink (Winterswijk Henxel)

Hof van Twente (Bentelo)

Hoog Beek & Royen (Zeist)

Kleine Schorre (Dreischor)

Oerlegoed (Montferland)

St Catherine's domain (Oosterhout)

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