[Article] Food & Wine Magazine: “Artichokes, Meet Your Match — A wine expert tackles the most notorious wine-killing vegetable”

From FOOD & WINE, April 2025, page 29

PAIRING POINTERS

Artichokes, Meet Your Match A wine expert tackles the most notorious wine-killing vegetable.

By Anthony Giglio

AMONG WINE NERDS, artichokes get no respect. I can't blame them-the spiky, globelike vegetable is nearly impossible to pair with. Artichokes are packed with a naturally occurring chemical called cynarin that magnifies sweetness. Once it's on your pal-ate, cynarin amplifies the natural sweetness in wines, causing most of them to collapse into flabby, one-dimensional blobs:

Many sommeliers call artichokes their kryptonite. Thankfully; there are superhero wines hiding in plain sight, just waiting to save the day-and the meal. Here are four rules to keep in mind when pairing wine with artichokes.

NO OAK

Oak, by way of barrel fermentation or barrel aging. imparts sweetness to wines, so when oak meets cynarin, the wine falls flat. Choose wines to go with artichokes that are light, crisp, and bone-dry, with high acidity and no oak contact, such as dry Riesling. Pinot Grigio, and Grüner Veltliner.

BUBBLES, ALWAYS

It's said that any effervescence in wine scrubs our palates clean, and this axiom works particularly well with artichokes, so long as the sparkling wine is dry, tart, and minerally. Look for bottles labeled zero-dosage, brut, or sauvage. Bubbly Txakoli from Spain's Basque Country also works well.

RAW? GO FOR SALINITY

When artichoke hearts are served raw or chilled. complement their inherent salinity and earthiness with a wine that possesses both characteristics. A white Carricante from Sicily's Mount Etna is a great choice: so, too, a Savagnin-based Vin Jaune from France's Jura region, or even a fino sherry from Spain.

FRIED? GO RICH

When artichokes are fried, their bitterness transforms into richness, and the cynarin is less aggressive. Meet that fat with slightly richer, fuller-bodied whites, but still nothing that's come in contact with oak. Grüner Veltliners labeled Smaragd and Vermentinos from Italy's Tuscan coast are both good choices.