Jancis Robinson

Some wine-unfriendly foods

Appears in
Oxford Companion to Wine
Oxford Companion to Wine

By Jancis Robinson

Published 2006

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Globe artichokes and asparagus: A significant proportion of the population are sensitive to a substance in artichokes which has been dubbed ‘cynarin’ and which has the effect on them of making water taste sweet, and making wine taste metallic. McGee reports the evidence for this. A similar effect has been observed with fresh asparagus.

Some forms of chocolate are not only so sweet that it is difficult to find a wine sweeter than they are, they also coat the inside of the mouth. In this case a very strong, very sweet wine will overcome these disadvantages; lively young port, px, Australian topaque and muscat, and the sweetest vins doux naturels, seem to manage.