Green beans and their longer, thinner French cousin known as French beans or haricot verts are in peak season in California right now. The best quality beans are carefully harvested by hand and can be found at your local farmers' market. These versatile and healthy legumes are delicious cooked and served warm or cold, fresh or seasoned. You can prepare them simply, cooked and served chilled in a salad, or piping hot with a little lemon and garlic (also in season!). They can be braised, added to stews and soups, or--my favorite--hot-and-spicy Szechuan-style with ginger and hot chilis.
Many factors contribute to which wines will best complement your meal. Austria's most popular white variety, Gruner Veltliner, is an excellent option for green bean salads and basic sides served with fish, poultry and white meats. This varietal has an inherent green fruit quality to its aromatics and complements green vegetables very nicely. It is crisp like Sauvignon Blanc but has the body of Chardonnay, making it a balanced and refreshing that will match a broad ranch of foods. Look for a classic Gruner in a liter-sized container, like the Berger Gruner Veltliner ($15.99). Many of these tasty values are either bottled with a stelvin closure (screwcap) or in this case, the ultra-easy, picnic-ready bottle cap!
Green beans make a healthy addition (or alternative to) french fries or potatoes served with red meat, in which case a red wine would be perfectly appropriate. For a simple steak with haricot verts, I recommend old school Bordeaux, or, for something lighter, a nice Cabernet Franc from the Loire Valley.
When you're amping up the flavor and heat with an Asian-style recipe, an aromatic white with body and a richness balanced by acidity (a little sweetness is ok!) is my preference. You can go Riesling, Pinot Gris, or Gewurztraminer...or why not all three and then some? Brand new to Mission Wines is this enchanting white from the miniscule French appellation Moselle, which neighbors Alsace, Chateau De Vaux "Les Gryphees" Moselle Blanc. A blend of 30% Auxerrois, 30% Muller Thurgau (a crossing of Riesling and
Chasselas), 30% Tokay Pinot Gris and 10% Gewurztraminer, this lovely white offers an intoxicating floral nose, succulent peach and tropical fruit flavors, but finishes clean and dry. It's the perfect white for the spicier flavors of summer.
-Chiara Shannon
In stock now:
"Norbert Molozay is a true pioneer in French winemaking who has nearly
single-handedly resuscitated France’s most northerly appellation,
Moselle. This tiny VDQS (just 100 acres) is tucked up in the northeast
corner of France, just over the Vosges Mountains from Alsace, near the
Luxembourg border. Although an important wine region up to the
mid-nineteenth century, phylloxera, industrialization and two world wars
brought near obliteration of viticulture around Metz, in Lorraine,
whose production was sold to make champagne until 1910, when the A.O.C.
Champagne was created...Les Gryphées shows notes of peaches and white flowers on the nose,
followed through the palate with ripe fruit which is both rich, delicate
and complex, revealing peaches and banana. Molozay suggests pairing
this delightful wine with tagliatelle and mussels, sea scallops or a
roasted free-range chicken with lemongrass. Indeed the Germanic
resonances of this cuvée marry extremely well with exotic seasonings."
(Importer)
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