I am currently looking for some new wine racks, matter of some importance as you can imagine! How you store your wine is most important. Like any consumable item, if it isn’t kept properly, it won’t be at it’s best when you come to drink it. Whilst screw caps are becoming more popular, most wine is still closed with corks and they need to be kept damp if the wine is to preserved. This means you need to store it on it’s side, and what better place than an elegant wine rack. To my mind it adds to the pleasure of wine drinking. Choosing a WIne rack is ot just a matter of space, but also of practicality, style, function and price.

I was pleasantly surprised when I came across the site for Just Wine Racks - they have an excellent selection but also a very good page on the factors you should bear in mind when choosing your wine rack. The range and variety that they have on offer is such that you will find something to suit you, whatever your needs. Needless to say I shall be spending some time enjoying browsing through the selection before making my choice.

It is often hard to find the right types of wine to go with foods that have a short season. You have no sooner tried a couple than the season is over before you have really had time to experiment. One of my favourite foods falls into this category. I love English Asparagus, especially that which comes from the Vale Of Evesham. It’s not that pale wishy washy blanched variety that you see around, but a rich bright green, with a subtle and delicate flavour that could easily be overpowered by many wines.

There is a wonderful book, A Passion For Asparagus, by Chris Sheehan which gives some guidance – along with more information about Asparagus than you would have thought possible! He suggests a crisp, dry Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio which will cope well with the flavours of the Asparagus. I have to agree with his comments that anything oaked would be disastrous, and I certainly wouldn’t risk a Chardonnay – it would overpower the Asparagus completely. My own favourite choice would be a Pouilly Fume. The gunflint nose and mineral notes in the wine would enhance the flavour of the luscious ‘Gras’ as it is known in the Vale. I do have to confess to a slight prejudice – it is probably my favourite white wine, and the fact that it goes so well with one of my favourite foods is an added bonus. A word of warning though, if you are putting a rich sauce with the Asparagus, choose a wine that goes with that, for example a Hollandaise Sauce would almost curdle in your mouth with Pouilly Fume, but a good Sancerre from the other side of the Loire would match well.

Chris’s book can be obtained by clicking here if you also have A Passion For Asparagus.