Just when you thought you’d forgotten about crisp, zingy white wines, the crocuses start popping and your taste in vino begins to shift. After dodging this week’s nor’easter-that-wasn’t and with the first day of spring popping up mighty like a daffodil on Monday, quenchable, clean white wines are a happy harbinger of the season on the near horizon.
Still, we’re in that transition period, so finding a white that does double duty as a refreshing counterpoint to a sturdy chilly spring meal is a nice compromise.
In this week’s Cook This Now column, we talked chicken pot pie with Buckley’s Inn Between owner, Mark Shortall. If you wanted, you could even sub the chicken for sautéed scallops, meaty cod or (naturally!) lobster. The bright, citrusy nature of Lieb Cellar‘s pinot blanc is a great fit for this early spring supper idea.
It smells of freesia and lime zest, and has an electric, sit-up-straight acidity that cuts right through the creamy, thick pot-pie gravy like the sharpest of knives. And that slightly bitter pith note on the finish? It’s such cool complement to the sweet carrots and peas proliferating the pie’s core.
Chicken works perfectly great with it, but the seafood sub makes the minerality and, as the folks at Lieb like to dub it, splash of seaspray, really sing, so go right ahead and riff.
It’s also just a super easy-drinking white. In addition to the general thirst-quenching nature, it clocks in a lo-fi 11.9 percent alcohol, so reaching for that second glass is an easy decision.
Grab a bottle at Montauk Wines & Liquors (29 The Plaza, Montauk, 631-668-5454) and find a friend to split it with (over pot pie, of course).
