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Birthday, anniversary or passing an exam - typical occasions to celebrate a special moment with a glass of sparkling wine. However, sparkling wine has much more potential than just being a toast. It is also an excellent accompaniment to food and can even accompany complete menus.

At Christmas, I created three menus with German sparkling wines. With several gourmet holidays coming up, I popped the corks again, cooked, baked and tasted. For Easter and Mother's Day, I chose brunch recipes - perfect to start the day with pleasure. Whether meat, fish or vegetarian, with these recipe ideas you can spoil yourself and your loved ones - with matching sparkling wine recommendations. And to really enjoy stress-free: Everything is easy to prepare in advance, so there is little effort on the day of hosting.

The sparkling wines come exclusively from Germany and are all traditionally bottle-fermented. The wide range of grape varieties and the variety of flavours offer countless possibilities for harmonious combinations with food.

Perhaps you can find one or two producers or well-stocked retailers in your area or order a selection via the internet. The winemakers are sure to have recipe suggestions at the ready if you are looking for more ideas. Being brave is especially worthwhile here: taste surprises are guaranteed.

Dry is not dry - important when combining with food

It is still not generally known that the flavour designations for sparkling wine are regulated differently by law than for wine. Sparkling wine labelled "dry" is considerably sweeter than wine declared dry. If you want to combine sparkling wine harmoniously with food, you should keep this in mind. The flavour designations for German sparkling wine and the corresponding degrees of sweetness can be found in the following table.

Flavour designation Sugar/litre
brut nature 0-3 g/l
extra brut 0-6 g/l
brut 0-12 g/l
extra dry 12-17 g/l
dry 17-32 g/l
medium dry 32-50 g/l
mild over 50 g/l
Photo: Britta Binzer

Cream cheese flowers

Ingredients for approx. 35 pieces:

  • 1 roll of puff pastry from the chiller cabinet
  • a little milk, to coat
  • sesame seeds
  • 200 g cream cheese
  • 50 g sour cream
  • 1/2 clove garlic, finely chopped
  • 70 g dates, pitted, chopped
  • 2 tsp curry
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • salt, pepper

Preparation:

  • Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius convection oven.
  • Cut out flowers or circles about 4 cm in diameter from the puff pastry. Place on baking trays lined with baking paper, brush the pastry with milk and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
  • Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until the puff pastry is golden brown. Leave to cool.
  • Puree/mix cream cheese, sour cream, garlic and dates. Then season with curry, cumin, salt and pepper.
  • Spread one half of each puff pastry flower with the cheese mixture and place the lid on top.

Sparkling wine recommendations:

Sparkling wine producer Bardong, Rheingau

Wein- und Sektgut Barth , Rheingau

Bibo Runge Winery , Rheingau

Sparkling wineproducer Dirk Kessler , Mosel

Espenhof Winery, Rheinhessen

Winery Fürst Hohenlohe Oehringen, Wurttemberg

  • 2016 Winzersekt Riesling sparkling wine brut, 15 euros
  • 2016 Winzersekt Pinot extrabrut, 16 Euro

Griesel & Compagnie , Hessian Bergstrasse

Winery Münzberg Gunter Kessler , Palatinate

Sekthaus Raumland , Rheinhessen

Sektkellerei Reinecker , Baden

Simon Brothers Winery , Mosel

Wilhelmshof , Palatinate

Photo: Britta Binzer

Goat's cheese and carrot quiche (For 1 26 cm diameter dish)

Ingredients for the pastry:

  • 120 g cold butter, diced
  • 240 g flour
  • 7 g salt
  • 60 g cold water

Ingredients for the filling:

  • 300 g carrots, finely diced
  • Olive oil
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1/2 clove garlic, finely chopped
  • 4 sprigs thyme, leaves finely chopped
  • 3 eggs
  • 200 g cream
  • 150 g fresh goat's cheese
  • 60 g goat's cheese (Crottin de chèvre), sliced
  • 1 handful sunflower seeds
  • Salt, pepper

Preparation:

  • Make a shortcrust pastry from the pastry ingredients and leave to rest in the fridge for about 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 175°C convection or 190°C top/bottom heat.
  • Roll out the pastry and place in a quiche dish, prick several times with a fork and bake blind for about 20 minutes.
  • Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil until translucent, then add carrots and thyme, saute for another 10 minutes. Leave to cool.
  • Whisk eggs with cream and goat's cream cheese, salt and pepper. Mix with the vegetables. Fill everything into the pre-baked pastry dish, sprinkle with sunflower seeds and top with goat cheese slices.
  • Bake at 175 degrees convection for about 25 to 30 minutes.

Sparkling wine recommendations:

Sektmanufaktur Bardong, Rheingau.

Winery Bibo Runge , Rheingau

Sparkling wineproducer Dirk Kessler , Mosel

Espenhof Winery , Rheinhessen

Winery Fürst Hohenlohe Oehringen, Württemberg

  • 2016 Winzersekt Pinot extrabrut, 16 Euro

Winery Gebrüder Simon , Mosel

Sekthaus Raumland , Rheinhessen

Sektkellerei Reinecker, Baden

Winery Stigler , Baden

Wilhelmshof , Palatinate

Photo: Britta Binzer

Egg salad with prawns and avocado

Ingredients:

  • 2 tbsp yoghurt
  • 3 tbsp crème fraîche
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp grated organic lemon
  • 2 tsp honey mustard
  • Pepper and salt
  • 1 tsp candied ginger, finely chopped
  • 1 avocado, cut into cubes
  • 4 eggs, sliced
  • 100 g prawns, cooked

Preparation:

  • Make a sauce with yoghurt, crème fraîche, lemon juice, lemon zest, mustard, salt and pepper.
  • Carefully fold in the avocado, eggs and prawns, diced ginger.
  • Leave to stand in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Sparkling wine recommendations:

Bibo Runge Winery, Rheingau

Sparkling wine producer Dirk Kessler, Moselle

Espenhof Winery, Rhinehessen

Simon Brothers WineryMoselle

Winery Münzberg Gunter Kessler, Palatinate

Sparkling wine producer Reinecker, Baden

Wilhelmshof, Palatinate

Photo: Britta Binzer

Smoked fillet with sesame dressing

Ingredients:

  • 1 large pork tenderloin (approx. 600-800 g).
  • Salt, pepper
  • Beech chips
  • 5 tbsp. soy sauce
  • 5 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 2 tsp sesame oil
  • 8 tbsp orange juice
  • 1 tbsp sesame seeds
  • Cress

Preparation:

  • Remove the fat, sinew and silver skin from the fillet, rub generously with salt and pepper and leave to rest overnight in the fridge, covered.
  • Smoke the fillet in a pot or on the grill with beech shavings for about 20 minutes (depending on the thickness of the piece of meat).
  • Then sear on all sides, remove and leave wrapped in the fridge to rest for 2-3 hours. Mix the dressing from soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, sesame oil, orange juice and sesame seeds.
  • Finely slice the fillet, coat with the sesame dressing and finally sprinkle with cress.

Sparkling wine recommendations:

Sektmanufaktur Bardong, Rheingau

Wein- und Sektgut Barth, Rheingau

Winery Bibo Runge, Rheingau

Sparkling wine producer Dirk KesslerMoselle

Espenhof Winery, Rhinehessen

Simon Brothers Winery, Moselle

Winery Münzberg Gunter Kessler, Palatinate

Raumland Champagne House, Rhinehesse

Reinecker Sparkling Wine Cellars, Baden

Winery Stigler, Baden

Wilhelmshof , Palatinate

Photo: Britta Binzer

Terrine with salmon and tuna Variation 1 Ingredients for 1 terrine mould à 750 ml

Ingredients:

  • 125 g streaky salmon
  • 4 tbsp whipped cream
  • 1 tsp honey mustard
  • 200 g canned tuna
  • 5 tbsp whipped cream
  • Chives, finely chopped
  • Pepper and salt
  • 200 ml whipped cream
  • 6 sheets gelatine

Preparation:

  • Line a terrine mould with cling film.
  • Finely purée the salmon with 4 tbsp cream and 1 tsp honey mustard, season with salt and pepper.
  • Puree the tuna with 5 tbsp. cream, pepper, salt and mix with the chives.
  • Whip the cream until stiff.
  • Mix the salmon mixture with 2 sheets of dissolved gelatine, mix the tuna mixture with 4 sheets of gelatine.
  • Fold the cream 1/3 to 2/3 into the salmon and tuna mixture.
  • Fill the prepared tureen dish with the salmon cream first, then smooth it out.
  • Spread the tuna mixture on top and spread evenly.
  • Cover and chill overnight.
  • Turn out and cut into thin slices before serving.

Smoked fish terrine Variation 2 Ingredients for 1 terrine mould à 750 ml

Ingredients:

  • 1st layer
  • 2 tbsp. whipped cream
  • 1 tsp honey mustard
  • 1 tsp lime juice
  • 2nd layer
  • 1 avocado
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp crème fraîche
  • 3rd layer
  • 125 g smoked trout fillet
  • 2 tbsp whipped cream
  • 3 tbsp dill, chopped
  • 1 tsp gin
  • 200 ml cream
  • 6 sheets gelatine
  • Salt and pepper

Preparation:

  • Puree the salmon and trout fillets separately with 2 tbsp cream each. Season with salt and pepper. Mix the salmon mixture with honey mustard and lime juice. Mix the trout mixture with the gin and dill.
  • Halve the avocado and remove the stone. Lift the flesh out of the skin, sprinkle with lemon juice to prevent it from discolouring. Mix with 1 tbsp. crème fraîche, season with salt and pepper.
  • Whip the cream until stiff. Stir 2 leaves of dissolved gelatine into each of the 3 prepared masses, fold half of the cream (except for 2 tbsp) into the salmon and half into the trout cream.
  • Fold the remaining 2 tbsp. cream into the avocado cream.
  • Line the tureen dish with cling film. First fill in the salmon cream and smooth it down. Then spread the avocado cream on top. Finally, spread the trout cream evenly. Put the lid on and refrigerate overnight.
  • Turn out and slice before serving.

Sparkling wine recommendations:

Sektmanufaktur Bardong, Rheingau

Wein- und Sektgut Barth , Rheingau

Bibo Runge Winery, Rheingau

  • PROVOKATEUR brut 2014, 14.50 euros

Sparkling wine producer Dirk KesslerMoselle

Espenhof Winery , Rheinhessen

Simon Brothers Winery, Moselle

Griesel & Compagnie, Hess. Bergstrasse

Winery Fürst Hohenlohe Oehringen, Württemberg

Winery Münzberg Gunter KesslerPalatinate

Sektkellerei Reinecker , Baden

Winery Stigler, Baden

Wilhelmshof , Palatinate

The prices listed are each for 0.75 litres, as of April 2019, ex farm, excluding shipping costs.

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