ASPARAGUS is an odd veg, isn't it? I love the locally grown stuff, steamed and buttered and dusted with coarse ground black pepper: I could carry on eating it all night! Which is far more than can be said for other vegetables.

Now, I like spring greens, kale, spinach and sprouts, for instance, but do I want to eat a plateful of any of those on their own? I do not. And would I consider and recommend three bottles of wine to accompany a pile of steamed spring greens? I do not think that I would.

But asparagus? Well that's a different matter and since it will be in season very soon, here are three wines that will work well as an accompaniment.

On offer at Waitrose until Tuesday is Le Stelle Vermentino 2013, from the east coast of Sardinia. This is a really fresh and clean-tasting white, suggesting flavours of crisp green apple and lemon. It is pleasingly dry with some minerality too.

You could pick an English wine to accompany English asparagus. Head to Sussex and Davenport Vineyards Horsmonden Dry White 2013, which won the gong for best Organic Alcoholic Drink, in the Soil Association Organic Awards last year.

It is a skilfully crafted drop made from a blend of hardy grapes, including bacchus, faber, huxelrebe, ortega and siegerrebe . It is as crisp as a frosty morning, with flavours of elderflower, lemon and honey with pronounced mineral notes.

Or try a crisp and bone-dry, single-vineyard sauvignon from the relatively cool Casablanca Valley in Chile, Concha y Toro Terrunyo Los Boldos Block 5 Sauvignon Blanc 2012. Sauvignon is a classic match with asparagus and this one has the typical gooseberry flavours you might expect, with citrus, white pepper and some distinct mineral notes.


• Le Stelle Vermentino di Sardegna 2013, £6.69 down from £8.99 at Waitrose 17/20

• Davenport Vineyards Horsmonden Dry White 2013, £12.45 from davenportvineyards.co.uk and Vintage Roots 18/20 

• Concha y Toro Terrunyo Los Boldos Block 5 Sauvignon Blanc 2012, £13.95 from Slurp.co.uk 17/20