Entertain this weekend with first fall soup, fume blanc

When the wine is fully chilled, you’ll find more lime zest than orange, grapefruit or lemon, but as it warms, these other flavors begin to blossom, bringing other elements — kiwi, freshly mown grass and guava — along for the ride. Acid is bright, pretty and snappy.

Add these qualities to the wine’s price and you have an extremely attractive sauvignon blanc — fume blanc is sauvig-non blanc and this wine has no other varietals blended in — that you can enjoy almost any time.

When it comes to pairings, the wine is ideal with oysters on the half shell, especially when they are topped with nothing more than a squeeze

of lemon or a bright mignonette. If you enjoy raw oysters, you should keep this wine around.

Dishes that feature green olives, green chiles, green beans and zucchini will blossom with this wine, especially when these foods dominate a dish. Add a bit of lemon or lime juice and the match will be even better. One of my favorite salads, roasted chicken with cracked green olives and good local olive oil, is a wonderful partner.

Today’s pairing is the result, in part, of happy coincidence. As I sipped the wine, I realized I had the soup on hand and so tried the two together. The only disappointment was that I didn’t have more of the soup.

The soup is in the same realm as soups such as vichyssoise and potato leek, yet with layers of bright green flavors that engage the wine beautifully. I prefer it chilled, which highlights the wine’s refreshing qualities. But both the soup and the pairing are quite good when the soup is heated, so it is really just a matter of what you prefer.

Green Chile Soup

Makes 4 to 6 servings

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 yellow onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

— Kosher salt

2 russet potatoes, peeled and diced (about 3½ cups)

4 cups chicken broth or stock

1 teaspoon dried oregano

8 to 10 large poblanos, roasted, peeled, seeded and diced (about 1½ cups)

1 or 2 serranos, roasted, peeled, seeded and diced

— Black pepper in a mill

6 ounces Monterey jack cheese, grated

½ cup creme fraiche

1 lime

4 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro

Put the olive oil in a medium soup pot set over medium heat, add the onion and saute until soft and fragrant, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and saute 2 minutes more. Season with salt and add the potatoes. Pour in the stock, add the oregano and simmer gently until the potatoes are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the poblanos and serranos and simmer 5 minutes more.

Use an immersion blender to puree the soup; if you do not have one, pass the soup through a food mill or press through a strainer.

Return the soup to the heat, taste, correct for salt and season with black pepper. Stir in the cheese and remove from the heat.

For chilled soup, let cool for 15 minutes or so and then refrigerate, covered, for at least three hours.

Put the creme fraiche into a bowl and stir to loosen it. Cut the lime in half and squeeze the juice of one half into the creme fraiche. Season with salt, add half the cilantro and stir. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Cut the remaining half lime into wedges.

To serve either hot or chilled, ladle into soup plates and top each portion with a generous dollop of the creme fraiche. Serve immediately with lime wedges alongside.

Michele Anna Jordan hosts “Mouthful” each Sunday at 7 p.m. on KRCB 90.9 and 91.1 FM. E-mail Jordan at michele@

micheleannajordan.com.