Pairing: Turbine White with spring asparagus

If our Wine of the Week, Anaba 2013 Sonoma Valley Turbine White ($28), were a character on Downton Abbey, it would be Rose, not during her wild years but after she married her sweetheart. The wine is as bright as her smile, with a nearly unrestrained generosity on the palate. On first sip, aromas and flavors of sweet citrus flood the senses, resolving into bursts of spice, especially anise and clove, herbs, including tarragon, chervil and Thai basil, and a suggestion of lightly buttered toast.

The wine manages to be at once crisp and lush, with plenty of mid-palate minerality. As it warms in the glass, tropical flavors emerge, suggesting fresh lychee, pomelo, unripe kiwi and mangosteen.

Because the wine is a blend of Rhone varietals, it makes sense to look to the region for some of the best pairings. Enjoy it with bouillabaisse, soupe au pistou, pissaladiere, stewed octopus, grilled mussels and that Provençal garlic extravaganza known as Grand Aioli. The wine also works beautifully with some of the vegetables that can be hard to pair successfully, especially asparagus and artichokes.

For today’s recipe I’m suggesting a dish that can either be a main course or a side dish. Seafood lovers can add scallops seared in brown butter or roasted Pacific King salmon. Guinea hen or rabbit braised in white wine, simple roasted chicken and pork tenderloin are also great matches. Vegetarians can add a poached farm egg on top of the asparagus after adding the sauce.

But it’s asparagus season, so you might want to simply make the slender green stalks of spring the centerpiece of the meal. Add peeled and sliced Cara Cara oranges drizzled with good olive oil and seasoned with white pepper and salt alongside and you have a feast.

Oven-Roasted Asparagus with Orange Bearnaise

Serves 2 to 3

1½ pound fresh fat asparagus, tough stems broken off

- Olive oil

- Kosher salt

- Orange Bearnaise, recipe follows

- Orange wedges

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.

Put the asparagus on a baking sheet, drizzle with just a bit of olive oil, toss to coat each spear, season with salt and set on the middle rack of the oven. Cook until the asparagus is tender, from 7 to about 15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the stalks.

While the asparagus cooks, make the sauce.

To serve, divide the asparagus between individual plates, spoon sauce on top, garnish with orange wedges and enjoy right away.

Orange Bearnaise

Makes about 2/3 cup

2 jumbo egg yolks

1 tablespoon Champagne vinegar

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice

- Kosher salt

1 stick unsalted butter, cut into 1-tablespoon slices, chilled

1 teaspoon minced fresh tarragon

- Grated zest of 1 orange

- Pinch of cayenne

Fill the bottom of a double boiler half full with water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat so that the water simmers very slowly.

Put the egg yolks, vinegar and orange juice into the top of a double boiler and season with salt. Set over the simmering water.

Using a sturdy whisk, beat the eggs for about 5 minutes, during which time they should become hot but not too hot or they will form clumps and you will have to discard them and start again.

Gradually, the egg mixture will become thick and creamy and you’ll be able to see the bottom of the saucepan as the whisk moves through the egg yolks.

At this point, begin to add butter, a tablespoon at a time. whisking thoroughly between additions and continuing until you have used all the butter.

Transfer the top of the double boiler to a work surface and fold in the tarragon, zest and cayenne. Use right away.

Email Michele Anna Jordan at catsmilk@sonic.net. You’ll find her blog, “Eat This Now,” at pantry.blogs.pressdemocrat.com.