Pairing: Rich pasta dish with chardonnay

When you have a wine like Gundlach Bundschu 2013 Sonoma Coast Estate Vineyards Chardonnay ($27), our Wine of the Week, the challenge is to pair it with foods that won’t be eclipsed by its assertive character. Delicate flavors will be trumped by the wine’s powerful swirl of aromas and flavors and plush, lush texture.

Aromas suggest sweet stone fruit, especially apricots and yellow peaches, joining, pear, citrus flowers, honeysuckle and jasmine in a heady perfume. There’s a bit of caramelization, brown butter and baked apple as well.

On the palate, a creamy, slightly toasty foundation buoys more apricot, more pear and more sweet apple, along with honey and dark caramel.

A wine with these qualities could easily teeter into flabbiness, yet this classic California chardonnay avoids that pitfall. Without malolactic fermentation, there is enough acidity to keep the wine refreshing, with cool notes of sea mist, oyster shell and delicate fleur de sel balancing all that sweet fruit.

The wine wants a rich mate on the table. In cool weather, think butternut squash risotto, roasted cauliflower, coconut-based soups, corn chowder, or polenta soufflé with creamy rock shrimp and mussels in a gingery sauce. It will be flattered by wild Pacific King salmon and is perhaps the best accompaniment ever to a classic lobster roll. When summer tomatoes are in season, myriad possibilities open up.

In mid-spring, fresh favas and English peas, especially when paired with short-grain rice in a soup or risotto, make a great match, as do zucchini fritters, carrot fritters with honey mustard and pork tenderloin with grilled apricots.

For today’s recipe, I’m inspired by how cool most of May was and by the delicious English peas at our farmers markets. Although the traditional version of this classic pasta calls for fettuccine, I prefer the broader pappardelle.

Pappardelle Alfredo with Prosciutto and Peas

Serves 3 to 4

- Kosher salt

12 ounces dried pappardelle or fettuccine

4-5 thin prosciutto slices

2 tablespoons butter

1 small shallot, minced

1 cup heavy cream

- Black pepper in a mill

2 ounces (½ cup) Weirauch Farm Saint Rose or similar cheese, in small pieces

½ cup fresh shelled English peas, blanched for 90 seconds (see Note below)

Fill a large pot two-thirds full with water, add a generous tablespoon of salt and bring to a boil over high heat. When the water boils, add the pasta and stir until the water returns to a boil. Cook according to package directions until just tender. Drain but do not rinse, and tip into a bowl.

While waiting for the water to boil, cut the prosciutto into ¼-inch crosswise slices and set it aside.

Put the butter into a small saucepan set over medium heat, add the shallots and cook gently until soft and fragrant, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the cream and simmer until it thickens slightly. Season with several generous turns of black pepper, stir in the cheese and peas and remove from the heat. Fold in the prosciutto, taste and correct for salt.

Pour the sauce over the pasta, use two forks to gently lift the noodles several times until they are evenly coated with sauce. Divide among individual soup plates and serve right away.

Note: If you don’t have English peas, use fresh favas, blanched and peeled, instead.

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