Sure, the weekend is a prime time to pop open a special bottle of wine. But the middle of the week is a time where you need that bottle of wine to get you through to the weekend. Maybe a more mundane tipple, but one that goes well with simple home cooked food.

This Wednesday we had Thai green curry with chicken and vegetables. Thai cuisine to me means heat, acidity, fragrance, and saltiness. Spice and acid need a sweet-ish wine. Really dry or oaky wines just don’t work here. The tannins found in red wines also clash with the heat. This asks for a white wine with some residual sugar.

I opened a Martin Schaetzel Pinot Gris Grand Cru Eichberg 2012 with this and that was a good match. Most Alsace Pinot Gris has the off-dry, fruity and spicy character that accompanies Thai green curries very well. But a German Riesling Kabinett or Spätlese would equally work well, as does Gewurztraminer even though that pairs even better with Thai red curries with duck.

I picked up the Martin Schaetzel Pinot Gris Grand Cru Eichberg 2012  at a stock clearance for the ridiculous price of £6 per bottle, but it would normally be a bit on the expensive side for a Wednesday Wine. Alsace Pinot Gris is not that easy to source in Northern Ireland but The Light House in Whiteabbey does Cave de Turckheim Reserve Pinot Gris 2015 (£12.99) and KWM Wines & Spirits in Kilkeel stocks Pinot Gris Sables et Galets 2014 from the same producer for £13.45. Another suggestion is the reliable Dr Loosen Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett (£13.00, Sainsbury’s). But feel free to experiment and try a bottle from your own wine rack, as long as it isn’t red, oaky, or very dry.