Wine suggestions for my dishes

Delighted to welcome Peter Wood from The Tasting Note on board to marry up wines to my dishes.  Check out his suggested wines below and check out his site at www.thetastingnote.com/

Pan fried Sea Bream with asparagus, broad beans and chilli dressing on a bed of sauteed potatoes

Asparagus is the tricky bit here, as it does clash with a lot of grape varieties, so my default is always to go to Sauvignon Blanc.  You could go with something from New Zealand, but I think that that might overpower the sea bream, so I'd go to the Loire.  A wine like the one from 2010 Domaine des Vieux Pruniers Sancerre would give the vegetal notes that will compete with the asparagus, yet will have a lovely light citrus flavour to go with the fish.  (£11 - £14 from The Fine Wine Company, Enotria)

Sweet potato & chorizo soup

A rich, sweet potato soup is going to be hard to pair with a wine, as you tend not to bother drinking wine with soup!  Nevertheless, I'd go with something that not only cuts the sweetness of the root veg, but also complements the spicier chorizo flavour.  This would lead me to either a dry German or Alsatian riesling.  Something like 2009 Weingut Winter Riesling Trocken would cut the sweet flavour, yet isn't as zingy as a new world riesling, and the softer lime flavours would work with the spicy notes. (£11-£12 from Swig, Luvians St Andrews)