Spaghetti with White Wine-Lemon Sauce

I like to think I've finally arrived at the stage where I can divide wine into definable categories of good and ill-tasting. No doubt I'm still in the exploration stage, but I am developing a sense for which varieties of grape I like—which was why it was to my unfortunate surprise when I opened a bottle of viognier and found it essentially undrinkable. I attribute this primarily to a decision to go for economy over quality; I'd bought an overly affordable bottle, reckoning it'd go down well enough. It did not. A few sips in, it became clear that this wine ought not to be imbibed by any decent person, leaving me with a sizable amount of unpleasant, but otherwise perfectly sound wine. 

I couldn't get myself to pour it down the drain, of course, so I decided to repurpose the viognier. There exists a wine cake recipe which I adore, but being well stocked with dessert at the moment, I thought I'd incorporate the wine into dinner. The solution was provided by this lemony butter and white wine sauce, which is quite tart and quite delightful. It also comes together alarmingly fast. Throw some pantry ingredients in a pot, keep an eye on it for a few minutes, and you've got a velvety, light, springy sauce. I modified the original recipe by adding some greens and can imagine mushrooms or roasted peppers also pairing well.

Adapted from Spoon University's White Wine Lemon Butter Pasta Sauce

Spaghetti with White Wine-Lemon Sauce

Ingredients:
3 TBSP butter, divided
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 TBSP chopped rosemary
1 1/2 TBSP flour
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 lb. frozen spinach, thawed (or about 3 large handfuls fresh spinach)
juice and zest from one lemon
1/2 lb. spaghetti, cooked per directions

Directions:
--Melt 2 TBSP butter in a medium saucepan. Add garlic and rosemary and cook two minutes. Add flour, whisking constantly until smooth. Pour wine in slowly; cook on low heat until sauce has thickened.
--Add remaining 1 TBSP butter. Once it has melted, add spinach and lemon and cook until the greens are fully wilted and warmed through.
--Lower heat and pour cooked pasta on top of the sauce. Stir until pasta is evenly coated with the sauce. Remove pan from heat and serve immediately.