Matching Food & Wine | Wine pros

Seasonal wine pairings for Domaine de l’Arlot burgundy

Fiona Beckett — Wed, 15 May 2013 08:35:00 +0100

Lucy Bridgers reports on an elegant dinner matching different vintages of Domaine de l’Arlot burgundy with a seasonal spring menu

Are wine pairings getting too specific?

Fiona Beckett — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 07:25:00 +0100

Having moaned for years how unhelpful it was for retailers and wine producers to put an incredibly vague ‘good with pasta’ or ‘good with chicken’ on their back labels I’m not sure the pendulum hasn’t swung too far in the other direction.

The secret of sake and food pairing

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 10:03:00 +0000

Our new contributor, former sommelier Donald Edwards, reports back from a sake and food tasting at Novikov and reveals why the art of sake appreciation has a lot to teach wine-lovers.

What type of food pairs with orange wine?

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 22:01:00 +0000

Donald Edwards finds a clue in the traditional Georgian food that was served at a dinner at the Notting Hill restaurant Colchis recently.

A wine and truffle lunch with The Wine Society

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 10:43:00 +0000

Are Languedoc wines grand enough to stand up to truffles? Our new contributor Donald Edwards reports:

How to show off your wine Part 2: how food can make your wine shine

Fiona Beckett — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 14:18:00 +0000

I have no evidence for it but I’m sure that the vast majority of wine that people buy is bought to drink with food. Yet most of the wine that’s tasted or presented to journalists and bloggers is shown on its own.

How to show off your wine Part I

Fiona Beckett — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 09:07:00 +0000

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about formal wine tastings, more particularly that they’re far from being an ideal way to show off wine. But what’s the alternative?

Should you use fine wine in cocktails?

Fiona Beckett — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 10:33:00 +0000

The answer most people would give to the question ‘should you use wine to make cocktails?’ is ‘Why ever not?” Yet there is a general feeling, of which I must confess I’m occasionally guilty, that it’s a waste of a wine that may be perfectly well balanced in itself.

The effect of temperature on food and wine matching

Tue, 08 Jan 2013 08:09:00 +0000

Does the temperature at which you serve a dish affect the wine pairing? Matt Walls investigates:

Some great new ideas for pairing madeira

Lucy Bridgers — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 11:07:00 +0000

Lucy Bridgers discovers some stunning matches with madeira and gets some inspiration for Christmas entertaining.

Portuguese wine paired with the experimental cuisine at Viajante

Lucy Bridgers — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 07:51:00 +0000

Our roving gastronome Lucy Bridgers puts Portuguese wine through its paces with a succession of small plates from the inventive Nuno Mendes.

Tea & Tapas: does it work?

Fiona Beckett — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 07:22:00 +0000

As a massive sherry fan I confess that I find it hard to envisage any other drink with tapas but when you’re invited to experience an off-the-wall pairing you go - or at least I do.

A Krug champagne lunch at Murano: a perfect 10

Fiona Beckett — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 09:28:00 +0000

It’s rare to go to a wine event and be blown away by the matches at every course but my recent lunch at Murano devised by Angela Hartnett and her sommelier Marc-Andréa Lévy was as close to perfection as it gets.

Château Pontet-Canet at Alain Ducasse: Lucy Bridgers lives the high life

Lucy Bridgers — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 12:57:00 +0000

The recent lunch hosted by Alfred Tesseron of Château Pontet-Canet at Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester revealed the extraordinary versatility of red Bordeaux and how it can be served right through a meal.

The best food matches for Amarone

Fiona Beckett — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 13:51:00 +0100

A recent lunch and discussion hosted by Masi at Heston Blumenthal’s Dinner gave a revealing glimpse of what the best food pairings for amarone might be.

Why don’t more wine tastings offer food pairing?

Fiona Beckett — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 08:03:00 +0100

It struck me as slightly ironic that the best example of a food offering I’ve seen at a consumer tasting recently was the Food Pairing Room at this weekend’s Whisky Show - whisky being the last drink that many people would think of pairing with food.

What bugs restaurant critics about wine service

Fiona Beckett — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 18:10:00 +0100

To kick off my coverage of the first Wine & Culinary International Forum in Barcelona last weekend (and while I disentangle the many complex threads on food and wine pairing) here are some highly practical points which were made by a high level panel of restaurant and wine critics including Jancis Robinson, Victor de la Serna of El Mundo and Nick Lander, restaurant critic for the Financial Times and author of the recently published The Art of the Restaurateur. (My comments in italics)

Why Mosel riesling matches Vietnamese food

Fiona Beckett — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 07:14:00 +0100

Our roving gastronaut Lucy Bridgers discovers why German Mosel riesling is the ideal wine pairing for Vietnamese food

Why growers' champagne is centre stage at Bubbledogs

Fiona Beckett — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 10:14:00 +0100

The most hyped restaurant launch this year, Bubbledogs, which opened this week in London’s Fitzrovia has naturally focussed on the hot dogs but of equal significance, I reckon, are the ‘bubbles’ or champagnes that they serve.

Move over sommeliers, hello wine concierges (and curators)!

Fiona Beckett — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 16:20:00 +0100

The news that London’s latest impossibly glitzy Russian-owned wine shop Hedonism aims to offer a ‘personal, concierge-like approach‘ according to an interview its CEO Tatiana Fokina gave the wine magazine Decanter, doesn’t come as a total surprise. The C-word has been creeping into the wine world for a while.