8 great drinks to match with mince pies (updated)

Mince pies are so popular we all start eating them well before Christmas so what’s the best drink to pair with them?

If you’re sneaking one as an afternoon snack it’s most likely to be a cup of tea but they do pair particularly well with fortified wines like port, sherry and madeira, wines that also go well with Christmas cake in case that’s on the menu too.

For those of you who don’t live in the UK and are unfamiliar with mince pies, they’re a small sweet pie traditionally made from minced meat but nowadays made with dried fruits such as currants, raisins and sultanas.

Although there lots of variations on mince pies nowadays I’m thinking mainly of the classic mince pie ‘cos Christmas is all about tradition ... 

* Mulled wine - Never mind the match it’s just what you offer the carol singers on Christmas Eve isn’t it? To tell the truth - whisper it - mulled cider is just as good. Find my favourite recipes here

* Sweet sherry - again a traditional pairing and I think a good one. One of my favourites is Matusalem but own label cream sherries are perfectly good.

* Sweet madeira - less traditional than sherry, but just as delicious. Basic blended madeiras like Blandy’s Duke of Clarence, are fine otherwise look for a Bual or Malmsey

* Tawny port - you may be used to drinking a ruby port like a Late Bottled Vintage but why not try a nutty 10 Year Old Tawny for a change? Otima is a modern interpretation that goes particularly well with mince pies

* Sweet port-like wines from the south of France like Banyuls, Rivesaltes and Maury - maybe a little harder to track down but ideal if you want something different

* Barley wine - which is not actually a wine but a strong, sweet-tasting beer. Any indie with a decent beer range should have one.

* Christmas ales - I’m never totally convinced about Christmas ales with savoury food - except perhaps ham - but they’re great with Christmas baking.

* Black tea Which you might think hardly bears saying but try making it from loose leaf tea, in a pot rather than with a teabag and taste the difference.

photo by Monika Borys For Unsplash+

The best food pairings for amarone (new)

Amarone or Amarone della Valpolicella is a full-bodied red wine from the Veneto region of Italy that gets its richness and slight sweetness from being partially fermented on the skins of dried grapes, a process referred to in Italian as appassimento.

Although styles vary it can reach alcohol levels as high as 16% which obviously dictates the style of food it pairs with best.

What food you enjoy with it depends a bit on your personal taste. If you appreciate its sweetness you’ll probably be happy drinking it with richly sauced meat dishes like ox cheek and beef shortribs, even a Thanksgiving or Christmas turkey 

If you find it a bit overwhelming with savoury dishes you might want to treat it more like port and drink it with cheese, especially blue cheese.

Some people enjoy it with dark chocolate but I personally don’t find it quite sweet enough for that. A Recioto della Valpolicella works better in my opinion.

But it does particularly lend itself to rich red wine sauces especially if they’re made with amarone.

Because of its capacity to age it tends to fetch a premium price so save older vintages for a special occasion. 

Traditional food pairings from the region

I doubt you’re going to want to serve pastisade de caval (horsemeat stew) or tripe but you might enjoy

Risotto all’amarone (a favourite of the River Café). You can find a recipe here 

Beef braised in amarone 

Strong cheeses including mature parmegiano reggiano (parmesan), Ubriaco all’Amarone (cheese matured in amarone grape must), Gorgonzola and other blue cheeses

Other good pairings, especially with rich red wine sauces

Braised ox or veal cheek and oxtail

Braised beef short-ribs

Wagyu beef

Dishes accompanied by roast bone marrow

Robust pasta dishes, e.g. with hare sauce (pappardelle alla lepre) or other rich ragus.

Pigeon

Duck cooked in balsamic vinegar (balsamic chimes in well with amarone)

Grouse

Wild boar

Venison - as you can see from this match of the week though the roast beetroot also contributed to the pairing

Reindeer and elk (amarone is apparently popular in Scandinavia)

American-style barbecue e.g. smoked brisket

Photo by Ipek Celik at shutterstock.com

What wines pair best with soup? (updated)

One of the few food and drink combinations I don’t feel that happy about is wine and soup. Not all soups, obviously, but many of them. 

It has as much to do with the type of food soup is (wholesome and comforting) as its texture and temperature. If you’re having a bowl of soup on its own or as the main component of a light meal it seems superfluous to drink wine with it. Soup, unless it is virtually thick enough to stand a spoon in, doesn’t really need another liquid to accompany it. Especially if that liquid is chilled.

On the other hand if you’re in a restaurant and everyone else is ordering starters or your soup kicks off a three course dinner party at home you’re probably going to want a glass of wine. So which kind?

When can wine work with soup? 

Many soups are quite delicate in flavour so the wine you choose with these needs to act as supporting cast rather than the star.

Sometimes however, with very rich, creamy soups such as a creamy chicken soup or a chowder, wine can provide a welcome note of freshness and contrast - almost like a squeeze of lemon or an extra layer of flavour. The classic pairing of consommé and sherry (or Madeira) comes into that category. The sherry adds a touch of sweetness and nuttiness to balance the meaty savouriness of the soup.

The wines that I think generally pair best with soup are crisp dry whites with some intensity and persistence. Chablis and other inexpensive white burgundies, Alsace Pinot Blanc, Pinot Grigio and other neutral Italian whites such as Soave, Spanish Albarino and crisp, minerally Sauvignon Blancs like Pouilly Fumé or Sancerre.

In short the sort of wines you drink as an aperitif and can carry on through the soup, sipping as much - or as little - as you like.

Here are some more specific suggestions for wine with soup

Photo by jenvit keiwalinsarid at pexels.com

Thin soups

Classic French consommé: dry amontillado sherry or dry Madeira. Tomato consommé (Loire Sauvignon such as Sancerre).

Asian broths flavoured with fish sauce, coriander and lime (Grüner Veltliner, dry German Kabinett Riesling)

Creamy vegetable soups
Smooth creamy vegetable soups such as leek and potato. soup generally go well with dry Italian whites such as Soave or with Pinot Blanc from Alsace. Fennel and cauliflower soups, which are particularly wine friendly, match well with good (but not over-oaked) white burgundy or other subtly oaked creamy Chardonnays, white Bordeaux, southern French blends of Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier or Chenin Blanc (The creamier a soup is the more full-bodied a wine it can take)

Carrot (and coriander) soup
Again a relatively neutral smooth dry white like a Soave or a chenin blanc. Medium dry cider is good with carrot soup too and I enjoyed this pairing of the carrot, lemon and tahini soup below with Roussanne.

Carrot and tahini soup

Mushroom soup
If it’s creamy drink lightly oaked Chardonnay. If it’s darker and more mushroomy a Pinot Noir would work better

Chicken soup
Again a lightly oaked Chardonnay is the easiest match, if it’s creamy. If it’s a Thai style soup made with coconut milk try pairing it with an Australian Riesling or Verdelho. With Jewish chicken soup don’t drink anything alcoholic - it’s supposed to be healthy and restorative!

Fish soups

 With a classic Provençal fish soup the flavours of garlic, tomato and saffron are as important as the fish and lead in the direction of a very dry crisp white like a Picpoul de Pinet or a full flavoured Provence rosé like a Bandol rosé 

Lobster bisque by SYED IBAD RM at shutterstock.com

Rich crab or lobster bisques match well with lush, opulent whites such as good white burgundy or a good quality but not overpowering Chardonnay. Creamy chowders fare better with a lighter, less expensive Chardonnay

For more about fish soups and stews see this post

‘Green’ soups such as watercress or spinach sometimes have a touch of bitterness about them that needs careful handling. Neutral dry Italian whites such as Soave, Bianco di Custoza and Lugana tend to match best. With an asparagus soup like this one you could try a Loire sauvignon blanc like a Sancerre or Pouilly Fumé or a Touraine Sauvignon. They’d also work with a fresh pea soup.

‘Sweet’ vegetable soups such as butternut squash and pumpkin pair well with rich Chardonnays or Viognier

Tomato soups
If they’re made from fresh tomatoes and are quite light in taste and texture go for a crisp white like a Sauvignon Blanc or an Albariño. You could also drink a well-chilled manzanilla sherry. If the soup has a richer, roast or cooked tomato flavour or is mixed with roast peppers you could also drink a medium bodied Italian or southern French red or a young Rioja.

With gazpacho you could try a modern unoaked white Rioja, Rueda or a fino sherry.

What wine to drink with gazpacho

French onion soup by By Natalia Lisovskaya at shutterstock.com

French onion soup has a very particular character, its melted cheese topping making it more like a hot cheese dish than a soup as you can see from this recipe. Traditionally the French would pair it with a basic vin blanc or a really sharp white like an Aligoté or a Chasselas - the sort of wines you’d drink with fondue and I think that’s the best answer.

Borscht and other beetroot soups
Really quite tricky with wine. Pilsner is incomparably better

Chunky, rustic soups with beans or pulses e.g. minestrone, lentil soup and soupy pasta e fagioli - the kind of soup that’s almost a stew. These match well with medium bodied rustic reds like Côtes du Rhône or young Syrah or Sangiovese. Chianti Classico is particularly good with chickpea soup.

This bean-based Mexican sopa azteca I wrote about recently was great with a pale ale. And I’d probably go for beer with black bean soup too. Given the lighter toppings maybe a lager though I think a dark beer would work too. There’s a recipe here if you’d like one.

Chipotle black bean soup

Cold soups

Light, crisp dry whites such as albariño and assyrtiko are again the answer except for fruit soups which can make them taste uncomfortably sharp. (Try sparkling wine or a complementary fruit beer instead).

I loved this cold herb soup with assyrtiko.

Cold herb soup paired with assyrtiko

Top picture © NatalyaBond at shutterstock.com

 

The best wine pairings with venison (updated)

What is the best wine pairing for venison? An easy answer is the same sort of wine you’d drink with beef, but I’d suggest a few modifications as the two are not quite the same. Three qualities of venison, or cervena as it’s sometimes referred to in New Zealand, particularly distinguish it from beef and should influence your choice of wine match: 

• Venison is leaner
• Venison is gamier
• Venison is often combined with stronger flavours (e.g. juniper)

Let’s dive into each of these characteristics and see how they might influence the wine pairing for specific venison dishes.

For a start venison is quite a bit leaner than most beef cuts with a finer texture which tends to favour more elegant red wines such as red burgundy, barolo or mature Bordeaux - certainly when it’s served as a roast or a fillet (see this sensational match) Pinot noir is also particularly good with a venison tartare.

It is also a slightly gamier meat than beef which could lead you towards high end Rhône reds such as Côte Rôtie, Hermitage or Saint Joseph or a Bandol if it’s made into a casserole or venison stew. With more humble venison sausages try a Crozes-Hermitage. 

And it tends to be combined with strong flavours like juniper or wild mushrooms which again might lead you in a pinot direction or, as I suggest with this recipe for spiced venison with wild mushroom and truffle sauce with a more vibrant Western Australian cabernet merlot blend (or a younger, fruitier Bordeaux).

I also loved this recent pairing of amarone with a dish of venison and beetroot.

With a rich foie gras accompaniment it might even pair with a shiraz as I discovered to my surprise at a Wine Australia tasting a couple of years ago.

A more off-the-wall pairing, if you’re feeling adventurous, would be a German spätlese riesling which I greatly enjoyed with a dish of rare venison at a restaurant called Zum Krug. (But most people I suspect would prefer a spätburgunder (pinot noir) if they were thinking German wine.)

Image by Natalia Lisovskaya at shutterstock.com