The best food pairings for Mencia

When I scoured the website for existing pairings with mencia I was amazed how many dishes I’d suggested it with. It really is an incredibly versatile food wine.

For those of you who are not familiar with it it’s a grape variety which is grown in the Bierzo and Ribeira Sacra regions of north-west Spain and produces a vibrantly juicy red that reminds me of Beaujolais with a dash of Loire cabernet franc.

Top food matches for mencia

Cecina

Cecina is a really delicious deeply savoury cured smoked beef from the same region as mencia and goes brilliantly with it as you can see from this match of the week. So does chorizo and rough country hams

Almost any kind of grilled meat especially pork and lamb

Which makes it a good wine for a barbecue. That also applies to spiced meat like kebabs or these seftali

Hearty stews

The Spanish are not renowned for their vegetarian dishes so I’m thinking meat here. Robust dishes of pork and beans for example.

Empanadas

Again from the area they have these delicious tuna and red pepper pies called empanadas. Mencia would be good with the smaller Latin American version too

Sheep cheese

Mencia is a good all-rounder with cheese but especially hard sheep cheeses which are what you tend to find in the area.

Warm salads

I suggested mencia as a pairing with this warm lamb salad with a pea, mint and feta cheese dressing. It would be great with other warm salads too.

Pizza and pasta

Almost any kind of pasta with a meaty sauce. Spaghetti and meatballs for example. It’s the perfect pizza wine too.

Roast turkey

I know there are a lot of other great pairings for roast turkey but a vibrant mencia works surprisingly well with all the sides as I discovered one Christmas.

The best wine matches for tomatoes

Although not the problem they're generally made out to be tomatoes do have an influence on a wine pairing.

Being quite acidic, especially when dressed with a vinaigrette, you want a wine that has a good level of acid too - and not too much, if any, oak.

I find it easiest to think in terms of uncooked and cooked tomatoes when deciding on a wine match:

Tomato salads, fresh tomato sauces and salsas and soups like gazpacho work well with crisp dry whites and dry rosés. With a classic French tomato salad I’d go for a Picpoul de Pinet or a dry southern French rosé, especially Provençal rosé. A light style of Sauvignon Blanc or a Côtes de Gascogne or Côtes de Duras works well too. With panzanella (Italian-style tomato and bread salad) you might want to go for a crisp Italian white like a Verdicchio

With pasta with a fresh tomato sauce like this one with prawns I’d go for an Italian white such as Pinot Grigio. Albarino is a good match with gazpacho.

With more intensely flavoured cooked dishes made with tinned, roast or dried tomatoes - especially if combined with grilled vegetables like aubergines or meat as in a lasagne - I think reds tend to work better, especially Italian reds such as Barbera d’Asti, Chianti, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo and simple Sicilian reds. Other Sangiovese-based reds are good too.

Stuffed tomatoes are good with lighter southern French reds such as Côtes du Rhône Villages or Côtes du Roussillon.

You may of course be looking to match lighter cooked tomato dishes such as courgette and tomato gratins or tomato tarts. These can take almost any kind of dry Mediterranean whites, light reds or rosés - like uncooked tomato dishes. Tomato fritters (a speciality from Santorini) are fantastic with the local Assyrtiko.

What I wouldn’t pair with tomatoes are big tannic reds, classic reds like Bordeaux or oaky Chardonnays except, in the case of Chardonnay, with a tomato tatin that has acquired an edge of sweetness.

My top wine pairings with strawberries

I’m sure you’re enjoying a bowlful or two of strawberries at this time of year. But what to drink with them?

The classic pairing of champagne is to my mind too dry unless the champagne is rosé or demi-sec but there are plenty of other possibilities depending on how you serve your berries.

Unsweetened strawberries or served plain with a little sugar

Perfectly ripe berries, especially wild strawberries can be delicious with an off-dry sparkling wine such as Moscato d’Asti, Asti, Extra Dry prosecco or even a sparkling white zinfandel or Australian sparkling rosé like Jacob’s Creek. You could also serve them the French or Italian way macerated in a light red wine such as Beaujolais with a little sugar - a (reasonably) healthy alternative to cream!

Strawberries and cream

The perfect foil for a classic dessert wine such as Sauternes or (more economically) Muscat-de-Beaumes-de-Venise. Alternatively if you don’t want to serve wine you could choose a contrasting but complementary well-chilled fruit juice such as passionfruit or mango.

Light airy strawberry desserts such as mousses, soufflés or gâteaux

Demi-sec or rosé Champagne or similar sparkling wine.

Strawberry tarts or shortcakes

The additional sweetness you get from the pastry or shortbread means your wine needs to be sweeter. Sauternes or similar wines from the Bordeaux region will probably work but I’d be inclined to go for a luscious new world botrytised or late harvest semillon or sauvignon. Sweet wines from the Loire such as Coteaux du Layon can also work well

Strawberries with meringue such as a pavlova, sundae or Eton Mess

Light and airy but typically sweeter than a gateau. A sweet wine with good acidity such as a late harvest or Beerenauslese riesling can be good or try a strawberry or raspberry liqueur topped up with champagne (like a kir royale or strawberry or raspberry bellini)

Strawberry cheesecake

I really enjoy fruit flavoured beers with the rich but slightly savoury flavour of cheesecake and a strawberry beer such as the Belgian Fruli is quite perfect. It would also be a good choice if you served strawberries with mascarpone. (If you can’t get hold of a strawberry beer try a cherry or raspberry-flavoured one)

Strawberries with dark chocolate

If strawberries are served with or dipped in chocolate the chocolate becomes the key element to match. I would choose a sweet vin doux naturel such as a Maury. (You don’t want quite as intense a red fruit flavour as you would look for with a chocolate and cherry dessert)

Strawberries with orange

Strawberries and orange have a surprising affinity but will tend to strip out the fruit flavours in any accompanying dessert wine. Try a frozen shot of Cointreau or a small glass of Pimms No 1 Cup, made slightly stronger than usual.

Strawberry ice creams and sorbets

Matching wine to ice cream can be tricky unless there are other elements to the dessert and you are simply serving a scoop in place of cream. I quite like to serve a chilled liqueur that will pick out the fruit flavours such as a delicate, strawberry-flavoured ratafia di fragola (Carluccio’s used to do a delicious one - I’m not sure if they still do)

Since I first wrote this article a couple of years ago there's a new generation of pink moscatos and other sparkling reds and rosés which would work really well too. See these suggestions in my Guardian column

Image by HomeMaker on Pixabay

The best food pairings for Xinomavro

With its vibrant acidity, unusual aromatics, and loud flavour profile Greece's Xinomavro is not for the faint-hearted but it makes an ideal food wine. The best pairing, as so often, depends on the style says Peter Pharos.

Traditional Xinomavro

Traditionally, Xinomavro has given red wines that, while relatively light bodied, are almost aggressive in their youth, with rough tannins and intense acidity that can easily take more than a decade to calm down.

It is no coincidence that Nebbiolo is often used as a simile when the grape is introduced to foreign audiences. Xinomavro’s aromatics, however, are very different. Particularly in Naoussa (or, more correctly, Naousa) in central Macedonia, arguably its finest terroir, they show notes of olive paste, sun-dried tomato, and dried herbs.

Macedonia includes two other well-known Xinomavro terroirs, Amyndeon and Goumenissa. These higher altitude zones tend to give gentler, and a tad sweeter, aromatics, with strawberry and raspberry notes, but maintain the fierce acidity when young and benefit from decanting.

The star of the Greek Orthodox Easter table, whole lamb roast on a spit, is the mother of all pairings for this traditional style, but any type of roast lamb is an excellent match, especially if garlic and herbs are involved.

Imam bayildi by Didebashvili.GE at shutterstock.com

On the vegetarian side, aubergines are an exceptional match, in almost any form. Imam bayildi, loved in Greece almost as much as in Turkey, is a classic. Other options include baba ganoush, ratatouille, or its Greek take, briam.

Bringing together lamb and eggplant, as in the Turkish Hünkar BeÄŸendi, also works very well. I would, however, steer clear of moussaka. Despite the insistence of many Anglophone recipes, this is typically prepared not with lamb, but with a sweet-ish beef mince sauce, and a rich mornay-like topping, which results it a rather dissonant combination.

High quality traditional Xinomavro with fifteen years of age or more, meanwhile, is a thing of wonder. The fierceness of youth translates into an ethereal wisdom and delicate, elaborate aromatics. A (French-trimmed) rack of lamb with baby potatoes (or, even better, Jersey royals) and some delicate greens is an excellent combination. (As is grilled lamb with a mustard glaze which featured as a pairing for a 25 year old xinomavro in this Match of the Week. FB)

 If you are out for a more adventurous pairing, I particularly like it with grilled octopus.

Top producers for traditional Xinomavro include Dalamara (especially the Paliokalias label, though it has seen a vertiginous price rise the past decade), Markovitis, Kelesidis, Boutari, and Artisan Vignerons de Naoussa, while in Goumenissa Tatsis do an excellent job. Macedonian powerhouse Kir-Yianni produce Ramnista, which is remarkable value for money, and whose style is nearer to the traditional, though it has turned more immediately approachable in recent years. I also love Melitzanis but, unfortunately, this is rarely seen abroad.

New Wave Xinomavro

photo by Slawomir Fajer at shutterstock.com

There are few people that have changed the profile of a variety singlehandedly, as much as Apostolos Thymiopoulos did with Xinomavro. His various bottling, from the instant classic, premium Earth & Sky, to the entry-level Jeunes Vignes, to the newer Naoussa Alta, pioneered a new winemaking take on the grape.

Fresh, vivacious, fruit-forward, and drinkable on release, but without losing trademark the Xinomavro aromatics in the process, they were a huge success on the domestic market and helped substantially to increase the visibility of the grape internationally.

This more approachable style also expands substantially the culinary possibilities. I’ve had Thymiopoulos’s wines with anything from aubergine and ricotta involtini to Iberican-style cod and potatoes in various tomato-based sauces with great success.

With Xinomavro being increasingly planted around Greece (or at least north of Athens), many newer producers, such as Oenops, seem to aim for this style.

In the top terroirs, meanwhile, most producers today follow a middle-of-the-road take. Not the dusty, traditional Xinomavro, but perhaps not as fruit-forward as Thymiopoulos either. In Naoussa, this would include producers such as Karydas, and most Xinomavro-based wines of Kir-Yianni, including the premium, Barolo-esque Diaporos, In Amyndeon, Alpha Estate’s Hedgehog and Barba-Yianni offer an excellent balance between strength and freshness.

Finally, in the last great Xinomavro terroir, Rapsani, in Thessaly, near Mount Olympus, Thanos Dougos follows the local tradition of blending it with the lesser known Krassato and Stavroto for his excellent Rapsani Old Vines. Blending with international varieties is also not unknown.

These wines are perhaps the most versatile of all. While roast lamb and aubergine are still hard to beat as food matches, the more tempered style means more options, from both Greek and international cuisines. 

Giouvetsi, a Greek orzo casserole, which can be made with anything from lamb, to beef, to octopus, is a firm favourite. I was more surprised with how well it worked with Bekri Meze, a wine-braised pork stew. Beans, especially white, are also a great match. I love it with Gigantes (baked giant beans – available in Greek delis such as Maltby and Greek), but Xinomavro’s robustness means you can throw much spicier fare at it. There are few spur-of-the-moment oddball pairings I’m as proud of as matching a bottle of Oenops’s wild Xinomavraw with Punjabi rajima and rice.

Recipe: Norma alla greca

photo by Ale02 at shutterstock.com

We drink a lot of wine from southern Italy in my household, and we eat a lot of pasta alla Norma, the Sicilian aubergine-based classic. We also drink a lot of Xinomavro, but it is not a good match: Norma seems to be a tad too delicate for Xinomavro’s aromatics. I developed this twist on the Norma as a response.

Ingredients (serves 2)

250g wholewheat pasta (I particularly like wholewheat casarecce)

1 small aubergine

1 small clove of garlic, finely chopped

1 level tbsp tomato paste

50 ml of dry red wine

400g can of chopped tomatoes

½ teaspoon of dried basil

pinch of chili flakes, or to taste

a bit of all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon of dukkah (optional)

crumbled feta (to serve)

fresh basil (to serve)

Method

Slice the aubergine (if desired, peel first) in 2 cm rounds. Season and dust with flour then fry in olive oil, in medium-high heat until golden. Drain on kitchen paper.

Wipe the pan clean with kitchen paper and add a spoonful of olive oil in medium heat. Add the garlic and fry for 30 seconds. Dissolve the tomato paste in the red wine (it is better to do this in advance), then add to the pan until the wine evaporates. Add the tomatoes, then add salt, pepper, dried basil, and, if using, the chili flakes and dukkah. Leave on medium-low heat for 10-15 minutes.

While the sauce is bubbling, cook the pasta in plenty of salted water. Remove two minutes before al dente, reserving some of the cooking water. Bring together the sauce, pasta, aubergine, and a bit of the cooking water.

Serve with crumbled feta and fresh basil.

See also The best food pairings for assyrtiko

Top photo by Irik Bik at shutterstock.com