The best food and wine pairings for Valentine’s Day

If you’re planning a special meal for Valentine’s Day you may be wondering which wine to pair with your menu. I’ve picked some favourite Valentine’s Day foods and suggested some matches that should work well with them.

Asparagus

If served on its own with melted butter or a hollandaise sauce a subtle, creamy white burgundy or chardonnay would be the most seductive choice. If dressed with a vinaigrette or in a salad with seafood I’d go for a crisper white like a Sancerre, Pouilly Fumé or other top quality sauvignon blanc.

Camembert

Camembert baked in its box makes a sexy instant fondue but isn’t the easiest of dishes to pair with wine (even trickier than when it’s served cold). Funnily enough a glass of champagne - or similar style sparkling wine - works surprisingly well or go for a dry white like a Chablis.

What to pair with Camembert

Caviar (or, more likely, a caviar imitation)

Dry champagne. (Vodka is arguably better but not as romantic.)

Chocolate (dark)

There are possibilities with wine (sweet reds like Maury or Quady’s seductive Elysium being good choices - see

www.quadywinery.com) but my own preferred option with dark chocolate is a frozen shot of cherry brandy or other fruit-flavoured spirit or liqueur or a small glass of sloe or damson gin. An orange-flavoured liqueur like Grand Marnier also works well.

Chocolate (white)

An ice-cold raspberry-flavoured wine or liqueur like Southbrook Winery’s Framboise from Canada. Especially if the dessert includes raspberries.

Duck

Pinot Noir. Look to New Zealand and Chile for the best value

Ice cream (vanilla)

Tricky with wine. A toffee or chocolate-flavoured liqueur is your best bet. Very sweet PX sherry can be wonderful poured over it.

Ice cream (chocolate)

Try a coffee-flavoured liqueur like Toussaint or Kahlua.

Lobster

Good white burgundy (or other chardonnay) or vintage champagne.

Wine with lobster: 5 of the best pairings

Oysters

Champagne or Chablis. Not Guinness on Valentine’s Night, I suggest.

Best matches with oysters

Passion fruit

Can be quite sharp so you need a very sweet wine to balance it. A sweet riesling or late harvest semillon or sauvignon blanc will work well. If it’s mixed with a creamy base as in a passion fruit brulée you could drink a sweet (demi-sec) Champagne or other dessert wine. Or a passion fruit flavoured beer. (Yes, such drinks exist! Try Floris from Belgium.)

Prawns/shrimp

If you’re serving a classic prawn cocktail I suggest a dry or off-dry riesling which would also work with an Asian-style stir-fry or salad. A sparkling rosé - including champagne - would be a suitably kitsch all-pink choice.

The best pairings for prawns or shrimp

Smoked salmon

Champagne on this occasion. But see

other possibilities.

Scallops

Made for top white burgundy or other really good chardonnay. Champagne is also spot on if that’s what you’re drinking.

Top wine pairings with scallops

Steak

The best full-bodied red you can afford. Whatever turns your partner on . . .

My 5 top wine and steak pairing tips

Strawberries

If served plain and unadorned, gently sparkling Moscato d’Asti or Asti is lovely or go for the luscious

Fragola liqueur. If they’re served with cream you could serve a classic sweet wine like Sauternes.

My top pairings with strawberries

Image © 9MOT at shutterstock.com

6 versatile wine pairings for a Chinese New Year feast

Asking which wine is the best match for Chinese food is a bit like looking for the best match for European food - it in no way reflects the diversity of Chinese cuisine.

That said many of us will probably be enjoying a Chinese meal this week - either in a restaurant or from a takeaway and wonder what to drink with it.

For most westerners who don’t share the Chinese reverence for red wine, white wine is a more appealing option with the sweet-sour flavours of many popular Chinese dishes though as with other meals you may want to change wines when you switch from seafood and chicken to red meat (especially beef).

Here are my six top picks:

Sparkling wine - particularly if you’re eating dim sum or other fried dishes. Not necessarily champagne - an Australian sparkling wine with a touch of sweetness, especially a sparkling rosé will do fine.

Riesling - probably the best all-rounder with the majority of dishes as it usually has a touch of sweetness. Alsace, Austria, Australia, Germany, New Zealand, Washington State - it truly doesn’t matter too much where it comes from. This off-dry Clare Valley riesling was a great hit with my Chinese New Year feast last year.

Torrontes - I’ve been struck for a while by how good floral Argentinian Torrontes is with spicy food - a less full-on alternative to gewurztraminer which goes brilliantly with some dishes (like duck) but isn’t such a good all-rounder.

Strong dry fruity rosé - such as the new wave of Portuguese rosés and Bordeaux rosé - not the pale delicate Provençal kind. Surprisingly good with Chinese food.

Pinot noir - obviously a particularly good match with crispy duck pancakes but if you choose one with a touch of sweetness such as those from Chile, New Zealand or California, flexible enough to handle other dishes too.

A generous fruity but not too tannic red - which is of course what many Chinese themselves would drink, particularly red Bordeaux. I’d probably go for a shiraz-cabernet or GSM (grenache/syrah/mourvèdre blend) myself but only with meatier dishes, dishes with aubergine or dishes in black bean sauce. A good cru Beaujolais like Morgon would be another option.

For a more extensive list of Chinese food pairings see Pairing Wine with Chinese Cuisine and The Best Pairings for a Chinese Stir-Fry.

And for some more adventurous pairings check out these sommeliers views on Serious Eats.

Image © somegirl - Fotolia.com

Which wine to drink with a galette des rois?

Although Christmas might feel firmly over many people will be celebrating Twelfth Night on January 6th or even a couple of days before. 

In France they mark the occasion with a Galette des Rois - a round cake filled with frangipane (almond paste) and topped with a golden paper crown.

As with Christmas pudding, a hidden trinket is baked inside the cake, in this case a bean or ‘feve’ or little china figurine. Whoever gets the bean becomes queen or king for the day and can choose their consort. And the rest of the family has to do what they say. Or so the theory goes . . .

What to pair with a galette des rois?

Being a celebratory occasion the French would be inclined to crack open a bottle of bubbly. Not necessarily champagne - that’s more for New Year’s Eve - but a local sparkling wine like Crémant d’Alsace, Crémant de Bourgogne or Crémant de Limoux.

You could also serve a slightly sweeter wine like a demi-sec sparkling Vouvray or Montlouis, a Clairette de Die or, crossing the border into Italy, a Moscato d’Asti or a prosecco.

A light dessert wine such as Coteaux du Layon or a sweet Gaillac would also be delicious and I have enjoyed a Muscat de St Jean de Minervois locally in the Languedoc

There’s a recipe here if you want to make one yourself or you can watch the delightful Raymond Blanc making one on YouTube.

If you read French here’s some more detailed advice on wine pairing for galettes from top sommelier Enrico Bernado.

Since posting this I’ve discovered - thanks to Twitter - there are Spanish and Portuguese equivalents to the galette des rois: the Rosca de Reyes and Bolo Rei respectively. Coincidentally Nigel Slater has also given a recipe for one in the Observer.

According to blogger Joan Gómez Pallarès and wine writer Luis Gutierrez there seems to be some divergence about when you eat it in Spain - probably depending which part of the country you’re in. Luis says it’s usually served at breakfast the morning of January 6th, the day of Reyes Magos (the 3 wise men) or for afternoon tea with moscatel, mistela, PX, off-dry cava or other sweet wines. Or, again, tea or coffee. @carlosleira suggested hot chocolate

Joan however says “No coffee with a roscón, at least in Catalonia: we eat it at lunch time, as dessert. VND, VDN or sweet cava” He suggests the méthode ancestral from Garraf Massif, the Malvasia dulce from Freixenet, a vin doux naturel from la Axarquía or a muscat of Alexandria.

In Portugal the obvious pairing would be a tawny or colheita port according to @niepoortwines. Who, of course, make port . . . ;-)

10 excuses to drink champagne this Christmas and New Year holiday

Given the amount of champagne that’s on special offer at the moment you’d think people would drink nothing else but most I suspect will just have a celebratory glass before Christmas lunch or to see in the new year.

There are however many other occasions to enjoy champagne - and combine it with food.

As with other top wines it’s sometimes better to enjoy it on your own or a deux with a close friend or partner so you can really relish the experience. Maybe in one of those quiet moments over the holiday - if there are any - when you don’t have any guests in the house!

Here are ten treats to enjoy:

Home-made cheese straws

Cheese straws are much underrated IMHO and, like anything else crispy and cheesy, are great with a glass of bubbly. As - a touch more elegantly - are parmesan biscuits

Smoked salmon

No surprise here you might think but I reckon champagne works best with smoked salmon when its accompanied by cream cheese (as in a canapé or bagel) or by scrambled eggs. In other words think of champagne for your Boxing Day or New Year’s Day brunch . . .

Oysters

Another classic champagne pairing but being briney they can often make the accompanying champagne taste too sweet. If you want them ‘au naturel’ go for a brut nature - in other words a dry champagne without any added dosage. Or deep fry them which makes them more palatable for many people anyway. (Deep-fried fishy things are great with fizz. EVEN fish fingers)

Scallops

Seared scallops are the perfect foil to a richer style of champagne or vintage champagne. A good starter for a small party on Christmas day.

Turbot

If you’re serving a big whole fish - or fish steaks - for Christmas Eve or even Christmas Day, champagne will make it even more festive. Add a mushroom sauce to accentuate the umami hit.

Fish pie

Another Christmas Eve favourite. I’m always torn between white burgundy and champagne but would probably go for the latter if it included luxurious ingredients such as lobster or scallops.

Turkey (or chicken)

Champagne with turkey? Absolutely! Again, go for a vintage one with a bit of weight and body to it. (And ease up on the gravy and cranberry sauce!)

Truffles (or, more likely, truffle oil)

Champagne - especially vintage champagne - shines with truffles so if you’re thinking of serving pasta with truffles, risotto or even truffle mash the two will strike sparks off each other

Macarons

Perhaps more a moscato or ‘extra-dry’ (in other words sweet) prosecco pairing but no reason why you shouldn’t serve a glass of demi-sec. Be my guest ...

Christmas cake

And, as I discovered recently, demi-sec is also surprisingly good with fruit cake. What better way to kick off Christmas Eve? Especially with one of those flashy white bottles like Moet Ice or Lanson White Label Sec