Good wine pairings for Saint-Nectaire

Having spent a few days in the Auvergne recently and eaten more than my fair share of Saint Nectaire cheese with a variety of wines, mostly natural, here’s what I think works best.

Saint Nectaire is a semi-soft cows’ cheese with a buttery consistency and a crumbly grey-ish brown rind. It can have quite a strong flavour - though not as strong as ‘stinky’ French cheeses such as Epoisses. It’s a well-known enough cheese to have its own website though only in French.

The locals would drink it with a red, most likely gamay or a gamay blend though a crisp white or even a sweet wine could work equally well, depending on whether the cheese is mass-produced or made on the farm by an artisan producer. Here are my top picks:

* Gamay from the Loire, Auvergne or Beaujolais - ‘natural’ wines, made with indigenous yeasts, are a good match with stronger flavoured ‘fermier’ cheeses

* A red burgundy or other traditionally made pinot noir

* A rustic red like Marcillac or a fruity young syrah from the Rhône

* Chardonnay from the Auvergne (leaner, less creamy than burgundy). I reckon a mature vieilles vignes (old vine) Chablis would also work

* Dry or medium-dry (demi-sec) Chenin Blanc from the Loire e.g. Vouvray or Montlouis or richer South African Chenin Blancs. A sweeter Chenin could be good too, particularly if it was a few years old - i.e. honeyed rather than simply sweet

* Savignin from Switzerland or the Jura

* or try a sparkling Breton or Normandy cider.

Other good suggestions from wine writer Victor de la Serna on Twitter: “Asturias/Galicia reds, young bobal, manzanilla” Not sure about the manzanilla but a dry amontillado would be good, as would a tawny port or a dry madeira.

Wine and Indonesian food: which wine pairs best with Rijsttafel?

I posted this last year after trying Rijsttafel - the Indonesian speciality that’s widely available in Amsterdam. Translated literally as ‘rice table’, it’s an elaborate array of curries, salads and pickles which present a tough challenge for any wine.

The one we had was at Blauw, a restaurant strongly recommended by foodie colleagues and in the immensely useful Where Chefs Eat and couldn’t have been a better introduction to the genre.

The curries are hot but also sweet which tends to strip the flavour out of drier wines including the Gruner Veltliner we ordered, a normal go-to with south-east Asian food, although it matched a couple of lighter introductory dishes. Several also had a rich peanut sauce. The wines I thought would make the best pairings for Rijsttafel itself were off-dry whites though I came up with a couple of other options you might enjoy:

Viognier

Actually we tried a sip of this and it did work

Gewurztraminer - it wouldn’t match all the dishes but would be a good all-rounder

Off-dry Pinot Gris from Alsace or New Zealand

Barossa semillon would work well with the peanut sauces

Torrontes (a suggestion from Blauw’s own list)

Off-dry Clare or Eden Valley riesling like this Grosset riesling which was my match of the week a while back with a Chinese New Year feast

New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc with a dash of tropical fruit

Off-dry strong rosé such as those you get from Portugal and South America

Chilled New Zealand Pinot Noir - the favourite of the chef Agus Hermawan. Or Chilean Pinot Noir, for that matter. You need a touch of sweetness.

Ripe but not over-alcoholic Shiraz and similar GSM (Grenache/Syrah/Mourvèdre) blends

What's the best match for a barbecue?

Should it be wine or beer - or even a cocktail? Last year I asked the Twitter community what their favourite barbecue bevvy was and this is what they came up with . . .

@HarryReginald covered all the options with his prescription:

On a hot day: bubbly, followed by bubbly and then some Chenin and a solid Pinot. Or simply cold, hoppy, beers.

There was a fair amount of support for Sparkling Shiraz

Sparkling Shiraz like Peter Lehmann Black Queen, Rockford Black, Majella - especially with chargrilled and marinated meats and ribs @nywines. @robertgiorgione @rovingsommelier agreed

And for light reds . . .

Lightly chilled Austrian Zweigelt/Blaufrankisch @robertgiorgione

Chilled Beaujolais like Brouilly and other Gamay @scandilicious @goodshoeday (if the BBQ is not too spicy @spicespoon)

Cold Valpolicella Allegrini @Lardis

Leg of lamb with juicy, chilled Loire Cab Franc @foodwinediarist

How about a nice juicy Grenache w/ bbq foods? Not too heavy for hot weather. @TheWineyard

but not much for more full-bodied reds except for @HawksmoorLondon who tipped Super Tuscan wines with chargrilled steak

A couple mentioned whites, especially with fish

Hunter Valley Semillon and oysters @SomeSomm @DanSims (not typical UK barbie fare but a great idea)

Catalan Grenache Blanc with grilled sardines and red peppers @foodwinediarist

Others went in a more aromatic direction

Hilltop Estates Cserszegi from @thewinesociety with home made piri piri BBQ chicken @LouiseHerring

Chicken brochette in the Pakistani manner with Domaine Weinbach Pinot Gris @SpiceSpoon

A nice crisp chilled wine like an Alsace Riesling for me @eatlikeagirl @aforkful. @scandilicious agreed: "nice Riesling or Grüner Veltliner w/BBQ fish or prawns"

Surprisingly few went for rosé, one of my own BBQ favourites

Dry rosé like Chapel Down (with butterflied lamb) @goodshoeday - although she also mentioned Peronelles, a kir-like blush cider from Aspalls

There were other fans of cider

Ashridge Devon cider @BistroWineMan

I do like cider at a bbq - its a good gutsy match to bacon rolls which are another bbq must have! @KateWild

But far more fans of beer

Beer fizzy and cold from my shed fridge @crownbrewerstu

BEER, BEER, BEER, BEER, BEER, BEER, BEER, BEER, CIDER, BEER, BEER, BEER, BEER, BEER, BEER, BEER, BEER, BEER, BEER, BEER, BEER @MelissaCole

What matches caramelised and charred BBQ flavours better than roasted malt flavours? Got to be beer everytime! @WBandBEER

I'm liking dark beers with BBQs at the mo - BrewDog Zeitgeist, a decent Dark Mild, a porter, all served cold @markdredge. @HawksmoorLondon suggested Porter too.

Chimay for a spicy BBQ @spicespoon and Rodenbach Grand Cru for BBQd meats @scandilicious

@Hoegaarden @goodshoeday

not a #twitmatch but a #twecipe-Young's Bitter & Ginger marinade 4 bbq'd spatchcocked poussin @jo_dring

A couple mentioned cocktails (another personal favourite, especially margaritas and rum punches)

Jugs of Bloody Marys @rovingsommelier

A remojito (fino or manzanilla topped up w soda water, mint leaves, ice and lemon) @taralstevens (love the sound of this)

and @bluedoorbakery just went for sherry

@aforkful came up with a great non-alcoholic option: "try this delicious cordial if staying off the booze"

There was even a recommendation for ‘cool water’ from @howardggoldberg (the first - and I hope not the last - #twitmatch linked to a song)

Thanks all, for the great ideas.

Matching food and Priorat

I was reminded about my trip to Priorat almost exactly two years ago by my recent visit to the Roussillon which has a similar terroir. And I think the wines would go with similar kinds of food. These were my suggested pairings at the time . . .

Priorat has some of the most expensive wines in Spain but they’re also high in alcohol and reflect their wild, untamed terroir. There’s a marked difference between wines from ‘hot’ vintages like 2003 and 2005 and the more recent fresher cooler wines of 2007 and 2008 and between older vintages and younger ones. The former can develop quite bosky ‘animal’ flavours, particularly those that contain old Carignan but then, surprisingly some can be quite delicate, almost ethereal.

In terms of comparison with other wine regions I would think Châteauneuf is a better reference point than Bordeaux despite the presence in many wines of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

Although they obviously appeal to the Asian market to me they’re not the obvious bottle to reach for with subtle, delicate cuisines such as Cantonese or Japanese (although some of the top winemakers are making wines that would match well). The whites (which are again similar to those of the Rhône) are more suited to cooked shellfish, fish and vegetable dishes than to raw or lightly cooked ones.

Like most great wines most would benefit from being served with simple food and as full-bodied reds, grilled and roast meat, especially lamb and beef. The bigger, more broadshouldered wines would pair well with meat served rare with a degree of charring; older vintages with slow roasts like slow roast shoulder of lamb. Lighter more graceful wines from higher vineyards or more recent vintages could work with dishes like braised rabbit. (I particularly liked Sara Perez Ovejero of Mas Martinet’s suggestion of pairing her sumptuous Els Escurcons with braised rabbit wih olives and herbs)

In fact furred rather than feathered game seems a good direction to go. I’d also like to pair Priorat with venison, hare and wild boar (or rare breed pork), again slow-cooked. Think oxtail too. I found a slightly funky 2004 Vall Llach absolutely transformed by a dish of braised oxtail with Priorat and prunes, bringing its primary fruit once more to the fore. It just seems the right thing to do with such strongly terroir-driven wines to pair them with food from the region - or across the Pyrenees with dishes from south-west France. Priorat and cassoulet? Priorat and Toulouse sausages with Puy lentils? Priorat with duck confit? They’d all work.

Then of course there’s cheese. We didn’t have much while we were away but Priorat, which has much in common with rich, brambly wines like Amarone and those from the Douro, would make a good companion for stronger, more challenging cheeses, especially blues. And on the basis of successfully pairing a mature Manchego with some of the wines I’d definitely look at some of Spain’s other excellent sheeps’ cheeses.