5 wine and drink pairings for roast pork belly (updated)

Pork belly has become a cheap and popular main course so what should you drink with it? It depends how you cook it. but it doesn’t have to be wine . . .

If it’s roasted you can basically go with the same kind of pairings as you would with any roast pork. For example 

*Medium-dry cider. It may not be the flashiest choice but it’s top of my list. Pork and cider go together like - well, pork and cider. Pear cider (perry) works well too, especially sparkling perry

*India Pale Ale, particularly heavily hopped American IPAs with a touch of sweetness. A brilliant match

*German riesling. Pork belly is quite fatty so the delicious sharpness of a Riesling really cuts through especially when the pork is served with apple or spiced as it is in this recipe. Alsace and Austrian Rieslings work well too

*Beaujolais and other Gamay-based reds. Bright and fruity. Just the job.

*Southern French Grenache-based reds such as Côtes du Rhône work well if you fancy a more full-bodied red.

If pork belly is stir-fried and given more of a sweet and sour treatment like this dish with ginger and plums I’d also go for a riesling  though maybe one from New Zealand or Washington State in the US. Or even a gewürztraminer (ginger works well with gewürz.)

With char siu (Chinese BBQ pork) I’d be more inclined to go for a pinot gris or a fruity red like a light grenache or garnacha.

Image credit: Pixabay

Top wine (and other) pairings for sausages

There are very few occasions on which sausages don’t appeal but what’s the best pairing for them?

As always it depends on the type of sausage and the way they’re cooked but I personally find that beer and cider are just as good matches as wine.

Sausage and mash

The quintessential British sausage dish is almost always better accompanied by Britain’s national drink, beer than wine, especially if served with onion gravy. (The same goes for toad in the hole.)

I’d pick a hearty ale like Timothy Taylor Landlord but if the gravy is dark and intense as in this recipe for sausages with rich Guinness gravy you could even try a stout or a porter. If you don’t drink beer a hearty southern French or Spanish red or Argentine malbec would all work well.

Pork and leek sausages

Lighter sausages such as pork and leek or pork and apple pair well with cider. You could also drink white wine with them - I’d suggest a chenin blanc or unoaked or subtly oaked chardonnay.

Hot spicy sausages e.g. chorizo and merguez

Spice generally calls for wines with a touch of sweetness but with sausages like chorizo, merguez or Cajun-spiced sausages I’d be looking primarily for a red with ripe fruit: one of the new wave Spanish reds such as Montsant, an unoaked Douro red, or a shiraz, pinotage or zinfandel. Avoid reds that are heavily oaked though as oak-ageing tends to accentuate chilli heat.

Sausage casserole

It depends on the other ingredients in the casserole. If onion, apple and cider are involved I’d drink cider with it too. If the sauce is tomato-based or includes red wine like Tom Kerridge’s recipe for sausage, tomato and butterbean stew I’d go for a rustic red similar to those I’ve suggested for sausage and mash. A decent Côtes du Rhône is usually a reliable option.

Tuscan-style sausages with beans

One of the most wine-friendly of sausage dishes with which you could drink a good Tuscan (or other Italian) red as recommended with this dish of roasted Italian sausages with borlotti beans and nduja sauce from Theo Randall.

Garlicky French sausages e.g. Toulouse

Work well with southern and south-west French wines of lesser known appellations such as Marcillac. Again particularly wine-friendly if accompanied by pulses such as haricot beans and lentils, as in a cassoulet. A modest Bordeaux wouldn’t go amiss.

Venison or beef sausages

Tend to have a slightly gamey flavour that generally goes with wines that pair well with game. More robust styles of Pinot Noir such as those from Central Otago, northern Rhône reds such as St-Joseph and Crozes-Hermitage come to mind.

German-style sausages such as frankfurters and bratwurst

Definitely beer in my book. A light lager, pilsner or Kolsch for frankfurters, a slightly sweeter beer like a helles or golden lager for grilled brats. Try a crisp, dry Riesling if you don’t like beer.

Top photo by Martin Turzak at shutterstock.com

The best wines to pair with squash and pumpkin

Nothing proclaims autumn more clearly than squash and pumpkin but what wine should you pair with them?

It depends whether the dish is savoury or sweet obviously but here are a few options that might help

Wines to pair with roast or baked squash

Butternut squash in particular comes in a lot of guises but is fundamentally sweet, especially when you roast it. In general I favour rich whites like oak-aged chardonnay, Rhône varietals such as viognier, roussanne and marsanne and old vine chenin blanc either on its own or in a South African Cape white blend.

If you want a red I’d go for a warming Côtes du Rhône or similar wine made from Rhône varietals like grenache, syrah and mourvèdre.

Beerwise I’d be thinking of a saison or amber ale as I’ve suggested with this fabulous baked squash recipe from Claire Thomson

Wines for pumpkin or squash ravioli

A popular dish in Italy often served with crisp-fried sage and brown butter. Again the wines above would do the trick, but you might want to make them Italian. I’m thinking a good Soave or a rich Sicilian white like a fiano though I’ve also paired a Douro white successfully with pumpkin ravioli. The same advice would apply to butternut squash lasagne and butternut squash risotto too. I’ve also had some success pairing pumpkin gnocchi with gewurztraminer so you could try that with pasta too.

Wine with pumpkin or butternut squash soup

Again I’d be looking out for those smoother richer whites - chenin blanc, viognier and chardonnay - but perhaps slightly lighter-bodied than you’d pick for a roast squash recipe. If it were a spicy soup like this pumpkin coconut and lentil soup I’d go for an more aromatic white wine like the ones below

Wines for butternut squash or pumpkin curry

Butternut squash can handle quite a bit of spice and works well in a curry, especially with coconut milk. I’d choose a pinot gris, riesling or a light, maybe Chilean, gewurztraminer. Or our friend viognier again.

Butternut squash salads

Butternut squash in salads tends to be less about the squash and more about other ingredients such as feta, pesto or pumpkin seeds. Go for a brighter, crisper white such as Italian Greco or a Falanghina.

The best wine pairings for pumpkin pie

As much about the spices that are used as the pumpkin. Personally I like a rich moscatel but consult this post for other options.

Photo by Tatiana Vorona at shutterstock.com

Eight great drink pairings for sushi

You might think sushi would be tricky to pair with wine but surprisingly that’s not the case. And there are other drinks that work too.

There are of course different toppings and fillings for sushi, some mild, some, like eel, quite strongly flavoured but I don’t think you can be chopping and changing with each bite you eat.

What you do have to bear in mind is that you’re not only dealing with raw fish: sushi has a touch of sweetness to take account of too. And it also depends how much soy and wasabi you add.

Here are eight drinks I think make good pairings:

Koshu and other crisp whites. If you haven’t come across koshu you will soon. It’s a crisp clean white wine that’s made in Japan from the koshu grape. Marks & Spencer even stocks one. Other crisp whites like Muscadet, Chablis, Gruner Veltliner, Gavi and even Pinot Grigio work well too.

Low dosage champagne and other dry sparkling wines such as drier styles of prosecco and Crémant d’Alsace. Delicious.

Sake Not traditional in Japan (you don’t drink sake with rice) but it’s a brilliant combo, as is fino sherry. Chilled rather than warm.

Dry riesling - very dry - so think Alsace, Austria and southern Germany rather than the Mosel or more fruity rieslings from Australia or New Zealand.

Oaked Portuguese white - can’t explain exactly why but it works especially with the more full-on flavours of modern sushi (especially if it involves sesame) See this post about a meal I had in Foz.

Young red burgundy - now this may come as a surprise. It was recommended to me by a Japanese sommelier. I still prefer a white or sparkling wine with sushi but if you prefer a red this is the type to go for. (And see this very successful pairing with red Sancerre.)

Japanese beer - not the most flavourful but it feels right. Or other light lagers. A big sweet hoppy craft beer would be too overpowering.

Genmaicha (roasted rice) tea - refreshingly nutty. Served warm rather than piping hot. Green tea (though not matcha) is nice too.

image by Natalia Lisovskaya at shutterstock.com