Shake Shack burger and 2008 Quintarelli Primofiore

About the last thing you'd expect at the launch of a new burger joint is to be served a £59 bottle of wine. But then Danny Meyer, more famous for his New York fine dining spots, is no ordinary restaurateur.

And if he's asking whether I'd like to try his Quintarelli Primofiore, a premium blend of Corvina and Cabernet, with one of his Shake Shack burgers, well, who am I to refuse?

It was great with the burgers as you’d expect, the fresh acidity providing a perfect counterpoint to the juicy meat and gooey cheese. One of those matches which is more than the sum of its parts.

Surprisingly the wine was not just there for the launch but actually appears on the Shake Shack drinks list along with a selection of more affordable reds including a Malbec and a Zinfandel.

The burger I liked best though - and suspect I'll end up going back for - was the ‘shroom burger - a decadent, deep fried, portabella mushroom stuffed with cheese. (Though obviously not on a 'fast day'.) That would pair well with the Quintarelli too but I think I'd settle for the rather more modest Shack Red which is made for the chain by California winery Frog's Leap. Or, even better, a shake or a float . . .

If you can't face the queues at Shake Shack (which is in the piazza in Covent Garden) just try the same combination at home. A classic cheeseburger and an Italian red. It works.

Sake and food pairing: Chilean seabass hobayaki with warm daiginjo sake

I was always taught the best sakes were served chilled but the other evening at London's Sake no Hana I got to taste a super-premium daiginjo sake at room temperature with a dish of grilled Chilean seabass and it matched perfectly.

It was part of a menu that is served as part of the restaurant’s new Introduction to Sake course* which has been devised by Hakkasan’s head wine buyer Christine Parkinson and wine writer and sake enthusiast Anthony Rose.

I’ll be writing more about the course which starts this month* but just wanted to highlight this pairing of a very delicate, fragrant clean-tasting Tamagawa ‘Kinsho’ daiginjo sake made (very surprisingly) by a British brewer Philip Harper for the Kinoshita brewing company with a piece of grilled Chilean seabass with white miso.

The sake was served warm and chilled but interestingly the warmer version was, I thought, the better match with this hot savoury dish. (And the chilled version with the sushi that followed it although it’s not traditional, as I understand it, to serve sake with rice-based dishes.)

Sake is a natural pairing for umami-rich Japanese dishes like this.

*The half day courses will take place once a month on Saturday mornings and include a tasting followed by lunch at the sushi counter for £60 per person. For dates check out the restaurant website.

Pannacotta with spiced candied tomatoes and tomato liqueur

This has to be one of the most off-the-wall drink pairings not only this year but since the site was first created over 10 years ago:

I came across it at an exciting new restaurant called Grainstore which has vegetables at its heart, hence the tomatoes (you can find my review here).

In fact they had a rich, sweet almost balsamic vinegar-like taste that made them taste more like a fruit (which, of course, technically they are) and were served with the most superbly wobbly goats' milk pannacotta.

Goodness knows what one would have chosen in terms of a dessert wine so they didn’t even try, serving instead a French tomato flavoured liqueur called 72 Tomates which brilliantly echoed the flavour in the candied tomatoes. (The name comes from the fact that the liqueur apparently contains 72 kinds of tomatoes - I didn’t even know there were that many!)

It’s also being served at a restaurant called Assiette Anglaise with a cheese & fruit selection with pear and saffron chutney which I can imagine would work really well too.

Dessert wine pairing: ‘Sweet Thai Green Curry’ with Lapeyre Jurancon

This wine pairing may sound difficult to get your head round - let’s face it, it is! - but it was a very clever dessert at the 3 star De Librije in Zwolle, Holland last week

Basically it was a fruit salad with Thai seasoning - mango, pineapple, sweet basil, galangal, wasabi meringues and green curry ice-cream according to my hastily scrawled notes with what tasted like a light but fiery ginger beer syrup. Served very cold on an ice pack in case you’re wondering what that is in the picture.

It paired perfectly with a light lush Jurancon from Clos Lapeyre - the 2009 ‘La Magendia’, a blend of Petit Manseng, Gros Manseng and Courbu. You can buy it in the UK from Ellis Wharton (it's currently on offer for £11.75 a half bottle), £14 from Bottle Apostle or £21.17 a full bottle from Wine Bear amongst others (see wine-searcher.com for other stockists).

Obviously this is a dish you’re not going to be easily able to replicate - unless you’re a three star chef - but it suggests that a tropical fruit salad with ginger or chilli might well work with the same type of wine.