Wild asparagus and Istrian Malvazija

This week’s wine pairing couldn’t be anything else but Istrian having spent three days in this northern part of Croatia last week. Surprisingly it turns out to be a great gastronomic destination - not from the point of view of fine dining but of respect for local traditions, ingredients and grape varieties.

We went during the wild asparagus festival, a month-long promotion called Days of Istrian Asparagus which lasts till the beginning of May. It has a stronger, slightly more bitter, herbal taste than the green asparagus we get here and is served with eggs, a rolled pasta called pljukanci and as a risotto (right. You can see a couple of the egg dishes here)

The most widely available white wine in Istria is malvazija (Malvasia) so that’s naturally what the locals drink with it. Most commonly it’s a fresh crisp, aromatic white with an attractive floral character although there are older vintages made with extended skin contact which have richer, more complex flavours, better suited to the region's other great speciality, white truffles‘.

There are apparently some 30 different types of Malvasia, mainly across the Mediterranean according to the quaintly translated website Vinistra which contains more than you probably ever need to know about the variety

For a list of producers contact Pacta Connect who import Istrian wines into the UK and hosted our trip. They’re bringing over some of their producers to the Real Wine Fair in London this May.

Velouté of asparagus with Grüner Veltliner

It's been a while since I've posted about soup - it's notoriously tricky to match with wine - but this weekend I came across a great combination at a new restaurant in Bath, the oddly named Menu Gordon Jones*

It was a classic velouté - silky smooth and creamy with the delicate flavour of the new season's English asparagus.

It would have been easy to overwhelm it with a fruity white like a Sauvignon Blanc but the 2010 Meinklang Burgenland Grüner Veltliner we'd ordered was perfect crisp counterfoil.

It also paired brilliantly well with a cocotte of sole, red mullet, mussels and spring vegetables that was served as the main course.

The more I drink Grüner Veltliner, the more I think it's one of the most versatile restaurant wines around. And this one was only 11.5% which makes it the perfect lunchtime option.

*A curious place. The chef can certainly cook but I couldn't wholeheartedly recommend it. See my review here.

Ceviche and Pisco Soho

Last week was particularly good for off-the-wall pairings but I'm going to nominate this delicious cocktail as my match of the week.It was at the new Peruvian restaurant and bar, Ceviche and was a wonderfully refreshing mixture of limo aji chilli-infused pisco (limo aji chilli is a native Peruvian pepper) with elderflower liqueur, cucumber, lime, egg white and cracked black pepper.

Unfortunately I’d ordered a straight Pisco sour (still good but not in quite the same league) so I only got a sip but can vouch that it went perfectly with the two ceviches we ordered, a tiradito of salmon and a tiradito of seabass in aji amarillo tiger’s milk and cancha corn (pictured right).

If you go there, I'd eat in the bar which is lighter and more spacious than the restaurant

Ceviche is at 17 Frith Street, London W1D 4RD

I ate at Ceviche as a guest of the restaurant

Chocolate brownie and Churchill Late Bottled Vintage Port

I was invited to host a food and wine evening by the Bristol Uni Wine Circle last week which I have to say, despite the vast quantities of food and drink consumed, they took impressively seriously.

We kicked off with champagne (Pol Roger 2000), moved on to manzanilla (La Gitana) and tapas, then prawn and monkfish brochettes with leek puree with Avery’s Clare Valley riesling followed by duck pie and mushroom risotto which were paired with a 2006 Chambolle Musigny Aux Echanges from Nicolas Potel and a 2010 Luis Felipe Edwards Reserva Pinot Noir from Chile (the Chambolle went best).

Then - deep breath - apple flan and Sauternes (Bastor Lamontagne 2006) followed by Roquefort, LBV port, Maury and chocolate brownies. All I can say is that I hope the Wine Circle members land themselves a well-paid job. They’ll need it to keep up that lifestyle.

All the pairings went pretty well I thought. I particularly liked the prawns and riesling but the standout combination was the Churchill 2003 LBV port and rich dark chocolate brownie. I’d expected the Maury to be the better match but as it was an very old vintage (1974) the fruit was a bit dried out. The Churchill however was in its prime - beautifully smooth and velvety with a lovely flavour of wild blackberries. It went well with the cheese too. A great way to end a meal - or, rather, marathon blowout.

Most of the wines came from Avery's, I think, except the Churchill LBV which I ironically wrote about last week on the Guardian website in a blog about wine clubs. It's quite widely available though, as I pointed out, prices fluctuate considerably - from £11.80 at slurp.co.uk to £15.50 at Oddbins who also recommend pairing it with dark chocolate - and Fats Waller (part of their new pairing wine and music schtik!)