Match of the week
Cicheti and an Aperol Spritz
If anyone can make Aperol - the Venetian Campari drinkalike - fashionable it's Russell Norman of Polpo, Polpetto, Spuntino and now Da Polpo - four of the coolest (and smallest) restaurants in London. Admittedly bitters are not to everyone's taste - they are...well...bitter but I find Aperol fruitier and easier to drink than Campari. The traditional way to serve it as as an Aperol spritz topped up with Prosecco and a whoosh of soda water - the perfect way to recover when the Tube is at its hellish steamy worst.
No self-respecting barman in Venice would dream of serving you a drink without a plate of cicheti which frequently don't amount to much more than a few dog-eared sandwiches but the Polpo stable's are in different league.
We were in the restaurant for some meatball action but managed to down a couple of pizette including this zucchini chilli and mint one (right) with which our spritzes paired perfectly.
You can order a whole lot of other delicious things like grilled fennel and white anchovy, and potato and parmesan crochettas. (Mmmm. Potatoes and cheese. My favourite.) A great place to graze.
Elderflower fritters and Moscato d'Asti
I’ve always thought of an elderflower spritzer as the perfect drink to pair with elderflower fritters - until this weekend when I tried them with Moscato d’Asti at the local underground supper club Montpelier Basement.
Makes sense of course. You get the same sweet, fragrant, gently sparkling accompaniment to what is a quintessential summer treat.
Elly of Montpelier Basement says she used this recipe from Silvano Franco on the Good Food Channel website. In the past I’ve used this one from Joyce Molyneux from her time at the Carved Angel in Dartmouth although I suspect the gooseberry sauce would probably overwhelm the wine. (Dan and Elly’s fritters were served with an elderflower posset.)
The wine was a Vigna Senza Nome 2009 from Braida in Piemonte - available, as last week’s wine of the week was - from Sommelier’s Choice but to be honest almost any Moscato d’Asti will do the trick.
Photo copyright Manfred Richter at Pixabay.com
Cauliflower tortellini with hazelnuts and 10 year old Muscadet
I agonised over which match to highlight this week - there were so many good ones, especially from my trip to the Jura which I’ll report on in the next couple of days but I’ve gone for this intriguing and off the wall pairing from a seasonal wine dinner at Lido in Bristol on Saturday night.
First the Muscadet - a 2001 vintage from Nicolas Choblet which spends 9 years on its lees in an underground tank. You’d think it would be dead as a dodo after that but in fact it was still extraordinarily crisp and fresh though with a nutty richness that proved the key to the pairing.
The dish was lovely too. Smooth rich cauliflower puree, toasted hazelnuts, melted butter plus a few chopped capers and olives to offset the richness. The nuttiness of the wine keyed into the hazelnuts and the acidity kept the combination fresh in the way that a more full-bodied Chardonnay, say, wouldn’t have done.
I also liked a younger Choblet Muscadet le Pavillon 2009 with a dish of plaice, crab, lovage, shrimp and ground elder. (Many of the ingredients in the dinner were foraged and added a note of bitterness that also worked well with the crisp young wine). It also worked well with a spicy Moroccan-style dish of rabbit, broad beans, peas, morcillla and mint which had a fair hit of chilli and rather overwhelmed the light Cabernet blend which was served with it.
Someone asked me the other day on Twitter whether I thought there would be a Muscadet revival and I said I didn’t see why not. It’s much improved as a wine, flexible with light, modern food - this is another wine dinner that was dominated by white wine - and has retro appeal. Let’s see if it happens!
Fruit kebabs and Moët Ice Imperial
A combination I came across at the launch of Moët’s new Ice Imperial Champagne last week - a Champagne that’s designed to be served over ice (yes, that’s right - with the ice actually in it)
It’s a clever idea. Champagne still seems a special occasion wine and maybe a bit dry for younger drinkers so they’ve come up with this demi-sec (medium-dry) cuvée which is served ice cold in large Chianti-style glasses. If that seems like sacrilege they stress it’s meant to be served on a hot day by the pool like a cocktail.
You can drop fresh berries or lime zest into it or - even better - serve it with fresh fruit kebabs like the ones pictured. (The strawberries were specially delicious).
There’s one hitch. You can’t buy it in the shops (unless you’re a celeb in which case I gather Moët will find some way to get it to you) and only drink it in a limited number of venues including, mysteriously, 10 in the Bournemouth area.
However I’m sure the match would work with any demi-sec Champagne served nice and cold or with a bottle of Asti or Clairette de Die.
Lemon roast chicken with spring vegetables and Brouilly
I’m always undecided as to whether I prefer red wine or white with roast chicken but of course it depends on the accompaniments and the time of year.
Last night we had it stuffed with lemon and sprinkled with a fantastic fines herbes mix of tarragon, chervil and chives I bought from the market in Nice a year or so ago. It’s a bit faded admittedly but I can’t bear to throw it away, the tarragon is so strong and the herbs so perfectly balanced.
I served it with asparagus, green beans and a mixture of celery and leeks braised in the lemony juices so it was as much a veggie dish really as a chickeny one.
The wine was a bottle of 2007 Brouilly La Croix des Rameaux from Jean-Claude Lapalu that had found its way into the back of the wine cupboard. Very funky on opening but delicious once decanted - still bright and fruity enough to keep the feel of the meal light and springlike but not remotely bubblegummy as you’d expect from a natural wine.
The dish would have gone equally well with a crisp white if I’d been inclined. I had a sip of not totally wonderful Falanghina with it which actually improved the taste of the wine. Chablis would have been good too.
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