Cru classé Bordeaux and rack of lamb

Just as last week’s match of the week was a classic - so is this week’s: the main course we had at Oliver Peyton’s National Gallery Café at a dinner to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Circle of Wine Writers.

The wines were provided by the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux and included Lynch Bages Pauillac '96, Branaire-Ducru St-Julien ‘98 and Canon La Gaffelière St-Emilion 2001 all of which provided fascinatingly different pairings for the dish which was served medium-rare with broad bean and Jersey Royal crushed potatoes and a tomato and rosemary jus.

I personally thought the beautifully mellow, complex Lynch Bages was the best match with the relatively delicate flavours of the dish though the brighter, sweeter fruit of the La Gaffelière made an interesting counterpoint. Both it and the the Branaire-Ducru would probably have benefited from a dish with slightly more powerful seasoning though the herby note of the rosemary keyed into all three wines.

Of the other two courses I thought a dish of slightly oily hot-smoked sea trout failed to do justice to a sumptuous bottle of Chateau Latour Martillac Pessac-Léognan 2007 (a Riesling would have worked better, in my view but obviously this was a Bordeaux dinner) but the pairing of the 2002 Chateau Guiraud 2002 Sauternes with a lightly caramelised apple tarte tatin and honey clotted cream was spot on.

Image © Eventimages21 - Fotolia.com

Côte de Boeuf and Ridge Monte Bello 1999

Last week was a particularly indulgent one for dining out so it was a tough call coming up with my match of the week but I think it has to be the Côte du Boeuf I had at Racine with a stellar bottle of Ridge’s 1999 Monte Bello

Cabernet and beef, is of course a classic match but this combination really took it to another level. The meat, which came from O'Shea's Butchers of Knightsbridge, was grass-fed Black Angus which had been slaughtered at 36 months and hung for 34 days. It wasn’t overcharred which allowed its flavour to shine through.

The wine, which had been decanted 3 hours ahead, was just perfection - exotically scented and slightly smoky - an absolute treat. Interestingly its depth and complexity was set off slightly better by the meat on its own than with the accompanying barnaise sauce, delicious though that was.

Other stellar combinations from the lunch were asparagus with soft boiled eggs which had been rolled in breadcrumbs and deep-fried (perfect with a glass of Deutz Champagne) and an unctuously creamy créme caramel with a glass of 1994 Trimbach Gewurztraminer Selection des Grains Nobles.(Pure decadence!)

You can see why I had a problem picking my favourite pairing ;-)

Piggie burger and Pinot Noir

Pigs and Pinot is a well established combination that is the focus of an annual celebration at Charlie Palmer’s Dry Creek Kitchen at the Hotel Healdsburg and after reminding myself of the combination last week at Daniel Boulud’s new London outpost Bar Boulud I can see why.

I had his famous ‘Piggie Burger’, a conventional burger topped with pulled pork in a cheddar crusted bun with a glass of soft velvety Austrian Pinot Noir Kurzberg 2007 from Nittnaus and it was perfect. It would also have worked, had I had a glass earlier, with the splendid range of charcuterie that is a feature of the restaurant. (As it was I had a classic Pinot Blanc from Henri Bouges which worked perfectly well.)

At the moment they don’t have the wine flights the New York counterpart has but hopefully that will follow.

British cheeses and cider

I suppose I shouldn’t say this coming from the West Country but I often forget about cider when I’m thinking about cheese pairings. Not that I don’t enjoy it but there always seem more complex drinks with a wider range of flavours to experiment with.

But last week I was tasting a range of Somerset-based ciders from a producer called The Orchard Pig with cheese and was struck by just how well they went.

Standout matches were their Dry Table Cider with one of my favourite cheeses Gorwydd Caerphilly, Medium Table Cider with Keen’s cheddar (although I thought it would have worked still better with a slightly milder, mellower cheese like Hafod or Lincolnshire Poacher) and most interesting of all a new lighter 4.2% sparkling cider (the others are 6.5%) with Stichelton, an unpasteurised version of Stilton. (I wouldn’t draw the conclusion from that that all light ciders go with blues: Stichelton is exceptionally creamy in texture which worked particularly well with this palate-cleansing style)

The Orchard Pig also has a range of apple juices, one of which - an off-dry blend of Jonagold and Bramley - was absolutely delicious with the Keen’s.