Roast chicken and Rioja (but not all riojas!)

Another great chicken pairing following last week’s ‘cos you can never have too many of them.

You might question whether Rioja was the ideal match for roast chicken but there’s rioja and rioja.

This one was admittedly a top notch one, the ‘San Vicente de la Sonsierra,’ from José Gil, from a recent vintage (2022) and made in a much lighter, brighter style than is typical of rioja. (The alcohol was only 13.5%). More like a Burgundy than an old school rioja or Bordeaux. Interestingly Gil trained in Burgundy.

It’s actually one of the most delicious reds I’ve tasted all year - as indeed it should be at a slightly painful £41 from North Norfolk Cellars and £45 from Chesters in Abergavenny. Still, why should one automatically expect Rioja to be cheap?

The chicken was roasted simply with roasties, runner beans, courgettes and bread sauce so it needed a lighter style of red. (Gil also eschews new oak.) And the Rioja very lightly chilled.

Also a reminder that when you have a good red to hand to keep the food simple!

For other roast chicken recipes see here

And for other rioja pairings here 

Tongdak (rice-stuffed chicken) and orange wine

Continuing in the spicy food vein of last week, this time I was eating at a Korean restaurant called Bokman in Bristol.

I started with a Korean lager called Cass and could happily have carried on drinking that but was tempted by the orange wine which was available by the glass.

It was a Vincent Stoeffler, Feu Follet from Alsace, a blend of muscat, gewürztraminer and pinot gris ‘aromatics dialled up to the max’ as the wine list nicely put it.

Aromatic varieties like this that work particularly well in orange wine (which is white wine made by leaving the juice in contact with the skins as you do with a red) and it really was delicious, full of tropical fruit flavours and a touch of sweetness that took the the hot/sweet dipping sauces with our Tongdak (rice stuffed roast chicken) in their stride.

It was, if anything, even better with the sensationally good Bokman salad which consists of Chinese leaves, toasted seaweed, pine nuts and a ‘house dressing’ which I’m guessing was based on kimchi or kimchi brine. Which suggests that orange wine would be good with kimchi provided it wasn’t too hot.

You can find the wine between £22 and £28 in the UK (e.g. £25 at Victor Indigo November which is a great name) though if you’re lucky enough to live in France you can buy it off the producer’s website for €13.60.

For other orange wine pairings see here

Satay and aromatic whites

What do you drink at those restaurants that have multiple small plates - I.e. most restaurants these days?

Well it depends on the dominant style of the food. Spanish tapas and middle eastern mezze being different from predominantly Asian-inspired dishes.

It was the latter I came across at Square Bistro in Lisburn in Northern Ireland last week: a couple of dishes in particular - the lobster with pickled cabbage, apple and ponzu and salt and chilli prawns with satay and charred lettuce with roast peanuts - hit the spot with a wine from Australian producer Peter Lehmann called Layers.

It was an off-dry a blend of semillon, muscat, gewürztraminer and pinot gris - a ’21 vintage but still tasting fresh. The advantage of having multiple grape varieties in the blend is that no one variety dominates (muscat and gewürztraminer being particularly prone to do that) so will rub along with anything a bit spicy. Not that these dishes were hot.

You can buy it for £12.75 from Define fine wines in Birmingham although the more current 2022 vintage is £16.50 (at Alexander Hadleigh). Serve well chilled.

If you like satay see also this recipe for Five Spiced Smoked Tofu nuggets 

Monkfish with chorizo and godello

I finally got to The Sportsman at Seasalter in Kent this week - a restaurant I’ve been wanting to go to for years. It more than lived up to expectations - which isn’t always the case with a famous restaurant is it? - in terms of service as well as food but there was a standout wine pairing from the meal I was particularly impressed by.

The dish was an unusual one of monkfish with a surprisingly creamy chorizo sauce and green olive tapenade. It was the spicy pimento flavour of the chorizo that made it such a great match with the wine I’d chosen - a 2022 Louro de Bolo Godello from Rafael Palacios from Valdeorras in northern Spain.

Godello can actually taste quite ordinary - like a cheap and cheerful chardonnay - but this was full and complex with great acidity that made the pairing with the monkfish more than the sum of its parts. And also suggests godello might be able to handle other spicy dishes.

You can find it in a number of indies including Vino Gusto who are selling it for £22 or £20.90 if you buy any six bottles (+ you get 10% off for a first order). Which makes the Sportsman’s list price of £49.95 pretty reasonable. (Their mark-ups are modest)