Choucroute and Alsace riesling

I do love a tried and tested terroir-based wine match and there’s nothing better to pair with a dish of choucroute (almost Alsace’s national dish*) than a glass of the local riesling

I didn’t come across it in Alsace though but at a wine evening last week at my favourite Bristol wine bar Bar Buvette. The guest winemaker was Marie Boesch of Leon Boesch, a family-owned producer I visited a couple of years ago and whose wines are imported by Vine Trail which is also Bristol-based.

Although they’re biodynamic they’re not at all funky, just incredibly pure, live and expressive. The 2016 Les Grandes LIgnes riesling which I’ve subsequently bought was my favourite but the sylvaner worked very well too.

The choucroute was also unusually good. It can be a bit of an acquired taste - quite sour and sharp from the fermented cabbage but this was a big hearty wholesome plate of food with a good dollop of mustard.

Bar Buvette also does a cracking tartiflette

* Yes, I do realise Alsace is not a country but it's a very different part of France that almost feels like an independent nation!

Coq au riesling and Alsace riesling

One category of wine pairings that pretty well always works are ‘terroir-based’ matches - in other words wine and food combinations that have grown up with each other - and this week’s is one of those.

The dish was on offer at the newly opened Bellanger in Islington, which has a menu with a distinctly Alsatian twist (as in hailing from Alsace rather than dog-themed, obviously) You can order it for one, two or four - an extravagant touch which I rather enjoyed. We indulgently accompanied it with pommes aligot, an outrageously rich potato purée.

Choosing a wine to go with it was a bit of a no-brainer. It had to be Alsace riesling - a half bottle of Les Fossiles 2014 from Mittnacht Frères, as we were drinking quite modestly. It matched it quite perfectly - sometimes it pays not to reinvent the wheel.

Bellanger by the way is a delight - a typical Corbin & King restaurant: wood-panelled. flatteringly lit and super-glamourous. If you like their other restaurants (The Wolseley, The Delaunay, Fischer’s et al) you'll adore it. It is comparatively pricey for Islington, though. It will be interesting to see how they get on though my friend Thane looks like she may keep it in business single-handedly.