Bacchus and coriander salsa

English wine isn’t probably not the first bottle you’d reach for if you were serving a punchy salsa but on the basis of last week’s experiment maybe you should!

I was helping a friend make supper and she handed me a spinach pesto and asked me to zhuzh it up. I added some finely sliced spring onions, a bit of chilli, a good squeeze of lime, more herbs (mainly coriander and mint) and it turned into a creditable salsa which we had with some grilled tuna, tomatoes and mange tout.

I’d also taken along a couple of bottles including this very snappily packaged Bacchus which provided an extra layer of citrus that offset the salsa perfectly. It comes in a colourful paper bottle which is made from recycled paper, with a recyclable plastic pouch - rather like a mini bag-in-box which apparently gives it a carbon footprint six times lower than glass.You can buy it from Avery's in Bristol and Laithwaites for £18.99 or £14.99 if you buy any 12 wines from them. (You can see a couple of other recommendations from their range in a recent Guardian column)

A fun wine to take to a dinner party.

Bacchus and chilli

The most surprising wine pairing discovery of the year so far is that England’s Bacchus is remarkably good with chilli

I had one (the award-winning New Hall Bacchus Fumé) with kimchi the other day and thought it must be a fluke as Bacchus is generally quite low in alcohol and it seemed unlikely it would stand up to such punchy flavours but last week I tried another one - the 2020 Dillions Vineyard Bacchus from Sussex - with the first course of an amazing seafood feast from Ixta Belfrage of spicy cassava crisps, radishes and a zesty lime mayo and it was perfect.

To be fair the back label on the Dillions Bacchus does suggest Asian food as a pairing so they’re onto it too.

Why? I guess it’s because with its bright citrus and passionfruit flavours Bacchus is quite similar to sauvignon blanc which would be another go-to with these kind of flavours but I always think the image of Bacchus is rather genteel, perfect for English summer food like my other suggestions here. Turns out you don’t have to treat it that gingerly

PS Also in the photograph was a hibiscus, strawberry and lime agua fresca which of course matched the cassava chips and dip too

Thai green curry and English rosé

Those of you who follow the site closely might have noticed the Match of the Week slot had disappeared. Because I was no longer travelling and eating out I thought what I was drinking with what would be of little interest and that you probably wouldn’t be able to get hold of the bottles I was writing about anyway

How wrong I was!

In fact the limitation of choice has actually sparked a burst of creativity among you all judging by what I’ve seen on Twitter and our own Matching Food and Wine Facebook group* too. And people are digging out many of their most treasured bottles to enjoy with food to match - a tactic for dealing with the lockdown of which I heartily approve

So this week’s pairing is one of those rare partnerships when the wine and the food both rise to greater heights. The dish was a Thai green prawn curry I made with one of the cook-in sauces I’d been sent to try by The Fresh Sauce Co about whom you can read in our 5 reasons slot and the wine an English pinot noir rosé I’d been tasting from Dunleavy vineyards.

Now rosé, I know, is pretty good at handling spice (I also like it with Indian food) but this was a) very dry and b) only 11.5%, too light you would think to stand up to a really punchy green curry sauce. But it not only survived but blossomed, the curry miraculously accentuating its very pretty fruit.

So on the basis of this I’m reckoning most Provence rosés would go with a Thai green curry too but if you want to support English producers you can buy Dunleavy’s rosé for £12.95 with free delivery if you buy 6 or more bottles.

* do join and share what you’re eating and drinking

For other rosé pairings check out The Best Food Pairings for rosé

Image ©iblinova on Adobe Stock cos my late night shot really was tooo dark and blurry and I'd chucked inauthentic broccoli and peas into my curry!

Asparagus and Rondo (English red)

A wine-loving friend and I weren’t sure what to order the other night at Native in Southwark. The menu was suitably springlike but having had a glass of white beforehand (at the excellent Bar Douro) we fancied a red

Scrolling down the list we spotted a bottle of Three Choirs 2017 Ravens Hill, a blend of Rondo, Regent and other red grape varieties from Gloucestershire. It was light (11.5%), crunchy and delicious - quite similar in style to a Loire red.

We asked for it to be chilled and it sailed through the meal, particularly with the dishes that contained asparagus and alexander, a crunchy, herby, slightly bitter plant, also called horse parsley. The wine didn’t overwhelm the delicate crab they served with it either and also went well with my slightly sweet main course of pork with apple béarnaise and root vegetables

I haven’t taken Three Choirs who have been on the English wine scene for a good while, particularly seriously in the past but they do an attractive and reasonably priced own label English white for the Wine Society for £8.25. The Ravens Hill is £13.99 from the Oxford Wine Company.

For other asparagus pairings see Top Wine Pairings with Asparagus