Pithivier of pigeon with Hermitage jus and 2011 Château Plaisance, Fronton

Matching a rich dish like pigeon with wine is quite challenging, especially if you serve it with an intense jus like this one so should you go for something equally rich or a refreshing contrast?

The sommelier at Galvin Bistrot de Luxe went for the latter option at a dinner to celebrate the restaurant’s eighth anniversary last week, choosing a light fresh dry Fronton from south-west France instead of a similar Rhone like a Crozes Hermitage or a Hermitage itself and it was absolutely perfect.

It may have been in his mind that the dish followed on two rich main courses with equally rich wines. The first course was a velouté of Potimarron squash with ceps and chestnuts (matched with a 2011 Chateau Lamothe-Bouscaut Pessac-Léognan) and the second a lasagne of crab with beurre Nantais which was paired with a 2009 vintage of the Galvin’s own label white burgundy, which is made for them by Vincent Girardin. They were great matches too (you get three for the price of one in match of the week this week!)

The art of food and wine matching is all about balance - not only in a single dish but right throughout the meal

Pigeon 'tagine' with Jaboulet Ainé Hermitage La Chapelle 1994

I came across this pairing at Chris and Jeff Galvin’s newly opened Galvin La Chapelle in Spitalfields in the City where they have a vertical of vintages, some of which are available by the glass. As I observed in my review on decanter.com it’s not a cheap option but if you’ve never tasted an old vintage of Hermitage la Chapelle here’s a chance to do so.

I was slightly worried whether my glass of ‘94 would hold up against what was described as a ‘tagine’ but needn’t have worried. It was a most refined, subtly spiced version (see right) with a little ‘cigar’ of pigeon meat, a disc of couscous and a not too hot, slightly smoky harissa sauce.

It actually showed off the Hermitage better than our other dish of braised veal cheek whose sticky, unctuous sauce took the edge off the wine’s ‘sousbois’ character and subtle, almost figgy fruit.

I wouldn’t extrapolate from this to say that a less ‘cheffy’ home-made tagine was the ideal match for so grand a wine but it suggests a similar spectrum of Moroccan flavours would work with a lesser Rhône red such as a St Joseph or a Crozes-Hermitage, a Syrah blend from the Languedoc and also, I fancy, a Château Musar.

* I ate at Galvin La Chapelle as a guest of the restaurant.