Lambs sweetbreads with girolles and Louis Roederer Rich Champagne

It’s a bit of a long story. A customer of my friends Stephen and Judy Markwick who own the Bristol restaurant Culinaria wanted to track down some Louis Roederer Rich and I helped him find it. He wanted me to share a bottle with him as a reward which was totally unnecessary but a gesture it seemed churlish to refuse. (Or that's my excuse anyway!)

I wasn’t sure what to choose from the menu because it’s off-dry - though not as sweet as a demi-sec - and the most likely starter struck me as the one I wanted to order anyway which was lambs sweetbreads on toast with girolles which is served with a rich creamy sauce laced with Madeira. And it worked brilliantly - the lushness of the wine picking up on the sweetness in the Madeira and the fizz preserving the delicacy of the sweetbreads.

Admittedly the combination is a bit of an acquired taste. On another, less lavish, occasion I’d probably go for a red burgundy or other Pinot Noir or, with the wine, some mildly spiced Thai dishes (I think it’s at its very best with spicy food). Though I'm not sure whether they're currently producing it. I can't find it listed among the wines on their website though Berry Bros & Rudd still seem to have a limited quantity if you're a fan.

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Cucumber fritters and Sancerre

I think I’ve found the perfect match for Sancerre - and the perfect Sancerre to drink with them!

It’s cucumber fritters, a summer speciality of my good friend Stephen Markwick of Culinaria in Bristol. They’re served in a light, salty batter with dill-flavoured cream and some lightly dressed salad leaves and flowers including peashoots and nasturtiums which Stephen gets from Arne Herbs. I’d give you the recipe but it’s part of the collection that is going into the next cookbook I’m collaborating on with Stephen which will be out this autumn. (The first being A Very Honest Cook)

The Sancerre was great too: a 2008 from Pierre Riffault of Domaine du Carroir-Perrin which was wonderfully pure and mineral with just a hint of gooseberry fruit, elegant and restrained. It came from a local Bristol wine merchant, Vine Trail and you can read the full description here on their site.

Other Sauvignon Blancs would do but the more overt styles I think would overwhelm the delicacy of this quintessentially summery dish.

La Réserve de Léoville Barton with roast lamb and salsa verde

We had a celebration dinner with old friends the other night at my favourite local restaurant Culinaria so cracked open a bottle of La Réserve de Léoville Barton 2004*, a St Julien and the second wine of Léoville Barton. It really was quite lovely - rich, plummy, velvety - at its peak but with a few more years to go. It was everything you want from red Bordeaux (unless you have bottomless pockets)

For once I let the wine dictate my food choice, opting for a classic dish of roast lamb with salsa verde instead of the wild Irish sea trout with hake, langoustine and saffron cream sauce I actually fancied. I guess it would probably have rubbed by but the wine would undoubtedly have overwhelmed the delicacy of the dish. I was a little concerned about the salsa verde too but I needn’t have worried. It worked perfectly adding a herbal note that picked up perfectly on the claret. - much better, I remember thinking at the time, than that British abomination mint sauce.

I think it would probably have been a decent cheese wine if we had stuck to sympathetic cheeses such as not-over-matured cheddar, young washed-rind cheeses and sheeps’ cheese but we couldn’t resist pudding (pannacotta with Yorkshire rhubarb and blood orange)

Stephen Markwick of Culinaria, I can't resist mentioning, is the chef with whom I wrote a book last year: ‘A Very Honest Cook’ which you can buy from the restaurant for the incredibly modest price of £10 + p & p!

*You can buy the 2004 from Vineyards Direct at £22.95 a bottle if you buy by the case - about £5 less a bottle than I paid locally.

Game terrine and London dry gin

I’ve already written about how well game terrine pairs with oloroso sherry. Now I’ve discovered an equally good, if not better pairing: London Dry Gin.

The pâté I tried the other day - again from Stephen Markwick of Culinaria - was a hare one which was stronger than the previous guineafowl and pheasant version. It worked with a rare dry oloroso but I suddenly thought it would be interesting to see if I could pick out the juniper notes with a gin. The one I had to hand was Beefeater but any traditional London dry gin would do. (I say traditional because some newer gins like Whitley Neill accentuate other aromatic notes such as citrus.) Mine was at room temperature but I think it would be even better served cold like a frozen vodka shot. You could try the same pairing with a cold game pie.

If you want to make your own terrine - and I predict we're all going to be getting into home-made charcuterie next year - there’s a great master recipe (see right) in the book I’ve written with Stephen called A Very Honest Cook. You can still get it in time for Christmas if you ring the restaurant in time for them to catch the post today (0117 973 7999). Otherwise there’s always after Christmas . . .