Beetroot-cured salmon and Godello

Despite the razmatazz surrounding the launch of Dom Perignon 2003 and a serious amount of wine and truffle action to which I’ll devote more space shortly I’m picking a more modest match from last week - the delicious beetroot-cured salmon, capers and egg yolk and 2010 Godelia Godello I had at José Pizarro’s new London restaurant Pizarro.

This is the kind of dish you could easily pull off at home. Beetroot gives a nice note of earthiness and sweetness which counteracts the slight oiliness and smokiness of the salmon. The crisp citrussy Godello, the newly fashionable Spanish white, adds the equivalent of a squeeze of lemon. You’d think the egg would have an impact on the pairing but it simply adds an extra layer of richness.

The Godello would obviously go with other fish and shellfish dishes too such as crab - see the link below.

Fresh crab salad and 17 year old Muscadet (and yes, you did read that right!)

Apologies for returning once again to the subject of crab but it is one of my favourite summer foods and this was the outstanding match of last week.

The occasion was a lunch at The Seahorse in Devon to celebrate the launch of a campaign to promote South Devon crab which I’ve written about on my blog Food and Wine Finds but I didn’t touch on the very interesting wine pairings with which we experimented.

The most fascinating one was a 17 year old Muscadet Sevre et Maine called Le L d’Or from Pierre Luneau-Papin from the 1993 vintage. The idea of Muscadet lasting that long is almost inconceivable but it was still astonishingly fresh - piercingly intense and mineral and a perfect wine for the simply prepared crab salad we were served. You can read more about his domaine Pierre de la Grange here on winedoctor.

We also had a couple of other bottles open, a Costa di Giula 2008, a lush Vermentino-Sauvignon bland from Michele Satta Bolgheri which was particularly good with a dish of spiced brown crab and an exotically scented Traminer Aromatico from Conte Brandolini d’Adda which would have been better with a spicier preparation still such as spicy crab linguine or a south Indian crab curry.

I realise from my previous posts that I’ve found a fair number of good matches for fresh crab which does underline that it is one of the best types of seafood with which to enjoy an elegant, crisp dry white whether it’s a Muscadet, Sauvignon, Chablis or Albarino. Or a fine Chenin Blanc as I suggested the other week.

Godello and seafood

I’m increasingly impressed by the new generation of Spanish wines that are arriving on the shelves. The other day I had a fabulously crisp, zesty white called Godello from the up and coming region of Bierzo, in the region of Castilla y Leon in the north-west of Spain, not far from Galicia.

You won’t of course find it on every restaurant list - I found it at a pub just outside Cambridge called The Three Horseshoes at Madingley (+44 (0)1954 210221) that has always been noted for its excellent by-the-glass list.

The particular bottle we ordered, a 2006 Vega Montan Godello from Bodegas Adria, is similar in style to the fashionable seafood white Albariño though with a fruity character (starfruit) you don’t typically find in that wine. It was really wonderful with a starter of white and brown crab crostini served with samphire and shaved fennel - the white meat served plain, the brown, spiced with chilli and dill - one of a number of enticing-sounding dishes from an Italian-inspired, Jamie Oliver-esque menu that I’d certainly be inclined to go back and explore when we're next in the area. Like Jamie, the chef/owner Richard Stokes worked for the River Café in London.

At the moment Godello is sufficiently obscure to be a bargain so I’d snap up a few bottles if you can lay your hands on some. In the UK it’s imported by Alliance Wine. Like Albariño it would be a versatile and stylish seafood white to have in your cellar.