Match of the week
Boeuf bourguignon and Saint-Romain
It should really come as no surprise that a beef stew made with red burgundy should pair with red burgundy but when you think about it it’s not a given. A rich stew cooked for hours in red wine accompanied with a light red burgundy doesn’t sound like a match made in heaven even if the cooking wine involved is burgundy.
But it works as I can testify from a meal at the Hotel les Roches in Saint Romain last week when a youthful bottle of Frederic Cossard’s delicious 2011 Domaine de Chassorney Saint-Romain ‘Sous Roche’ proved the ideal counterpoint to one of the darkest most intense bourguignons I’ve had for a long while, just lifting the flavours rather than being obliterated by them. I’m not at all sure that a more full-bodied burgundy let alone a lusher, riper pinot noir would have done any better.
Proof, if proof were needed, that the classic wine matches are hard to beat!
Braised short ribs and Monastrell (aka Mourvèdre)
One of the tricky decisions to make when you’re serving a rich, winey stew is whether to go for a wine of equal weight or a lighter medium-bodied wine as a refreshing contrast.
We tried both options last night with a dish of short ribs I’d cooked overnight in the best part of a bottle of a Marquesa de la Cruz GSM (Garnacha Syrah Mazuelo) from Campo de Borja 2010 (6.99 Sainsbury’s) an ultraripe, lush, almost porty red that clocked in at 14.5%. Great for the ribs, not so great with them (too soft and sweet for what had become deep savoury flavours)
The final dish also defeated a Chianti Classico - much too light - but found its soulmate in another Spanish red, a Casa Castillo Monastrell 2009 Jumilla 14% imported by C & D wines, which turns out to retail at only 5.33 from Vinissimus though they have moved on to the 2010 vintage. It too was full-bodied (14%) but had a spiciness and structure that the GSM lacked. A terrific match.
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