Mackerel pasty and Gusbourne Blanc de Blancs 2006

This actually wasn't the dish with which I drank this brilliant new sparkling wine at Rocksalt in Folkestone last week - I'd unfortunately finished my glass by then - but it would certainly have been a knockout wine pairing.

You can see my full account of the meal on my Food & Wine Finds blog here. The mackerel pasty - a combination of mackerel and pork sausage meat - might sound weird but was surprisingly light, savoury and absolutely delicious.

By then we'd moved on to a carafe of Birgit Eichinger Hasel Grüner Veltliner but to tell the truth the Gusbourne, a new sparkling wine which comes from a vineyard just five miles away from the restaurant in Kent, would have been a better match. (Fizz is generally a good call with pastry and fish.)

It was an interesting wine - softer and richer than a comparable Champagne. It won a silver medal in this year's IWSC competition - a considerable coup from a new wine producer. You can buy it direct off their website for £24.99 a bottle.

Other good matches would have been a best bitter or a medium dry cider. Or even a perry.

Scrambled eggs and sparkling wine

If your New Year breakfast today includes eggs, especially brunch-type dishes such as scrambled eggs with smoked salmon or eggs benedict there’s no better partner than Champagne or other dry sparkling wine.

The bubbles deal with the one of the perceived problems with matching eggs and wine - the way the runny yolk coats the palate and can make still dry whites taste thin and sharp.

But it’s not just the bubbles: the crisp, refreshing quality of sparkling wine is just want you want with a dish like eggs. Sparkling Chardonnays and blanc de blancs Champagnes work particularly well because of their creaminess. You can also mix your bubbly 50/50 with freshly squeezed orange juice for a restorative and slightly healthier Bucks Fizz.

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