Peaches, burrata and white vermouth

I knew that peaches and burrata were a perfect pairing but what to drink with them?

I happened to have a glass of Cocchi’s Extra Dry white vermouth to hand which I hadn’t really expected to work - vermouth is generally the sort of drink you sip before a meal rather than with one - but it was utterly delicious.

Although it states on the label it’s ‘extra dry’ it’s actually not. Not quite a bianco but definitely fruity - like a charentais melon with a citrus twist. I suspect the basil also enhanced the subtle herbal notes of the drink - it's definitely a modern and very accessible take on vermouth.

I just drank it over ice though you could have made it a longer drink with a light tonic or soda

I think the dish would also go with a rich aromatic sauvignon blanc, with a southern Italian white such as a Greco di Tufo or, as here, with a Cape White blend

Lovely and summery anyway.

Burrata and a Cape White blend

It’s been such a hectic week I haven’t been cooking or eating out much so I had to scratch my head for a standout match.

And I think it was probably this combination of burrata and a Cape White blend from South Africa's Franschhoek region not so much because they struck sparks off each other but that they were both delicious in their own way and rubbed along just fine, along with some anchovies and rather delicous charcuterie.

The wine, which which I discovered at my local wine bar Kask, has the rather romantic name of The Earth Beneath Our Feet and is a blend of chenin blanc, grenache blanc and roussanne (White blends based on chenin are known as a Cape White in South Africa.)

What I liked about it was that it had plenty of texture but also a lively freshness that cut through the unctuous creaminess of the burrata (which for those of you who are unfamiliar with it is like an overgrown, super-creamy mozzarella)

They also make a slightly earthy syrah I tried and enjoyed but the white was the star for me

You can buy it from their UK shop for £65 for six bottles + £6.95 delivery which seems very reasonable to me. Or, more conveniently if you live in Bristol, buy it direct from Kask for £12 a bottle.

Burrata and watermelon with Montej rosé

It’s not often that you come across a wine match that’s as successful as it’s unexpected but sommelier Ruth Spivey’s pairing of a fruity Monferrato chiaretto rosato (aka rosé) from Piedmont with a dish of burrata, pressed watermelon and pickled fennel at Arbutus the other night was spot on - and all the more impressive given that she hadn’t had a chance to taste the combination beforehand.

I’ve written about the evening - the first in a series of ‘wine wars’ where leading london sommeliers are invited to pit their wits against the restaurant’s co-owner and wine buyer Will Smith - in the wine pros section but I’ve tasted nothing better all week. The rosé perfectly echoed the fresh fruity flavour of the watermelon. It was like having liquid watermelon on the side!

I can’t find it listed by any UK retail stockist but it’s apparently imported by fortyfive10.com.

Wine pairing: burrata, beetroot and Albarino

This week I was at Heathcotes Brasserie in Preston, Lancashire for a wine dinner for which I’d had to devise the wine matches. Paul Heathcote, the chef, is an old sparring partner and obviously thought he’d put me on the spot by coming up with some challenging dishes.

This actually sounded more difficult than it was - a starter salad of beetroot with burrata (a richer version of mozzarella) and pea-shoots dressed with rapeseed oil and - the killer ingredient - fiery horseradish which was incorporated into a whipped cream.

Now sometimes beetroot dominates a dish and tends to suggest a fruity red (like Dolcetto or Pinot Noir) rather than a white but here it was the accompanying cheese and spicy horseradish I was concerned with. And it was the start of a five course meal which needed to feature different wines so the first one couldn’t be too dominant.

I picked a crisp, clean 2011 Orballo Albarino from Bodegas la Val in Rias Baixas in northern Spain which Ironically I later found (for £8.79) at local wine merchants D. Byrne of Clitheroe* which I’ll be writing about in due course. Although it was only 12.5% it had the intensity to handle the beetroot and the horseradish and made a refreshing contrast to both.

Incidentally I love getting involved in wine events like this so if you’d like me to come and host one with you - or simply help devise the pairings - contact me about rates at fiona AT matchingfoodandwine DOT com

* Also available, at the time of writing, for £9.39 at Rannoch Scott, £9.99 at Booths and - rather cheekily - for £10.99 from Virgin Wines. Not sure how they justify that.