Braised short ribs in red wine with Les Clos Perdus Corbières

The weather has been so absurdly autumnal this week that I cooked a substantial stew for friends on Saturday night, an intensely flavoured braise of beef short ribs (or pot au feu as our local butcher describes them) with plenty of lush, red wine (a Valdivieso Cabernet Sauvignon from the Maipo Valley in Chile which is part of the Waitrose own label range).

Because this cut is quite fatty even when skimmed I wanted something drier with more pronounced acidity to accompany it and had the perfect answer in a couple of beautifully crafted reds I’d come across at the Bristol Wine and Food Fair last month and which I'd been dying to try with food.

They’re from a domaine called Les Clos Perdus which is based in Peyriac de Mer in Languedoc and is run on biodynamic principles by an Australian and an Englishman with an unusual background - Paul Old, a former dancer who trained as a winemaker in Australia and Hugo Stewart who used to be a farmer in Wiltshire.

The two wines we drank with the stew were the 2005 Cuvée 31, a blend of Mourvèdre, Carignan and Grenache from Peyriac de Mer and 2005 Prioundo, a blend of Grenache, Cinsault and Mourvèdre. They couldn’t have been better with the stew though being a Mourvèdre fan I marginally preferred the Cuvée 31 which was more supple and aromatic. The Prioundo struck me as very similar to a Priorat.

You can buy their wines online by the case (Prioundo is £132, Cuvée 31, £149) or by the bottle from independent wine merchants such as Green & Blue in London and Corks of Cotham in Bristol. You can also find them in a number of top London restaurants such as Gordon Ramsay at Claridges, Club Gascon and The Square.

Chicken with sweet peppers and Tempranillo

I’m constantly amazed at the stream of good value reds that is coming out of Spain these days. Here’s another - La Copa Tempranillo 2005 from the up and coming Campo de Borja wine region which is situated in Aragon to the north west of Zaragoza. It appears to be made by a co-operative, the Cooperative de Santo Cristo de Magallon but is none the worse for that.

It’s a vibrant, juicy, full-flavoured red which would happily accompany all kinds of everyday dishes but the pairing I was struck by was a Spanish-style chicken casserole with sweet red peppers, onions and pimenton, appropriately enough. I’d also like it with dishes with chorizo and chickpeas, other spicy sausages or with a chilli. The importers, Moreno Wines, which sells it in the UK for £5.75, recommend lamb, turkey, smoked meats and grilled or fried venison.

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