Match of the week
Hake with pork dumplings and Côtes du Rhône
I suspect most of you know that you can drink red wine with fish these days but you may well stick to lighter reds like pinot noir. But this week’s match of the week proves you can drink a more full-bodied red if the food is robust enough.
The dish was part of fixed price menu at Breaking Bread, a pop-up restaurant on the Downs in Bristol hosted by two local restaurants, The Pony and Trap and a combined effort from Pasta Loco and Pasta Ripiena which have been closed during the Coronavirus pandemic.
As I ate with a friend who was writing a piece on the Bristol food scene we were allowed to dip into both but a dish of hake and pork belly dumpling with roasted hazelnut from The Pony was a definite highlight. Obviously the pork was one red wine-friendly element but there was also a rich deep meaty sauce which made the match with a big generous Côtes du Rhône from an enterprising co-op called Les Vignerons de Esterzargues surprisingly successful. It was the latest vintage of their Terre de Mistral (available from Buon Vino and Joseph Barnes among others in the UK) and full of vibrant fruit but not at all jammy. Just a delicious combination.
For other occasions when you can drink red wine with fish read When to pair red wine with fish
Slow-cooked beef cheek and Cotes du Rhone
There’s so much inexpensive Côtes du Rhône about that it’s easy to forget that it can be a sufficiently substantial wine to take on a richly flavoured dish, especially if it comes from a named village and a good vintage.
The dish, which we had at Clarette in Marylebone, was a main course of slow cooked beef cheek with a luxuriant olive oil-based mash, onion and bone marrow - the charred onion really adding to the success of the pairing.
And the wine? The powerful Domaine des Maravilhas, Maestral Rouge 2015, Côtes du Rhône Villages Laudun (a classic blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre) which comes from a biodynamically run estate. It doesn't retail in the UK but obviously a similar style of Côtes du Rhône would work equally well.
I ate at Clarette as a guest of Inter Rhône
Vinsobres with wild boar stew and chestnut polenta
You’d expect a Southern Rhône red to go with wild boar but in fact it was the chestnut polenta that made the match with this former Côtes du Rhône ‘cru’ so successful
The dish was cooked as part of a five course tasting menu by Matt Williamson formerly of Flinty Red in Bristol at an inaugural event for wefifo in Bristol. (Wefifo is like a foodie equivalent of Airbnb where hosts cook for paying guests.)
The wines were chosen by local wine importer Nick Brookes of Vine Trail and the dish was paired with a 2012 Vinsobres ‘Emile’ from a biodynamic estate called Domaine de la Pequelette. It was a typically southern Rhone blend of 75% Grenache, 10% Mourvèdre, 10% Syrah and 5% Carignan from low-yielding old vines - full-bodied, deep and savoury.
I think it was the grenache in particular that chimed in with the rich meat and sweet, chestnutty polenta. I’d definitely thinking about pairing grenache with chestnut again.
Duck a l’orange and Gramenon Poignée de Raisins 2011
It’s such a long time since I’ve eaten duck à l’orange that I’ve rather lost track of the best match for it but the vivid, joyous Gramenon Poignée de Raisins I was offered last week by the sommelier at Brasserie Chavot proved the perfect pairing.
Eric’s twist was to serve the duck, which was cooked rare, with caramelised endive (chicory) with created a bittersweet note that chimed beautifully with the dark sweet flavour of the orange-spiked sauce. (You can easily overdo the orange in this dish but he judged it perfectly.)
What you want is a bright red to pick up on that orange - a bit like a Cumberland sauce. Pinot Noir, my usual go-to for duck, seems a bit sweet on this occasion. I would normally have gone for a good Beaujolais like a Morgon but this ripe, delicious young Rhone - mainly Grenache from an organic and biodynamic estate - was the ideal counterpoint. It’s made pretty naturally with no fining or filtration and only the minimum of sulphur. (Poignée de raisins means a fistful of grapes.)
You can read more about the estate on Vinofreakism and Kermit Lynch websites and my meal at Brasserie Chavot here.
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