Dom Pérignon rosé 2002 and sweet shrimp

I was in two minds about making this my match of the week because I’m not sure that the new DP vintage rosé - like many great wines - doesn’t taste better on its own.

But chances are if you’ve got a bottle you might want to accompany it with something and one of the courses we had at the international launch in Istanbul last week had the sort of flavours that I’d look for if I was ever in a position to repeat the exercise at home.

It was, in fact, two dishes - one of Iskenderun shrimps (a local delicacy) with chestnut chips and baked squash which brought an unusual note of sweetness to the party. Then, in a separate bowl, a shrimp’s head - roasted I’d say - served with a pool of an intensely dark fishy broth that tasted a bit like an armoricaine sauce.

And what of the wine? What does the 2002 DP rosé taste like? Well, it’s hard to divorce it from the circumstances and location in which we tasted it which was, of course, the object of the exercise. It was unexpectedly rich - something you might expect from a 2003 but less from a 2002 vintage though Dom Pérignon’s chef de cave Richard Geoffroy said ’02 was a riper year. I could pick up spice - mainly saffron - though that may have been auto-suggestion and a touch of rose. On the other hand maybe the exotic character of the wine inspired the venue.

Most remarkable of all though was the colour - a rich bronze which turned almost to orange in the sunlight, reflecting the vivid red hair of one of the journalists sitting opposite me at the tasting. I remember thinking they should have got Christina Hendricks to promote it but I guess Johnnie Walker got there first.

I don’t know at this stage what it will cost retail - my guess is slightly more than the £250 the 2000 vintage is currently selling for. Older vintages are over £300. So you might as well go for broke and drink it with a couple of lobsters. And maybe a glamourous redhead . . .

Hot dogs and champagne

One of the under-appreciated qualities of champagne is how well it goes with fast food. Like fish and chips, fried chicken, popcorn and . . . er . . . hot dogs. Or so the clever founders of Bubbledogs discovered and found themselves with a smash hit on their hands.

I must admit I was sceptical. Beer goes, sure, and there is a logic to combining bread with bubbles but some of the fillings sounded pretty challenging for £50+ bottles of champagne.

I chose a ‘breakie dog’, a sausage wrapped in bacon, topped with a fried egg and a scattering of black pudding which paired very well with a glass of rich, golden, almost honeyed Christophe Mignon brut nature (that’s without any added sugar or ‘dosage’ as they call it). It also went well with my daughter’s BLT dog with truffle mayo (champagne and truffles being a classic combo).

Curious to see how stronger flavours would impact I tried a kimchee dog but this time chose a glass of (I think, but didn’t note it down) the R H Coutier grand cru rosé which was sweeter and fruitier. (I’m sure the kimchee would have obliterated the Mignon). Other ‘dogs’ like the Sloppy Joe might have clobbered even that but hey, it’s not about perfect pairings, more about having a bit of fun. (Though not the cheapest fun in town.)

If you fancy the notion but can’t get to Bubbledogs check out my my ideas for a hot dog party.