Match of the week
Spaghetti with courgettes, basil, smoked almonds and Bordeaux rosé
I was sent a really unusual rosé the other day from biodynamic Bordeaux wine estate Chateau le Puy, their 2019 Rose-Marie.
Unusual because it was deep pink, almost like the traditional clairet, intensely savoury and most of all because it was a whopping 15%. You could have easily drunk it with a rare steak or a rack of lamb.
In the event I had it with something rather lighter - a dish of spaghetti with courgettes, basil smoked almonds and old Winchester cheese at the hotel I was staying at last week, The Sun Inn in Dedham and it went really well with that too - the slight bitterness of the basil and the smokiness of the almonds bringing out the sweetness of the fruit.
I reckon it would also go with a cheeseboard - in fact it’s basically a red masquerading as a rosé as well it might be given that it’s £49 a bottle (from low intervention wines).
Could you pull off the same trick with a cheaper rosé? Of course you could provided it wasn’t too sweet - I wouldn’t go for a pinot noir rosé, for example but the Wine Society has a delicious dry Bordeaux rose, the Château Bel Air Perponcher Réserve 2020 (currently out of stock but hopefully coming back in as I've only just been sent it) which is a rather more modest £9.50 and 12.5%. Or a Bandol rosé which has a bit more character and structure than a typical Provençal rosé.
See also The best food pairings for rosé
I ate at the Sun as a guest of the hotel and was sent the Le Puy rosé as a sample.
Spaghetti and meatballs and Nerello Mascalese
Spaghetti and meatballs is a really rich pasta dish you need to wash down with a refreshing red - preferably Italian.
In my broader post on meatballs I recommend a Sicilian red and found it again hit the spot at a preview for a new Italian restaurant Bosco in my neighbourhood this weekend.
It was a simple, young (2015) Nerello Mascalese (the name of the grape) from Cantine Paolini which despite its modest 12% cut through the rich tomato sauce perfectly and was great value at £5 a glass. You can buy it locally in Bristol from Corks of Cotham for £8.49 and from Bottle Apostle in London for £8.10 a bottle.
Although I didn’t drink it right through the meal - I confess I kicked off with a negroni! - it would also have paired well with the salume (cured meats) and cheese.
Pasta with pesto and Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi
This past week has reminded me yet again what a great match Italian whites are for food. Their lack of obvious character means they tend not to stand out in a tasting but they explode into life with a dish.
The first pairing, I’ve already mentioned in my review of the River Café - Poggio al Tesoro Vermentino Solosole 2007 was just the perfect fresh foil for a salad of Castelluccio lentils , ricotta di Bufala and chilli but I equally enjoyed a pairing I tried at home of a 2007 Loretello Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi from Cantine Politi (from Vino in Topsham) with a plate of spaghetti with fresh home-made pesto (the classic kind with basil rather than one of the more inventive new variations).
I personally find pesto goes much better with whites than with reds which it seems to coarsen. Gavi di Gavi is another good match.
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