Endive, Stilton and walnut salad with blanc de blancs champagne

Champagne two weeks running? I know - it is a bit indulgent but I just couldn’t ignore last night’s extraordinary dinner at the Savoy to celebrate the trophy winners and launch of the first Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships. Besides it is our 400th Match of the Week - equally something to celebrate.

I’ll be writing more about the champagnes, the food and the interaction between the two but the most unexpected match was a starter salad of endive and baby gem salad with Stilton, celery, salted walnuts and honey dressing which was paired with three blanc de blancs.

Admittedly the Stilton was mild and buttery and the dressing quite light but I was still surprised by how well the match worked, particularly with two Ruinart blanc de blancs - the non-vintage which won the award for Word Champion Non-vintage Blanc de Blancs and the 2002 vintage which was nominated World Champion Deluxe Blanc de Blancs.

Interestingly in the tasting that had preceded the pairing I had been more charmed by the 2002 Champagne de Castelnau Blanc de Blancs which was still extraordinarily fresh and fragrant for a 12 year old wine but which didn’t quite stand up to the salad as well as the Ruinarts did. They were more demanding to drink on their own but revealed all their persistence and complexity with food.

Paul A Young Shropshire Blue and walnut chocolate truffles with Taylor’s First Estate Reserve port

Port and stilton is one of the classic wine pairings but does it work if you pair a port with a blue cheese chocolate?

I’m pleased to report on the strength of a fascinating tasting with Paul A Young at cookery writer Thane Prince’s cookbook club at The Drapers Arms last week that it does.

The chocolate was a seasonal addition to the Paul A Young range - a gorgeous gooey Shropshire Blue, walnut and cider (I think*) truffle with the flavour of the cheese just coming through at the end. (Too often the chocolate gets lost in the cheese.)

And the port? A bit of a surprise. I’d thought a younger port might be too spiritty but the ripe berry flavours of the Taylor’s Reserve (widely available at around £12) were exactly right with the truffle - and with a beautifully crafted dark Venezuelan* chocolate bar which wore its 82%* cocoa solids incredibly lightly. Ruby port and dark chocolate is, of course, a winner too.

Two other matches stood out in the tasting: the Gonzalez Byass Solera 1847 sherry with very dry, intense cocoa nibs which brought out delicious candied fruit flavours in the wine and a lovely, apricotty Vistamar Late Harvest Moscatel from Chile (the bargain of the evening at £4.99 currently from Majestic) with the plain truffle bar.

Three wines I expected to shine didn’t do quite as well - Waitrose’s Seriously Plummy Maury which was a bit overwhelmed by the truffles, a Rutherglen Muscat (too sweet - would have been better with a pecan pie) and a Blandy’s madeira (nice but not as impressive as the sherry). The salted caramels defeated everything we threw at them. I think they needed an armagnac or cognac.

Incidentally if you want to have a crack at making a slightly simpler version of Paul’s truffles there’s a recipe here.

* There is a certain vagueness about this post. Due to extreme over-excitement about the chocolates and being pre-occupied with serving the drinks I forgot to take notes!

Stichelton (or Stilton) with Maury 1974 and Bristol Beer Factory Glenlivet-cask stout

Two matches for the price of one this week - both killer pairings at our Christmas Cheese School* last week.

The Maury 1974 ( £19.49 for 50cl. Averys), a fortified grenache made in a solera system like sherry was perhaps the more obvious pairing for the Stichelton, an unpasteurised version of Stilton. It had a similar warm, spicy berry character to a vintage port but at 17% was a little lighter. Delicious.

On the other hand the Glenlivet Cask Stout, one of a limited edition bottling of stouts brought out for Christmas by the Bristol Beer Factory, was just as good. A wickedly rich, dark smooth 10.7% imperial stout with a lovely touch of sweetness it was the perfect contrast to the creamy Stichelton.

I really like the idea of finishing Christmas dinner with a beer like this but if you think your nearest and dearest will rebel buy yourself a good imperial stout this week and treat yourself.

* Cheese School is joint enterprise I set up with local Bristol cheesemakers and mongers Todd and Jess Trethowan to offer cheese-focused events and all day courses for those who want to learn more about cheese.

Stichelton and onion quiche and Fleurie

A simple lunch of quiche from leftovers thrown together from the fridge turned into a feast with a glass of Claire and Fabien Chasselay's Fleurie La Chapelle des Bois, an organic Beaujolais from the excellent 2009 vintage.

It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking Stilton or Stichelton (the unpasteurised version I used) is so strong that it needs a sweet wine or a fortified wine like port, but in a creamy quiche, offset by onions, it will easily work with a crisp white wine or a light red like this. You also always need to take any accompanying salad into account - ours was a simple green one with a classic vinaigrette which also pointed to a wine with some acidity. This delightfully fresh and fruity Beaujolais, which you can buy for £13.25 from Vintage Roots, hit the spot just perfectly.

It seems to me there's a bit of a Beaujolais revival at the moment - I'm sure I've seen more about Beaujolais Nouveau this year than I have for a long while. And it's still huge in Paris, even among the natural wine movement, as this evocative post from Bertrand Celce of Wine Terroirs testifies. But with the 2009 vintage still around and some charming 2010s I'd stick to the real McCoy.