Fruit kebabs and Moët Ice Imperial

A combination I came across at the launch of Moët’s new Ice Imperial Champagne last week - a Champagne that’s designed to be served over ice (yes, that’s right - with the ice actually in it)

It’s a clever idea. Champagne still seems a special occasion wine and maybe a bit dry for younger drinkers so they’ve come up with this demi-sec (medium-dry) cuvée which is served ice cold in large Chianti-style glasses. If that seems like sacrilege they stress it’s meant to be served on a hot day by the pool like a cocktail.

You can drop fresh berries or lime zest into it or - even better - serve it with fresh fruit kebabs like the ones pictured. (The strawberries were specially delicious).

There’s one hitch. You can’t buy it in the shops (unless you’re a celeb in which case I gather Moët will find some way to get it to you) and only drink it in a limited number of venues including, mysteriously, 10 in the Bournemouth area.

However I’m sure the match would work with any demi-sec Champagne served nice and cold or with a bottle of Asti or Clairette de Die.

Strawberries and elderflower cordial

I’m really spoilt for choice for my match of the week - there were so many good ones last week. As you may have picked up if you follow me on Twitter (where I tweet as winematcher and food_writer) I was in Copenhagen eating at the world’s best restaurant, Noma (according to the 800 food writers, chefs and critics that judge the ‘World's 50 Best Awards) and also at Herman whose sommelier Jacob Kocemba came up with some excellent pairings.

But I’m going to save those for separate posts and pick out just one fascinating combination from the Noma meal: a dessert of ‘strawberries and straw, camomile and elderflower' that they had just put on the menu and served with their own homemade elderflower cordial.

Chef Rene Redzepi, who I interviewed afterwards, doesn’t think that cordials should be too sweet and it wasn’t, just delicately flavoured with fresh elderflowers which picked up on the elderflowers in the dessert and the camomile broth. It provided another layer of summery flavour rather than overwhelming the dessert as I suspect a dessert wine would have done.

Obviously you wouldn’t want to make such a complex dessert at home (or at least I wouldn't!) but you could create a similar effect by partnering ripe strawberries and a light tangy dairy product like fresh goats' or ewes curd with a chilled glass of elderflower cordial or elderflower ‘champagne’. Non drinkers in the party will be more than happy!