Pheasant terrine with Kings vintage cider

Pubs brewing their own beer has become quite commonplace but few make their own cider. Not that you’d expect anything less of The Crown at Woolhope which was nominated Cider Pub of the Year Pub three times recently at the the Great British Pub Awards in 2015, 2017 and 2018.

Owner Matt Slocombe, also happens to be a chef who used to run cider producer Weston’s restaurant Scrumpy House and has worked a great deal with cider over the years so it’s no surprise either that the food is perfectly attuned to it.

My favourite pairing at dinner at the weekend was this richly flavoured pheasant terrine which was served with gooseberry and sage and a quince and ginger chutney. He suggested we drank their full-bodied (7.3%) Kings Fine Vintage cider with it and it was spot on. It also went really well with my main course of pork belly with caramelised apple and quince as did Tom Oliver’s deeply flavoured Gold Rush no. 7, a collaboration with Ryan Burk of Angry Orchard in New York.

It’s great to be able to drink locally made drinks with locally sourced food like this. You’d be mad to drink anything but cider (and perry) in Herefordshire!

For other cider pairings see Top Food Pairings for Cider

I ate at The Crown as a guest of the restaurant.

Oaked white rioja and rabbit terrine

This time of year is full of pre-Christmas get-togethers which means a higher than usual number of meals out and an above average number of interesting wine pairings.

I’ve had a terrific match with a carbonara this week (a dry Italian white called passerina) and a stunning one for a venison casserole (an old Felton Road pinot noir) but the ones I was most intrigued by were with a mature white rioja at a Spanish wine dinner at Asador 44 in Cardiff hosted by wine writer Tim Atkin.

It was a really sumptuous barrel-fermented Finca Allende*, from the 2014 vintage (the most recent vintage) which had the richness and depth of a mature white burgundy - not as intense as the Vina Tondonia blanco but more than most oaked white riojas. (It was also aged in oak for 14 months)

It was officially paired with a rabbit and game terrine with girolles and quince to which it added a quince note of its own but was also great with the next course of confit and roast leg of milk-fed lamb with some pretty punchy sides including charcoal king oyster mushrooms, broccoli with morcilla and romesco and escalivada (a roasted vegetable salad). That was also perfect with its intended match of a rich, spicy Montsant Altaroses 2015 from Joan d’Anguera proving, if you’ll pardon the expression, that there are more ways than one to skin a cat when it comes to wine pairing.

Note neither of those dishes would have worked with the brighter, unoaked style of white rioja which can taste more like a sauvignon blanc - but in the oaked style behaves more like and can be substituted for a red.

For other white rioja pairings see The Best Food Pairings for White Rioja.

I attended the dinner as a guest of Asador 44

Pork and pistachio terrine and old vine Brouilly

This isn’t the first time I’ve remarked how well Beaujolais pairs with a terrine but sometimes it’s worth being reminded what really, really works. And both were particularly good in this case - as indeed you’d expect at one of London’s best wine bars, Noble Rot.

The wine was a 2015 Domaine de la Grand’Cour Brouilly Cuvée Vieilles Vignes from Jean Louis Dutraive that reminded us just how great gamay (the grape from which Beaujolais is produced) can be. Beautiful, pure - but not in the least bubblegummy - fruit, quaffable but elegant and well structured despite quite a hefty level (for Beaujolais) of alcohol (14.5%)

And the terrine was the sort of rustic recipe you used to routinely find in French bistros but now all too seldom do. The only aspect of the presentation I’d quibble with was that it came with a generous dollop of onion marmalade which would have taken the edge off any accompanying wine and did no favours to the Brouilly. But 'chapeau' for the properly good sourdough toast.

For other suggestions see

10 good wine pairings with paté

Game terrine and London dry gin

I’ve already written about how well game terrine pairs with oloroso sherry. Now I’ve discovered an equally good, if not better pairing: London Dry Gin.

The pâté I tried the other day - again from Stephen Markwick of Culinaria - was a hare one which was stronger than the previous guineafowl and pheasant version. It worked with a rare dry oloroso but I suddenly thought it would be interesting to see if I could pick out the juniper notes with a gin. The one I had to hand was Beefeater but any traditional London dry gin would do. (I say traditional because some newer gins like Whitley Neill accentuate other aromatic notes such as citrus.) Mine was at room temperature but I think it would be even better served cold like a frozen vodka shot. You could try the same pairing with a cold game pie.

If you want to make your own terrine - and I predict we're all going to be getting into home-made charcuterie next year - there’s a great master recipe (see right) in the book I’ve written with Stephen called A Very Honest Cook. You can still get it in time for Christmas if you ring the restaurant in time for them to catch the post today (0117 973 7999). Otherwise there’s always after Christmas . . .