Braised short ribs and Monastrell (aka Mourvèdre)

One of the tricky decisions to make when you’re serving a rich, winey stew is whether to go for a wine of equal weight or a lighter medium-bodied wine as a refreshing contrast.

We tried both options last night with a dish of short ribs I’d cooked overnight in the best part of a bottle of a Marquesa de la Cruz GSM (Garnacha Syrah Mazuelo) from Campo de Borja 2010 (6.99 Sainsbury’s) an ultraripe, lush, almost porty red that clocked in at 14.5%. Great for the ribs, not so great with them (too soft and sweet for what had become deep savoury flavours)

The final dish also defeated a Chianti Classico - much too light - but found its soulmate in another Spanish red, a Casa Castillo Monastrell 2009 Jumilla 14% imported by C & D wines, which turns out to retail at only 5.33 from Vinissimus though they have moved on to the 2010 vintage. It too was full-bodied (14%) but had a spiciness and structure that the GSM lacked. A terrific match.

Pork chops and perry

Sometimes you forget the most obvious food matches like the pairing of pork and perry we enjoyed over the weekend.

I cooked some pork chops with a dish of roast onions, apple, fennel and potatoes and served it with black pudding and cabbage. A quickly flung together family dinner but none the worse for that.

I would normally have used - and drunk - cider but what I had to hand was a bottle of 2009 Priggles Herefordshire perry from Dragon Orchard made from Blakeney Red pears. It was medium dry which I think worked better with pork than a totally dry perry would have done - and 7% which obviously helped to carry the other flavours on the plate. Simple, homely and delicious.

Good to know that Herefordshire now has a PGI (protected geographical indication) for its perry.

Leeks vinaigrette and Vermentino

There were leeks everywhere you looked in the Languedoc last week so I decided to make a classic dish of leeks vinaigrette (and finely sliced serrano ham) as a starter for Sunday lunch with friends. Despite the vinegar and mustard in the dressing it’s not a sharp dish - the dominant note is the delicate, sweet, oniony taste of the leeks so I was looking for a light, unoaked white which wouldn’t mask that flavour.

I found it in a bottle of Domaine de Coujan’s Rolle - the Languedoc’s name for Vermentino. It’s a wine we loved when we first visited the region 20 odd years ago and has had its ups and downs but is emphatically on form at the moment judging by this bottle.

I discovered to my surprise that the 2009 vintage is stocked by Great Western Wine (and others - see wine-searcher.com) at what appears to be the reduced price of £7.50 though I’d be looking to find the fresher 2010 if I could. In the Languedoc it’s available at Intermarch.

You could obviously substitute an Italian Vermentino (some good ones come from Sardinia) or one from Provence or Corsica where it is also known as Rolle. It would be good with other cold vegetable dishes, salads and seafood too.

Provençal-style fish soup and Picpoul de Pinet

We’re down in the Languedoc for a few days and ended up at one of our favourite fish restaurant Le Glacier at Marseillan.

It’s not that the cooking is amazing but the local oysters are the best I’ve eaten, the portions are generous and the prices - 25€ for the basic set menu - more than reasonable.

It’s been so incredibly cold down here I decided to go for the fish soup which came in a huge steaming tureen along with croutons, rouille (a spicy garlicky mayonnaise-type sauce) and grated cheese. I could have made a meal of that alone.

We were drinking - as we always seem to end up doing down here - the local Picpoul de Pinet, a versatile crisp dry white that seems to go with everything you throw at it. And it was perfect - the right wine for the place and the occasion.

Dark savoury French fish soups like this can take slightly stronger earthier whites and even dry rosés but what you don’t want is a wine that’s too oaky or too fruity so I’d steer clear of wines such as rich chardonnays and New Zealand-style Sauvignon Blancs.