Venison and amarone

Believe it or not this is the 800th match of the week since I first started doing them in 2006 despite leaving the odd week out.

As I've explained before they're the most original pairings I've come across in the previous week, not necessarily the most obvious ones which you'll generally find in the Top Pairings section. Do dive in to the archives and take a look!

On to this week ...

Finding half bottles of amarone in a restaurant is a bit of a rarity so it was a no-brainer to order one at Frederick’s the other day, a restaurant I’m slightly embarrassed to admit that I remember from the 1970s

So the choice of main course was more or less dictated by that - amarone is a pretty powerful wine so doesn’t go with everything. I wouldn’t have necessarily paired it with venison either - sometimes it’s served more like fillet steak - but it was accompanied by beetroot and a rich sauce which made it the perfect match.

The amarone was a 2018 Tommasi Amarone del Valpolicella Classico. It doesn’t seem to be available in half bottles in UK retail but you can buy a full size bottle for £32 from an online shop called Drambusters or for £38.41 from Tannico. (Other stockists charge over £40 - including Waitrose Cellar where it's £44.99 - so both are a reasonable deal.)

You can see other good amarone pairings here 

And more venison pairings here 

Lettuce with smoked fish and vermouth sauce paired with vermouth

I hesitated to make this astounding drink pairing which I had at Mauro Colagreco’s new restaurant at Raffles in London recently my match of the week because I it would be really hard to replicate but I’m sure would fascinate the chefs, sommeliers and other food and drink professionals among you.

The menu is led by vegetables which reflects the style of his three-Michelin-starred restaurant Mirazur in the south of France. The lettuce was a red oak lettuce served with smoked fish and a just-warm creamy vermouth sauce and some some delicious crunchy shards of what looked like puffed rice. In other words a reimagined caesar salad

With it the sommelier had paired a vermouth called Vinmouth, an organic white vermouth from Perpignan, which worked brilliantly with the warm, rich dressing and the smokey fish. There don’t appear to be any UK stockists but you can buy it from Le Grand Epicerie in Paris.

In fact all the pairings on the drinks pairing menu were outstanding and could easily have made the match of the week slot.

There was a refreshing rhubarb ‘amuse’ that wasn’t on the menu which was paired with a medium-dry French cider called Maley

The first course of seabass sashimi and sea buckthorn was matched with a Tatomer grüner veltliner from California

Then the lettuce

Followed by a spectacular dish of Jerusalem artichoke, monkfish, wild mushrooms and hazelnut which was paired with a Filipa Pato Nossa Calcario Bical 2021 from Bairrada in Portugal (a clever low cost alternative to white burgundy)

The main course was a more conventional pairing of radicchio with grilled loin of venison and mustard sauce with Guigal Chateau d’Ampuis Cote Rotie 2018. Glorious

And finally a show-stopping dessert of citrus, crispy ravioli shell black lemon ice cream and yoghurt fontainebleu which was paired with a Masumi yuzushu yuzu liqueur - an extravagant burst of creamy citrus.

Of course, bearing in mind that this is a top Michelin-standard restaurant albeit it hasn’t been rated yet the price isn’t cheap - £165 for a 5 course tasting menu and £125 for the ‘Exploration Route’ pairing though that’s not out of order for a restaurant of this quality.

However there is a 3 course à la carte ‘discovery’ menu for £110 and a lunch menu for £60 from Tuesday to Saturday apart from Christmas and other holidays. Certainly worth taking advantage of at that price.

For more conventional caesar salad pairings see here 

For other monkfish wine matches click this link

For venison pairings visit this page

I ate at Mauro Colagreco, Raffles as a guest of the restaurant.

Tiramisu and espresso martini

I’ve often struggled to find a wine to pair with tiramisu.

The match that works best for me is an oxidised sweet wine such as Rivesaltes from southern France but it’s not easy to get hold of or everyone’s cup of tea but when I was tasting espresso martinis the other day I had a lightbulb moment and realised that was the pairing I’d been looking for.

It’s going to depend a bit on the espresso martini - and the tiramisu - of course - whether either or both are homemade and if pre-mixed how strong the martini is but unless it’s a espresso martini cream liqueur which might be a bit too sweet and creamy it’s going to work. (As indeed would a black coffee or a coffee liqueur like Tia Maria.)

I don’t think you’re going to want a full glass but if you can find some small cocktail glasses and serve a well chilled shot alongside your tiramisu it’s perfect - and a showstopping finale to a meal.

One of my pairings of the year so far.

Photo of tiramisu by Victoria Aleksandrova. Espresso martini by Kike Salazar N on Unsplash

Parmesan custard and Soave

Parmesan or parmigiano reggiano is one of the most wine-friendly of cheeses but on its own normally pairs best with an Italian red. But in this fabled incarnation of an unctuously rich creamy custard by chef Rowley Leigh, white wine makes the better pairing

I discovered this at his pop-up Chez Rowley at Laylow in Golborne Road last week when I had it with the 2022 Pieropan Soave he had recommended which is also creamy but with a crisp refreshing edge that cuts through the richness of the dish and also goes brilliantly with the anchovy toasts you dunk in it. At around £16 (£15.81 in Lay & Wheeler) it’s not quite the bargain it was but it’s a really good wine

It would also be great with a top-notch white burgundy or other cool climate chardonnay or - if you're feeling extremely decadent - a blanc de blancs champagne.

Chez Rowley is taking bookings until Christmas and is a great chance to enjoy Rowley’s food if you’re a fan from his days at Kensington Place and Le Cafe Anglais.

I ate at the restaurant as a guest.