Roast beef and Bordeaux

OK, this is one of the most classic wine pairings in the world but none the worse for that.

I was treated to lunch at The Wine Society on Friday following a tasting through some of their latest releases. For those of you who aren’t members and haven’t been there it occupies a rather unlovely '70s (I’d guess*) building on the outskirts of one of Britain’s unlovelier towns, Stevenage. In a private dining room which looks like - and probably is - a conference room they provided a totally resplendent roast dinner including perfectly cooked roast beef, Yorkshire puddings, gorgeously crisp roast potatoes and parsnips and carrots, beans and broccoli. (We Brits love a shedload of vegetables on the side)

With that they served two venerable reds - a 1998 Chateau La Mondotte Saint-Emilion and a Penfold’s 707 from the same vintage. Interestingly there was no qualitative difference between the two wines, except perhaps in stayability - the 707 dropped off slightly before the Mondotte which was still astonishingly fresh but both were mellow sweet and delicious. There was no obvious old word/new world contrast - it was more like comparing two wines from the right and left banks of Bordeaux.

Why does beef work so well? Well it’s deeply savoury, not too powerful - the vegetables are by and large neutral. It’s the perfect backdrop to a fine wine - As the Wine Society would know. Both had been decanted a couple of hours beforehand.

Incidentally The Wine Society, which I'd advise anyone to join, is not just about such rarified treasures. One of the best value wines I tasted on the day was their own 2015 Corbières at £7.75 which I encouraged the friends I was staying with to buy and which rapidly got demolished over the weekend. It’s fabulously vibrant blend of carignan and grenache that would make great everyday drinking. And obviously go well with beef too ….

*Turns out it's 'an unlovely 60s building, extended in the 70s, 80s, 90s and 100s' according to the Wine Soc's PR, Ewan. And it IS a private dining room not a conference room ;-)

Milk-fed lamb with Bolgheri Coronato 2011

Last week was a bumper week for wine pairing but setting aside the matches with older vintages of Pazo Senorans albarino at El Celler de Can Roca which were so mind-blowing they deserve a longer post, this is the one that stood out.

Lamb and red wine is admittedly a bit of a no-brainer but when it’s executed as well as this dish at Marianne in Notting Hill and paired as cleverly as it was by wine writer and consultant Douglas Blyde it’s worth calling out.

The lamb which was from the Rhug estate in Wales was served both very rare (the loin) with asparagus and morels and as a shepherds pie on the side (the shoulder) but I think it was the sweet carrot purée that made the match with the lusciously rich wine such a success. Although when you have a wine as sexy as this you have to chose something really inappropriate not to enjoy it.

The wine, a 2011 Bolgheri Coronato, was a blend of merlot, cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc - what used to be known as a super-Tuscan though Bolgheri has for several years been recognised as a separate denomination. Apparently Ludovico Antinori has stopped making it which seems a crying shame though I spotted there are a few bottles of the 2010 left on the Lay & Wheeler site at the time of writing (quoted in bond, note, but still only £14.50 which seems a bit of a steal.)

Maybe that was the problem. Too good a wine for the price.

Caesar salad with a Godello based Spanish white

A lot of the time when we’re eating out we’re not matching dishes exactly - we simply buy a bottle we like the sound of and hope it will cope with everything we throw at it.

That happened last week with a delicious Spanish white called Pazo de Mariñan, a blend of Godello, Teixadura and Albarino from the Monterrei region of north west Spain.

Maybe not the first bottle you would think of ordering in an Italian restaurant but you know what? It sailed through quite a tricky series of dishes including this Caesar salad which was made with fresh anchovies (boquerones) rather than salted ones and a richly-flavoured pasta dish of nduja (spicy Calabrian sausage) and mascarpone which I think might have defeated a lesser wine. You can buy it from Village Wines of Bexley in Kent for a very reasonable £8.98 a bottle.

The restaurant is one of my new favourites in Bristol, Pasta Loco, which does a brilliant set lunch for just £12.50 for two courses. Rude not to order a decent bottle of wine, then.

By the way you’ll need to book. It’s deservedly popular.

For other pairings for Caesar salad see

The best wine pairings with Caesar salad

Peas and pinot

Having been flying around the world for the best part of the past month I had a quiet week at home last week which (unusually for me) involved no outstanding drinks pairings.

So I thought I’d revert to a favourite that to enjoy at this time of year - fresh peas and pinot noir

I’m not sure why it works so well but if you serve peas with almost any dish it enhances the match with pinot. The sweetness picks up on the complementary sweetness of many pinot noirs - especially youthful fruity new world pinots such as those from New Zealand but I think there’s also an underlying umami thing going on - cooked peas in particular are umami-rich.

So I’m not sure whether it’s the duck or the peas in that classic combination that makes the match with pinot work so well but the two together? Heaven!

Photo © almaje @fotolia.com