Vermentino and seafood

Normally this weekly post features a specific dish and wine but vermentino goes with so many fish dishes I think it’s worth flagging up its sheer versatility.

Over the weekend’s visit to the Porto Cervo wine festival we drank it with everything from oysters and raw scampi to grilled seabream to spaghetti alle vongole and it took every one of them in its stride.

If you want to refine the experience you could drink younger, crisper less expensive vermentinos with raw shellfish and cold, fish-based antipasti and more expensive, richly textured ones such as Capichera’s VT or Argiolas Is Argiolas with dishes like this baked seabream we had at Il Vecchio Mulino or lobster rice.

See also this post on other matches for spaghetti alle vongole

I was invited to the Porto Cervo wine festival by Starwood Hotels and ate at Il Vecchio Mulino as a guest of Capichera.

Morbier cheese and Savagnin

It’s been a very cheesy few days this past week - and I mean that in the sense of being cheese-focussed rather than corny.

Some of the best pairings were at a cheese and cider event I co-hosted in Bristol but as I’m writing about that separately I’m going for an unexpectedly brilliant cheese and wine combination at the Jura wine tasting

You might be surprised to hear it involved not the region’s most famous style of wine, vin jaune, but an on the face of it humbler Savagnin Côtes du Jura called Cuvée Edouard from Domaine Badoz which has been making wine in the region since 1659.

At almost 4 years old (it came from the 2011 vintage) it combined a rapier-like acidity with a delicious creaminess that seemed to perfectly echo the well-matured Morbier, a semi-soft cheese from the same region with a distinctive streak of ash running through the centre. The combination of the two was simply sensational bringing out almondy and floral notes in the wine that hadn’t been immediately apparent. One of those rare 'Oh my God!' pairings!

I can’t frustratingly find this particular cuvée in the UK though The Sampler stocks other wines in the Badoz range but you can buy it online from the website for 25€

The other recommended pairings are with pan-fried scallops, truffled celeriac, langoustine ravioli with vin jaune butter, fennel, green apple and salted caramel, whiting with leeks and cockles with a citrus vinaigrette. So now you know!

Little Beauty Marlborough riesling and Indian or Pakistani food

I’ve always thought of riesling as a better match for the fresh flavours of south-east Asian-inspired food than curry but a visit to the Lahore Kebab House proved otherwise this week.

It was an evening off for those who were juding the Decanter World Wine Awards and a first visit for me to this venerable East London institution which features spicy chops as its main draw.

It was a BYO evening which given the clientele that night was more than usually interesting but I was really pleased to find that the crisp, limey 2010 Little Beauty Marlborough riesling I’d taken along was absolutely spot on with the range of sometimes quite fiery dishes that turned up at the table - including the chops, kebabs, chicken tikka, samosas, onion bhajis and a selection of curries. If you wanted a truly refreshing wine to drink through an Indian - or in this case Pakistani - meal it would do the job perfectly.

I was sent the wine by an online company called 31dover.com which sells it online for £15.45. Not cheap but totally worth it. (It apparently won an International Trophy at the Decanter World Wine Awards in 2013 for Best in Show Riesling under £15.)

The team at 31Dover adds that it’s “sensational matched with honey glazed seared scallops with a hint of chilli, or sashimi with soya and pickled ginger.” I believe them.

Navarin of lamb and 2002 Chateau des Estanilles Faugères

Last week we were down at our house in Languedoc mainly cooking from home* and raiding the cellar for wines we thought needed drinking up - at least that was our excuse!

One foray unearthed this 2002 vintage of Chateau des Estanilles Faugères a wine we used to buy regularly from its previous proprietor Michel Louison who is now making wine at Domaine Lamartine near Limoux. It’s a full-bodied syrah but age has mellowed it and made it silky and delicate - the ideal match for a simple spring navarin of lamb, carrots and turnips made with white wine rather than red.

I wouldn’t have drunk the same wine with it while young - it would have been too tannic and powerful for the dish but this grand old wine matched it perfectly. You could also drink a typical Languedoc white - we tried a glass of a Chateau Paul Mas 2014 Belluguette Coteau du Languedoc** we’d been tasting with the leftovers and that worked very well too.

* Though we did have a very good meal at the Auberge de Combes. See my review here.

** a blend of Grenache Blanc, Vermentino, Roussanne and Viognier