Endive, Stilton and walnut salad with blanc de blancs champagne

Champagne two weeks running? I know - it is a bit indulgent but I just couldn’t ignore last night’s extraordinary dinner at the Savoy to celebrate the trophy winners and launch of the first Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships. Besides it is our 400th Match of the Week - equally something to celebrate.

I’ll be writing more about the champagnes, the food and the interaction between the two but the most unexpected match was a starter salad of endive and baby gem salad with Stilton, celery, salted walnuts and honey dressing which was paired with three blanc de blancs.

Admittedly the Stilton was mild and buttery and the dressing quite light but I was still surprised by how well the match worked, particularly with two Ruinart blanc de blancs - the non-vintage which won the award for Word Champion Non-vintage Blanc de Blancs and the 2002 vintage which was nominated World Champion Deluxe Blanc de Blancs.

Interestingly in the tasting that had preceded the pairing I had been more charmed by the 2002 Champagne de Castelnau Blanc de Blancs which was still extraordinarily fresh and fragrant for a 12 year old wine but which didn’t quite stand up to the salad as well as the Ruinarts did. They were more demanding to drink on their own but revealed all their persistence and complexity with food.

Sausage rolls and champagne

The idea of drinking champagne with fast food might seem outrageous but you have to believe me it works!

In the past I’ve paired champagne successfully with popcorn, hot dogs, fried chicken and fish fingers - the discovery that it also matches with spicy pork and chorizo sausage rolls was a logical follow-on.

The eureka moment occurred at the Bon Vivant wine bar in Edinburgh last week when we ordered a (very well priced*) half bottle of Billecart Salmon NV to celebrate my birthday and some bar food to nibble with it. (We were eating out later on**.)

As well as the sausage rolls which also, I suspect, contained wine-loving fennel seeds, we had some anchovy beignets (fried food, like pastry, is always good with bubbly) and some venison salami on oatcakes which were less of a hit. I don’t think charcuterie has a particular affinity with champagne. You need something with more acidity.

It’s worth bearing in mind as a general rule that if a food pairs with a light beer or lager it’ll match with champagne. Salty, fatty, crispy foods are a good foil for fizz!

*£21 which is not much more than the retail price and far better value than buying 2 £9 glasses.

** At one of my favourite restaurants, Timberyard. You can read my review here.

Veal chop with sage and Eben Sadie Sequillo Red

I had lunch for the first time for a while at Hix’s Oyster and Chop House in Farringdon last week where I ordered - appropriately enough - a chop. In this instance a veal chop with sage butter.

It’s the kind of dish which suggests a classic red like a burgundy but my host, Giles Cooper of Bordeaux Index, boldly picked a 14.5% 2011 Sequillo Red from Eben Sadie instead which was absolutely perfect.

Sadie makes his wines in the Swartland and is one of South Africa’s most highly regarded young winemakers. Sequillo is a big generous Rhone-ish blend of Syrah, Mourvedre, Grenache, Carignan and Cinsault and at around £17-£19 (£17.49 AG Wines, £17.50 by the case winedirect.co.uk) is a terrific buy. There’s not much left of that vintage about so snap it up. It's drinking perfectly.

There were also a couple of outstanding beer matches from the Brewers’ Association dinner I went to last Monday at Club Gascon. You can read about them here: Does craft beer suit posh food?

Sausage and gammon pie and Wiper & True Family Tree IPA

OK, pie and beer is not rocket science but sometimes it’s good to be reminded what a very good match they can be. Especially when both the pie and the beer come from the same place.

The pie was the super-crumbly warm sausage and gammon pie they serve at No 12 Easton in Bristol with a generous dollop of piccalilli and a fennel salad and the beer a bottle of local Bristol brewery Wiper & True's Family Tree IPA which contains Nugget, Simcoe and Mosaic hops. I was quite startled to find it was 7.2% ABV - the alcohol didn't seem at all overpowering

Being in the West Country, cider would of course have been an equally good option but I didn't miss wine at all.

How often do you put a bottle of beer on the table when you bake a pie for friends?