Which wine to match with Dover sole?

When you have a fish as fine as Dover sole you don’t want to mask its delicate sweet flavour in any way. Here are my suggestions for Gordon Ramsay’s recipes in the Times today.

Whole Dover Sole with Herb Crust
There’s quite a lot of parmesan as well as the herbs in the crust which made me rethink my first instinct to pair this with a cool climate, crisp Sauvignon Blanc or possibly even a dry German Riesling. They add an element of umami that will probably key in best with a subtly oaked Chardonnay such as a Puligny-Montrachet or a Chablis 1er Cru - my failsafe suggestion for most sole dishes. In fact so long as you don’t choose a white wine that’s too light, has too much residual sugar or is too oaky (a Meursault or similar barrel-fermented Chardonnay would be too powerful) you should be on track.

Dover Sole with Caper, Anchovy and Parsley Brown Butter
A more robust treatment, normally meted out to skate. Obvious fruit would be an unwelcome element here, I think so I’d go for something dry, mineral and comparatively neutral though sufficiently powerful to cope with these strong flavours: Chablis again or an Austrian Grüner Veltliner.

Rolled Dover sole fillets in creamy shallot and white wine sauce
Cream is a natural partner for sole and also for Chardonnay though I’d again go for the restrained sort of style I was recommending with the first recipe (the braised fennel will make this an even more hedonistic match). If you really feel like splashing out crack open a bottle of Champagne or serious new world sparkling wine which will add a nice textural counterpoint to the cream. This would also be a good dish to show off a fine, dry but not too evolved Riesling. (You don't want too much in the way of kerosene flavours to intrude.)

Image credit: Paolo Botio

A surprisingly good pairing for air-dried ham

Think of an air-dried ham such as serrano and you probably think of tapas and therefore fino or manzanilla sherry. But I’ve experienced two recent wine matches which opened my eyes to another option that even those on a diet could enjoy!

One was the other day in a local Bristol wine bar (Coulters) which has about 20 wines by the glass together with some simple plates of cold meats and cheese. We stopped by for a pit-stop towards the end of a long walk and ordered a couple of glasses of Prosecco and a plate of serrano ham and were struck by just how good the combination was.

Then last night I was at the London launch for the new season’s Joselito gran reserva ham and they were rather strangely pouring Ruinart champagne - presumably to underline what a great delicacy it was. It reminded me that I have in fact experienced this combination before: the indefatigable Richard Geoffroy of Dom Perignon decided that Iberico ham was the perfect match for his wine. Italian Culatello too. The yeastiness of champagne picks up on the umami savouriness of the ham and the bubbles play beautifully against the creamy fat.

What’s most interesting though is that in both cases we were eating the ham without any accompanying bread which accentuated its flavours and the texture of the wine. And of course makes it the perfect elegant, low-carb snack!

Which wines - or beers - pair best with cooked cheese?

Cheese and wine is a notorious minefield but is it any easier when the cheese is cooked? See my suggestions to match Mark Hix's delicious recipes in the Independent today:

Angel hair fried halloumi
Mark sees these as a deep fried snack with drinks or possibly served with pickled peppers as a first course - a slightly tougher proposition wine-wise with which I think you’d need a sharp white like a Greek Assyrtiko. Otherwise fizz is always good with deep-fried nibbles. I’m not thinking Champagne at this time of year, more an inexpensive sparkler. Cava would be fine.

Sprouting broccoli with garlic fondue
The broccoli won’t cause you any problems here - the key element to the dish is the fondue which is traditionally accompanied by a very dry white wine like a Swiss Chasselas. This is pretty hard to find so I’d go for something like a Muscadet or a very dry, simple country white vin de pays from southern France based on one of those neutral grape varieties like white Grenache or Terret. Avoid reds and don’t even think of serving iced water which makes fondue indigestible.

Piccata of veal with taleggio and spinach
An Italian trat classic with tomatoes, rich cheese and spinach. The latter two components tend to make it hard for reds though oddly I think the whole dish will get by thanks to the tomato. A case for a classic Chianti: its dryness and acidity will cut through the richness of the cheese and deal with the slight bitterness of the spinach. Equally good would be a smooth dry Italian white like a Verdicchio, dry Orvieto or even a decent Soave.

Chicory salad with gorgonzola and walnuts
A tricky dish with blue cheese and a sweet-sour dressing based on cider vinegar and honey that would be much better with a good artisanal cider (not too dry) or a beer than with wine. I’d go for something like a rich amber ale or Belgian Saison-style beer

Buck rabbit
Another beer-friendly dish given a kick with Worcestershire sauce and mustard. It’s made with Guinness so you might think it a bit wasteful to drink anything else. Personally I think a classic British ale like Timothy Taylor Landlord would work better so save the Guinness for a cracking onion gravy or beef stew.