Wine and pepper

Like salt, pepper has a pronounced effect on wine, often making reds taste softer and lusher than they otherwise would. Unlike salt though, you also find peppery flavours in wines such as Northern Rhône Syrah and Austrian Grüner Veltliner.

The problem about finding the same flavour in a food and a wine is that the more dominant flavour in the food tends to knock out the same characteristic in the wine. (Other examples are orange Muscat which won’t stand up to an orange-flavoured dessert or an evolved Pinot Noir whose mushroomy notes become barely perceptible if partnered with cooked mushrooms.)

So what do you drink when pepper is the point of the dish? Here are my suggestions, paired with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s recipes in the Guardian today.

Salt and Pepper Squid
There’s not just black pepper in this dish but Szechuan pepper and chilli as well which makes it hot. Winewise you could go two ways - a zesty unoaked Sauvignon Blanc which would provide a lemony lift to the combination or a crisp, limey Australian Riesling which I think would be my preferred match. (Note the pairing will change if you add a squeeze of lemon. Try the wine first and proceed with caution! ) I’d also like a cold Kölsch or lager with this.

Goats' cheese marinated in seasoned olive oil
Sauvignon Blanc is always the first port of call with goats’ cheese but the flavours in the olive oil - garlic, lemon zest, black and pink peppercorns and chilli again - mean only a super-charged Sauvignon will do. Pick one that has powerful lemon zest notes of its own such as a south Australian Sauvignon Blanc or a Chilean one. (Yes, I know I said don't replicate the flavours of the food in the wine but I just don't think a herbaceous Sauvignon will work here.)

Steak in Green Peppercorn Sauce
Green peppercorns used to be a common basis for steak sauces like this. It also contains cream and brandy, an immensely wine-friendly partnership. I think I’d be looking for a Syrah or Shiraz but one without obvious peppery notes of its own, maybe in combination with its other habitual southern French bedfellows, Grenache and Mourvèdre. So a Languedoc red such as Faugères would be perfect. Or a Western Australian Shiraz. (Note: all this pepper will accentuate the sensation of ‘hotness’ in any accompanying wine so watch the alcohol!)

Matching food and wine at Le Gavroche

If I told you we’d kicked off a tasting menu with a dish of barely seared, pepper-crusted tuna, with a punchy sesame and ginger dressing paired with a chilled cherry beer you’d probably think we’d dined at one of London’s cutting edge Asian restaurants rather than one of its most venerable institutions, the two Michelin-starred Le Gavroche. But its chef-patron Michel Roux Jr is quite prepared to challenge his well-heeled Mayfair clientele. In fact I suspect that if he felt he could get away with it his whole menu would be packed with similarly bold combinations.

Not everyone is convinced, apparently. “We do get mixed reactions, particularly about the beer” says his sommelier Francois Bertrand, resignedly. “People don’t expect to be poured beer in a restaurant like this” (They also apparently complain if their whites are not served cold enough leading to an overchilled 1999 Puligny Montrachet ‘La Truffiere’ later being served with a dish of wild salmon, initially taking the edge off its opulent flavours.)

Still, Roux, Bertrand and the Gavroche’s legendary Maitre ‘D Silvano Giraldin who has been at the restaurant for 37 years and takes part in all the pairing sessions know what they’re doing. Here’s what we ate and drank and what I thought of the pairings rated on the following basis:

*** Great match, one of the best of the tasting
** A good match
* An OK match but one which slightly diminished the food or the wine
No stars: A misfiring match

Rare peppered tuna with spicy ginger and sesame dressing with Liefman’s Kriek cherry beer ***
The sweet/sour cherry flavours of the beer provided a fruity lift that supplied the final gracenote to the dish. Brilliant.

Asparagus tips with parmesan, pata negra ham and truffle vinaigrette with Don Jose Oloroso sherry from Sanchez Romate*
Another bold and unconventional pairing but one which didn’t quite come off. The intensely dry oloroso was a wonderful match for the umami-rich ham, truffles and crisp parmesan wafers but overpowered the asparagus. Possibly a dry madeira such as sercial would have been better. Or vintage fizz if it had been a champagne dinner

Wild salmon with crispy skin and French-style peas with bacon and lettuce and a Puligny Montracher 1er cru ‘La Truffiere’ 1999 from Domaine Bernard Morey **
Wines of this maturity are one of the reasons for going to Le Gavroche but this was initially over-chilled (see above). Once it opened up in the glass it was a lovely foil for the just-cooked salmon with its skin served as a crisp alongside. The peas and onions were cooked slightly less than is traditional for petits pois à la francaise, providing a refreshing note of freshness and crunch. A classic match but a good one.

Warm foie gras with a crispy pancake of duck flavoured with cinnamon with a Tokay Pinot Gris ‘Selection de Grains Nobles’ 1997 from Leon Beyer *
With its pastilla-like accompaniment this was a very clever spin on duck and pancakes but one which slightly overpowered the lovely Tokay SGN (which would have been a great partner for a slightly lighter foie gras preparation). Again, an oloroso sherry might have been good here - possibly one that was slightly sweeter than the Sanchez Romate, or, as Silvano admitted, a Banyuls but as he pointed out “How would you follow that with red wine?” (Possibly by serving the dish earlier in the menu, before the salmon)

Rack of lamb with a shallot and tarragon jus, with a potato basket of vegetables and broccoli with Chateau de Villegeorge 1999 Haut-Medoc ***
Astonishing how good this modest claret tasted with this simply cooked dish of rare lamb and seasonal vegetables (including baby turnips which really picked out the flavours of the wine) but it is one of the all time great matches. The saucing - a very light, tarragon-flavoured jus, was particularly skilful. Not sure about the potato basket though. A relic of the old, more elaborate Gavroche.

A selection of cheeses with Le Soula 2002 Vin de Pays des Coteaux des Fenouilledes **
Betrand advised us to have at least one hard cheese with this rich spicy red from one of the Roussillon’s up and coming wine regions. I chose Comté together with a Devon Blue and Ticklemore Goat. The cheeses were served with an onion relish which I think helped the match. Given the problems you can have with red wine and cheese this worked well.

Bitter chocolate and coffee layered sponge cake with chocolate sorbet with a Maury Solera 1928 from Les Vignerons de Maury**
A classic rendition of a famous french chocolate cake called an Opera with one of the most reliable wine pairings for chocolate, an old vin doux naturel from the south of France from the excellent Maury co-op. I bet it would have gone brilliantly with the foie gras dish too.

Oeufs à la Neige, vanilla cream and poached strawberries with a 2001 Vin de Constance from Klein Constantia ***

We were almost too full to appreciate this utterly delicious dessert of billowing little clouds of soft meringue floating in vanilla custard. I was surprised that it was not overwhelmed by the equally sensational dessert wine but its piercing acidity kept the match in perfect balance. (Rosé champagne would have been good too, I suspect)

Just a couple of warnings if you’re thinking of booking this experience for yourself: 1) Don’t eat lunch 2) Don’t forget your credit card. Dinner at the Gavroche is not an inexpensive affair. The menu exceptionnel I’ve described costs £95 or £150 with wine included. Eating a la carte will set you back around £130 without wine. By comparison lunch is a bargain at £48 a head including half a bottle of (very decent) wine, coffee and mineral water.