4 good wines to pair with fish pie

Whether it's topped with mashed potato or pastry fish pie is a relatively straightforward dish to pair with wine but some styles work better than others.

In general smooth dry white wines work best. I would emphasise dry though - I personally don’t want peach, pineapple or tropical fruit flavours with my fish - not with this traditional dish, at least.

Here are some examples:

* Unoaked or lightly oaked Chardonnay - Chablis being the classic example. A very sound, crowd-pleasing pairing. With a richer, more luxurious pie containing salmon, scallops or added cream or with a pie with a pastry lid you could go for a slightly richer style of white burgundy or other cool climate Chardonnay but don’t overdo the oak

* Chenin Blanc - works much in the same way as Chardonnay. Again a more minerally style works better than a fruity one in my opinion

* Blanc de Blancs champagne or sparkling Chardonnay - same reasoning - with a few bubbles. I’d suggest a non-vintage wine rather than a vintage one. Keep it fresh.

* Soave, Gavi and other smooth dry Italian whites - but not Pinot Grigio which is a bit lightweight for a creamy sauce and mash

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The best food pairings for cabernet franc

Cabernet franc can be the most food-friendly of wines, as good with fish and veggies as it is with meat but it comes in several styles. If you’re looking for a food match for cabernet franc I’d be mainly thinking of the lighter more fragrant Loire type which stars on its own in such appellations as Saumur, Saumur-Champigny, Bourgeuil, St Nicolas de Bourgeuil and Chinon. Even then it can vary from vintage to vintage and from lighter wines to more serious oak-aged examples. 

In this post, you’ll find the best food pairings (and some favourite recipes) for

* Fresh, young Loire cabernet franc

* Mature, oak-aged Loire cabernet franc

* More full-bodied cabernet franc from countries such as Argentina, California and South Africa

Fresh young Loire cabernet franc

Young cabernet franc has a distinctly herbal quality and tends to pair well with dishes flavoured with herbs, especially dill, fennel, rosemary and tarragon. Think chicken with herbs like roast chicken with herby crème fraîche or this lavash, chicken and herb pie with barberries, both from Olia Hercules, a herb-crusted rack of lamb or a navarin of lamb

It also has an affinity with green vegetables especially when they’re grilled or roasted - such as grilled asparagus (as you can see here), purple sprouting broccoli and even grilled artichokes. If you’ve got a vegetarian dish of spring vegetables such as asparagus, peas and broad beans you should reach for a bottle. And while it wouldn’t be my first choice with a spanakopita (Greek-style spinach pie) - I’d rather drink a crisp white - it would definitely work.

Pair it with herby Ottolengi-ish salads with bulgur, freekeh or other grains, especially with a herb dressing.

Evan Goldstein in his book Daring Pairings suggests enchiladas verdes, a combination I haven’t tried but I can definitely see would work. Anything with a tomatillo salsa too.

Like gamay, Loire cabernet franc also works well with charcuterie especially terrines and patés

Lightly chilled it can be a really useful pairing for fish, especially grilled tuna or salmon

It’s also good with goats cheese, young pecorino and other young sheep cheeses

and like Beaujolais you can pour it over or drink it with strawberries

More mature oak aged Loire cabernet franc

I’d be thinking of lamb again though maybe slow roast shoulder or a butterflied leg of lamb rather than rosy little lamb cutlets. Steak frites too.

I’d be more inclined to go for duck than chicken and feathered game such as pigeon (squab) pheasant and partridge

It would also work with light offal dishes such as kidneys or sweetbreads. Classic French bistro food.

Riper, more full-bodied cabernet franc from countries such as Argentina, California and South Africa

These behave quite like malbec in terms of wine pairing so red meat, especially steak, is an obvious go to. You could easily drink it with a barbecue including spicy sausages such as chorizo and merguez or with kebabs.

Read more about my take on cabernet franc in my recent Guardian column.

Note: Cabernet franc also plays a major part in Bordeaux blends including some of the most famous Bordeaux reds such as Cheval Blanc and in South America where it is generally riper and more full-bodied.

If you’re looking for a match for Bordeaux blends check out this post: What food to pair with red Bordeaux 

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Top wine and beer matches for game

We Brits have always had a reputation for liking our wines old and our game high but times have changed. Today the key factor in matching game tends to be not how ‘gamey’ it is but how it’s cooked and what is served with it.

In many restaurants now game is cooked quickly and served rare so can take a younger, more tannic wine than would have once been the case. Accompanying sauces also tend to be robust, and wine-based, bringing more full-bodied reds into play. Nevertheless the reason for serving wild game such as partridge or venison - as opposed to chicken or beef - is that it does have a distinctive flavour for which you generally pay a premium so you want to pick your wine with some care. Here are the sort of wines you might go for.

* Simply roast birds such as partridge, pheasant, or grouse with simple accompaniments (e.g. roast potatoes, bread sauce and a light gravy rather than a heavy wine-based jus)
These remain the ideal opportunity to bring out a serious bottle of burgundy, a mature red Bordeaux or their New World equivalents (see here) If you like your birds underdone a younger wine may be a more flattering accompaniment. A good Chianti is always a reliable match for more everyday occasions.

The best wine pairings for partridge

Belgian sour red ales such as Rodenbach are also delicious with simply roast game.

* more elaborate game roasts with foie gras and/or truffles or a concentrated ‘jus’
Similar wines to the above but from a more recent vintage. The richer accompanying flavours can handle a more tannic wine.

* pheasant casseroled with apples
Apples tend to lead in the direction of a white (a dry Riesling with a couple of years’ bottle age would be perfect) rather than a red, particularly if the sauce has some added cream. You could equally well serve a French cidre bouché (semi-sparkling cider) or a gueuze (a Belgian lambic beer brewed with wild yeasts) especially if you’re serving braised cabbage as an accompaniment.

The best wine pairings for pheasant

* pot-roast pheasant
With any other flavourings or a red wine sauce a robust red should work well, especially reds that contain Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Tempranillo or Malbec. (So good quality Côtes du Rhône Villages, southern French reds and Rioja all make good choices, and a wine like Côte Rôtie a sublime one). I’d avoid very muscular young reds which are likely to overwhelm the flavour of the meat.

* Venison
Generally you can serve similar wines to those you would serve with beef though as the game flavour is more pronounced you might want to choose accompanying wines with a slightly gamey flavour of their own. Good examples would be Hermitage, Bandol and Ribera del Duero (or other examples of mature Syrah or Mourvèdre) though be careful of flavour overload with very concentrated sauces. Sometimes it can be better to serve a slightly lighter (though still well-structured) wine when your sauce is particularly dense and rich.

The best wine pairings for venison

So far as beer is concerned, venison dishes can be an excellent match for porter, a strong Trappist ale like Chimay or a French bière de garde.

* Cold game/game pie
As with simply roast game this is a great opportunity to drink your favourite red burgundy but cold game is also a treat with a full bodied vintage rosé Champagne such as Ruinart (or, of course, Krug). If your game is in a salad (like a warm pigeon salad or a smoked duck or venison one) you could also try a sour cherry beer such as kriek.

Vegetables with game
Vegetables that will flatter fine wines include mashed potatoes and pureed root vegetables such as celeriac (good combined with potato) and parsnips. Carrots and mushrooms also work well. Take care though with braised cabbage particularly red cabbage cooked with sugar and vinegar which can be a wine killer. (Fruity young reds like Shiraz, Barbera or Zinfandel should survive)

Top food matches for Beaujolais (and other gamay)

Beaujolais - by which I mean red Beaujolais - is the most French of wines, the perfect wine pairing for a picnic or bistro meal.

It’s generally thought of as light and fruity, though it can also be quite full-bodied. In this post I’ll cover my favourite food pairings for specific types of Beaujolais (and other gamay). You’ll find it an enormously versatile wine.

Food-wise, it pairs with much the same ingredients and dishes as pinot noir, though gamay (the grape Beaujolais is made from) doesn’t have the best pinots’ complexity or silky, sensuous texture.

Beaujolais is almost always a winner with French charcuterie such as patés, terrines, rillettes, and saucisson sec and with white-rinded cheeses such as Brie and Camembert (provided they’re not overripe) but it’s a highly versatile wine that can easily take you through a meal where people are ordering different things.

Lighter styles of Beaujolais such as Beaujolais Nouveau, inexpensive Beaujolais, Beaujolais Villages, and lighter ‘cru’ (top level village) Beaujolais such as Fleurie or Chiroubles. (These wines can happily be served lightly chilled)

*Cold ham, especially the French jambon persillé (jellied ham and parsley)

*Cold turkey and chicken (Beaujolais is brilliant with Thanksgiving or Christmas Day leftovers)

*Salads, especially with chicken or bacon (think frisée with lardons) with pomegranate seeds, with berries like dried cherries or cranberries, or with goats cheese

*Seared tuna and salmon

*Fish stews like this cod pot au feu

*Sushi, if you like a red with it

*Strawberries (delicious with a young fruity Beaujolais poured over them)

More Full-bodied or More Mature Beaujolais

From riper vintages e.g. 2018, 2020 or weightier crus such as Morgon, Julienas, and Moulin à Vent

*Simply roast chicken, guineafowl, duck, or partridge

*Seared duck breast, especially with fruit like cherries or figs

*Classic French dishes in a creamy sauce like chicken with tarragon or kidneys with mustard sauce or even a retro boeuf stroganoff

*Simply grilled pork, lamb, or veal

*Toulouse or other garlicky sausages and lentils. (See also this quirky match with Toulouse sausage and prawn dumplings!)

*Steak tartare, as you can see from this post

*Bavette or hanger steak - the classic ‘steak frites’

*Confit duck

*Coq au vin or oeufs en meurette (Beaujolais makes a good red wine sauce)

*Fruity tagines like this lamb tagine with dates, prunes, and apricots

*Vegetarian dishes with butternut squash or sweet potato

See also What to Pair with Beaujolais Nouveau

There’s a more extensive list on the Beaujolais website

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