Four favourite wine matches for coq au vin

Coq au vin (chicken in wine) is of course cooked in wine - usually red wine - so does that mean you should pair it with the wine you've used to cook it in?

So far as I can make out the original recipe comes from Burgundy though I’m sure other regions would contest this - and yes, it does make sense to drink the same or a similar wine to the one you use to pour over the chook. I'd recommend a light to medium-bodied red with good acidity.

Red burgundy
The classic match - sometimes the dish is called coq au Chambertin which really would be rather grand. No need to spend that much obviously. Use a minor red burgundy to make the dish and the best one you can afford to drink with it

Other Burgundian-style pinot noirs
Same logic. I would choose one with a bit of acidity though rather than a very fruit-driven one. German spätburgunder, New Zealand or Oregon pinot noir, for example

Serious Beaujolais
Like a Morgon or Moulin-à-Vent as you can see from this post.

A southern Rhône or Languedoc red
This will give a more rustic result but is a) perfectly satisfying and b) quite a bit cheaper than good red burgundy. Own label Côte du Rhône for example is particularly good value to cook with.

If the dish is made with white wine - such as coq au riesling in Alsace - it obviously makes sense to drink white wine rather than red.

If you want to try your hand at an authentic coq au vin here's a recipe from The Balthazar Cookbook.

For other wine pairings with chicken see What wine goes best with chicken - red or white?

Image HLphoto @fotolia.com

The best wine and liqueur pairings for a chocolate yule log

A chocolate yule log or ‘buche de Noël has become an increasingly popular dessert at Christmas but what kind of wine should you pair with it?

As usual with chocolate it depends how intense the flavour is and what the log is filled with.

A simple shop-bought log filled with whipped cream or a light buttercream doesn’t need as powerful a wine as a rich home-made one with, say, a chestnut filling.

You may of course feel that a sweet wine is over the top with something that’s already incredibly sweet and that you’d rather have a cup of black coffee or tea with it. But it is Christmas and I suspect most of you probably won’t!

Here’s what I’d suggest:

* For a shop-bought log I’d go for a Brachetto d’Acqui - a sweet, gently fizzy Italian red wine that isn’t too high in alcohol. If you’re serving it with fresh berries you could even serve a sparkling rosé or rosé champagne

* With a slightly richer homemade log with a chocolate cream filling you could try a stronger sweet red wine such as a recioto della Valpolicella, Maury or a black muscat like Elysium. If it’s flled with boozy cherries try a vintage character or late bottled vintage port.

* With a log with orange in the sponge or filling like this chocolate and clementine log try an orange muscat, Passito di Pantelleria, a lovely marmaladey dessert wine from an island off the coast of Sicily or a South African straw wine. Or you could serve an iced shot of Cointreau

* With a rich chocolate and chestnut yule log like this rather delicious-sounding version from Felicity Cloake I’d go for a dark cream sherry or sweet oloroso sherry, sweet madeira or Australian liqueur muscat

* If there are nuts or Nutella on or in your log as in this recipe try a tawny port or, if it includes almonds, a glass of amaretto.

What I personally wouldn’t go for:

Sauternes or similarly citrussy dessert wines - simply because I’d rather have orange flavours than lemony ones with chocolate. Ordinary non-vintage champagne because it’s too dry (though a demi-sec champagne would be fine with lighter recipes) and Asti because it’s a bit too light. But if you disagree go for it!

What other drinks have you enjoyed with a Yule log?

You may also find these other suggestions for what to drink with Christmas desserts useful:

Wine matches for Christmas pudding

Wine matches for mince pies

Wine matches for trifle

Photo © noirchocolate - Fotolia.com

10 Argentinian wine pairings that don’t involve steak!

Everyone knows that malbec and steak is a classic pairing but the Argentinians do of course eat other foods and drink other wines. Here are 10 that I came across on my recent trip that might possibly surprise you.

Fresh ricotta with lemon and herbs and semillon

This appetiser at the cheese-centred La Toscana in Neuquen was just perfect with Bodega Noemia’s appealingly smooth citrussy A Lisa semillon (only the 2017 vintage is available in the UK, the 2018 is at Saratoga Wines in NY). It was flavoured with lemon rind and herbs - so easy to do at home.

Llama carpaccio with torrontes

I got into big trouble with a vegetarian friend for eating llama (no worse than eating venison, I retorted) but can’t really tell you what it tasted like as it was masked by the citrus marinade. The team at Roux in Buenos Aires switched the pairing at the last minute to grüner veltliner but I think it would have worked better with the original choice of torrontes (as ceviche generally does)

Braised pork with pear and celery purée, pickled apples and cabbage with a young syrah

One of a number of really good pairings from a brilliant dinner at Ver Sacrum’s La Cayetana which operates as a restaurant inside the owners' house. The pork was slightly sweet given the pear accompaniment and went inspiringly well with a fresh young syrah, a limited edition bottling they sell from the winery. I also loved the gazpacho with goat cheese ice-cream with Alpamanta’s Breva cloudy natural-ish sauvignon blanc and cured trout with confit fennel with juniper, quinoa and beetroot cream with Ver Sacrum's dry PX, also a limited release.

Beef empanadas with malbec

True, this is almost steak but malbec is just brilliant with beefy empanadas. (Not all empanadas are meaty. It depends on the area they come from. We were at Humberto Canale in Rio Negro in Patagonia.) It’s normal anyway for Argentinians to kick off a meal with a red.

Tempura vegetables and miso sauce with friulano

This is the last kind of dish I would have expected to come across in Argentina but it was one of an excellent selection of starters at Narda Comedor a really lovely veggie-inspired restaurant in Buenos Aires. We drank a Gran Lurton Friulano with it from Bodega Piedra Negra in the Uco Valley which was surprisingly fresh given its 14.5% alcohol and just perfect with the white miso sauce.

Aubergine (eggplant), rocket and malbec

Another veggie starter of slightly smoky oven-roasted aubergine (cooked a bit like a baba ganoush) with rocket and herbs at Zuccardi’s Uco Valley restaurant Piedra Infinita Cocina that went really well with their Concreto Malbec - a much lighter, fresher style of malbec than is the norm. It also picked up nicely on the cumin and pomegranate seeds in the dressing.

Sweetbreads and chardonnay

You hardly need me to tell you how versatile chardonnay is with food but you might be surprised at the thought that it matches grilled sweetbreads and chorizo, the popular’ appetiser that often kicks off a meal (in this case at Elena at the Four Seasons). it was a fairly rich style of chardonnay (from Desierto), mind.

Patagonian lamb and pinot

While most of Argentina is steak-focused, Patagonia is famous for its flavourful lamb which conveniently goes incredibly well with the local pinot as I discovered at Familia Shroeder (Their 2017 Saurus select pinot was spot on)

Dulce de Leche and sparkling rosé . . .

You might think you would need a sweeter wine to pair with dulche de leche, the wickedly sweet caramel sauce that manages to find its way into practically every dessert. I did too and was surprised to find just how well a sparkling rosé went both at Elena at the Four Seasons (with Escorihuela Gascon’s Pequeñas Producciones Rosé Extra Brut) and Salentein where they served a warm oozy dulche de leche filled fondant pudding. Both were really refreshing rather than adding to the sweetness of the dish.

. . . and grappa

Another unexpected pairing this time at Catena Zapata where the dulche de leche was sandwiched between crispy layers (a traditional Argentinian dessert called rogel and served with red fruits. It was actually the latter that went particularly well with the malbec-based grapa (with just one p) that they produce at Bodegas Esmeralda.

The best food pairings for Tokaji Aszu

Tokaj or Tokaji Aszu from Hungary is one of the most historic and delicious dessert wines which now has it’s own dedicated day on December 10th but if you’re looking for the ideal food pairing you can take it much further than the dessert course.

Like Sauternes the grapes are botrytised, in other words affected by a fungus that allows them to shrivel to a delicious sweetness (a process called noble rot). Look out for wines that have 5 or 6 puttonyos a historical measurement of sweetness that related to the number of hods or containers of botrytised berries that were added to the grape must.

It’s richer than Sauternes - less a question of honey and lemon and more tropical fruits and orange marmalade which makes it go particularly well with caramelised and dried fruits. (And, you’ll be pleased to hear, chocolate!)

What desserts go with Tokaji

Roast pineapple

As in this signature dessert of tipsy cake with spiced roast pineapple at Heston Blumenthal’s restaurant Dinner (which has recently re-opened in London)

Caramelised apple dishes such as tarte tatin and this wonderful sounding dish from a Hungarian restaurant called Barta Pince in Mád which accompanies a dessert called Őszi alma (’Autumn Apple’). It contains creme brulée, apple jelly, granola, marinated apples, coffee ganache and apple chips

Dark chocolate, especially with orange like this chocolate marmalade slump cake.

Christmas pudding

Not the easiest dish to match with a dessert wine but Tokaji aszu works really well particularly with lighter, fruitier styles of pud. You could drink it with panforte too.

What savoury dishes go with Tokaji?

Foie gras

The most popular pairing in Hungary where foie gras is as popular as it is in France. And it's true Tokaji goes incredibly well with it, particularly when it’s served hot. You can download a list of suggested servings from their website aszuday.com. And if you don’t eat foie gras it’s also very good with a goose or duck liver parfait.

Sichuan or Thai dishes that combine heat and sweetness such as this dish of smoked caramelised salmon from a wine dinner cooked by two Bordeaux-based Chinese chefs we reported on a while back. Or for a longer list check out he Tokaj website

Blue cheese, especially Stilton. An accidental discovery at London cheesemonger Paxton & Whitfield which I’ve repeated on many an occasion as a lighter (and equally delicious) alternative to port

Photo ©visionsi at fotolia.com