Pairings | Pinot Noir
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)
What to pair with Camembert: 5 great drink matches
Although it seems similar in style to Brie, Camembert is a trickier cheese to pair with a slightly funky edge that can clash with many wines, particularly reds.
Fortunately, coming from Normandy there is another option and that is cider and other apple based drinks such as Pommeau and Calvados, depending on how well-matured your Camembert is. If you don’t drink and the cheese is mild apple juice is actually a very good pairing.
Here are my top picks:
Cider
The obvious ‘terroir’-based match. The slight bitterness of cider apples suits Camembert perfectly particularly if you’re eating the rind. Sparkling cider is possibly even better . . .
Pommeau
Stronger than cider, this blend of cider and calvados is ideal when your cheese has reached the oozy stage.
Champagne
Maybe that’s a surprise but the bubbles really work with a gooey Camembert, especially if it’s been baked
Chenin Blanc
Has a touch of apple itself and generally the weight and smoothness to partner the cheese provided it’s not got too mature. Loire chenins such as Montlouis and Vouvray are relatively local anyway or try a Chenin Blanc from South Africa
A soft fruity red
If you want to drink red go for one with a good whack of bright berry fruit like a New Zealand Pinot Noir, a Chilean Merlot or a Carmenère. I’d aim for one of 13-13.5% ABV. You don’t want too big and tannic a wine - or one that’s too light, acidic or weedy.
Tip: Camembert is a cheese to eat when it's fully matured. Keep it too long though and it will become bitter
The best wine pairings for vitello tonnato
One of the best hot weather dishes, this piquant dish of cold poached or roast veal with a tuna, anchovy and caper mayonnaise invariably pops up on menus at this time of year. But what to pair with it?
* as it originally comes from Piedmont a Piedmontese white like Roero Arneis or a Gavi seems a good place to start. Other neutral dry Italian white wines such as a Vermentino or even a quality Pinot Grigio from the Alto Adige would be a good match too.
*It's not traditional but a mineral Chablis or Aligoté would work as would a mature Muscadet-sur-lie or an Albarino.
*Try a dry rosé - especially Provençal rosé (see also this longer list of good Provencal rosé pairings)
* Personally I think it’s more a white wine dish than a red but a young Langhe Nebbiolo or other light Italian red like a Valtellina or even a light red burgundy would work fine. (Not too lush and fruity a pinot in my opinion as the anchovies and capers will accentuate its sweetness. Italians rarely drink wines without a fair amount of acidity in them.)
Image © zoryanchik - Fotolia.com
4 tips to bear in mind when pairing Easter lamb
The good news if you’re planning an Easter feast around lamb is that practically any medium to full-bodied red wine you enjoy will be delicious with it. But there are a few variables to take into account that might enhance the pairing
When Easter is
This year it’s mid April but it can be at the end of March. Given the unpredictability of the weather these days that might not make a huge difference but in theory you could still be in late winter mode if it’s in March or early April and feeling more springlike 2-3 weeks later. In wine terms an early Easter might make you fancy heartier wines such as a cabernet sauvignon or malbec while a later one might incline you to a pinot noir or Loire cabernet franc like a Saumur-Champigny.
Where you are
The above assumes you’re in the northern hemisphere where Easter takes place in the spring. In the southern hemisphere of course it’ll be autumn and your likely accompaniments might be root veg and squash (cue more robust reds such as shiraz/syrah or grenache) rather than peas and asparagus (gamay and pinot)
How old the lamb is
Although lamb is always associated with Easter it may not actually be the new season’s lamb unless it’s milk-fed which again calls for more delicate wines (a good burgundy, say) than an older, perhaps more gamey, animal (a Gigondas or other robust southern Rhône or Languedoc red)
The way you’re cooking it
Rare lamb calls for younger, fresher, brighter wines than slow cooked lamb which will show off older vintages to greater advantage
And think where the recipe you're using comes from. If you’re cooking it Italian-style with beans and salsa verde it makes more sense to serve an Italian red like a Chianti rather than the claret you might pull out for a classic French or traditional British-style roast. And if you’re cooking it over coals think a red with ripe, sweet fruit. Yup, it could be that malbec again ….
Image © Vicuschka at fotolia.com
The best wine pairings for a Chinese-style stir-fry
A stir-fry is a great option for a quick midweek supper but what kind of wine should you drink with it?
Although seafood in a stir-fry may steer you to a white and beef to a red the key is more the type of sauce the stir fry is finished with - quite often sweet and sour - rather than the base ingredient. Even with sauce stir-fries tend to be quite fresh and crunchy so think in terms of light to medium-bodied wines with a touch of sweetness.
Here are my favourites:
Riesling and riesling blends
Off-dry riesling is generally the best all-rounder but riesling blends containing other aromatic grapes such as pinot gris and gewurztraminer work too
Torrontes from Argentina - an interesting alternative to riesling
Fruity Australian whites especially ones containing semillon and colombard
New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc - particularly with stir-fries that contain veggies like asparagus, peppers and mangetout
Fruity rosés from Portugal or Chile, for example - work well with sweet and sour and sweet chilli stir-fry sauces.
Fruity pinot noirs - work well with stir fries with duck or beef, especially if five spice or hoisin sauce is involved
See also Six versatile wine pairings for a Chinese New Year feast.
Image © jenifoto @fotolia.com
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