Pairings | Pinot Noir

The best wine pairings with monkfish

Posted by Fiona Beckett on January 22 2022 at 07:08

Monkfish (or lotte, as the French call it) is a meaty fish that is often roasted so pairs equally well with red wine as with white. In fact a lightly chilled red wine would generally be my preferred match, particularly if it’s wrapped in pancetta or bacon

Wines to drink with roast monkfish

Pinot noir
I’d choose a pinot with some fresh acidity rather than too much sweet fruit so a pinot from Burgundy, Germany (where it’s known as spätburgunder), Sonoma, Oregon or the Marlborough region of New Zealand rather than Central Otago or Chile

Mencia
A fashionable red from the north of Spain that tastes a bit like a cross between pinot noir and Loire cabernet franc (which you could also drink)

A full-bodied oaked white wine such as a Douro white (there’s a good story about this one!) or an oaked white rioja.

Albarino
Again from Spain this fresh-tasting white is always a safe bet with seafood, and would be a good choice if the monkfish is served with a lemony sauce

Monkfish with Provençal flavours like tomatoes and saffron

Try a strong southern French rosé such as Bandol or a good Languedoc rosé

Monkfish in red wine sauce

I’d choose a more full-bodied red like a merlot

Image © Comugnero Silvana at fotolia.com

Tags: merlot Bandol rosé drink:rosé albarino oaked white rioja Douro white oaked white wine drink:white wine mencia pinot noir drink:red wine roast monkfish lotte monkfish food:fish & shellfish
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The best pairings with red burgundy

Posted by Fiona Beckett on January 12 2022 at 06:03

As with white burgundy there’s a world of difference between a simple village burgundy and an elegant premier or grand cru - most of which need 5 years at the very least to show at their best but the dividing line when it comes to pairing wine with red burgundy is age.

Is it a light wine you’re dealing with or a more mature, intensely flavoured one? Duck is almost always a winner but here are some other options.

Basic red burgundy (Bourgogne rouge)

Best thought of as a companion for simple French meals, even picnics. My number one choice would be charcuterie - simple saucisson sec, paté, rillettes and terrines

Mild cheeses such as goats cheese and creamy but not too mature brie (but stinkier cheeses such as Epoisses will overwhelm them)

Seared tuna especially with an Asian accent such as a sesame crust

Chicken or rabbit with a creamy mustard sauce

Good quality youthful red burgundy 2-5 years old e.g. Marsannay, Mercurey and Santenay

You don’t want to overwhelm this with heavy sauces so think simply cooked rare meat rather than heavily charred or sauced. (You can also, of course, pair them with the dishes above)

Rack of lamb with a herb crust

Seared duck breast particularly accented with red fruits like cherries or blackberries

9 great wine matches for duck

Offal - liver, especially calves liver, kidneys and sweetbreads

Mushrooms - as with white burgundy mushroom risotto works particularly well but a mushroom sauce will frequently kick a pairing into touch. Think mushroom stroganoff too

Beetroot (particularly roast beetroot but avoid vinegar) Good with riper fruitier styles from warm vintages (like 2015 at the time of writing)

Peas - weirdly but they almost always enhance a pinot match

Light umami-rich broths such as you find in sukiyaki (see this very successful pairing)

Weightier, more serious red burgundies such as Nuits-Saint-Georges and Gevrey-Chambertin

A great foil for meats of all kinds - even richly sauced dishes like boeuf bourguignon and coq au vin

Feathered game - particularly with elegant wines such as Vosne-Romanée or Chambolle-Musigny: roast grouse, pheasant, partridge as well as high quality farmed meats such as guineafowl and goose

The best wine pairings for partridge

Lean red meat such as venison, fillet steak and lamb

Simply roasted white meats like rare breed roast pork, roast veal or a good roast chicken

Dishes with a sauce based on red burgundy such as coq au vin and boeuf bourguignon

Four favourite matches for coq au vin

Dishes with black truffles and porcini

Cheese - though I say this tentatively. They would definitely serve the best red burgundies with cheese in France and more traditional dining rooms in the UK but I personally think the wines struggle, particular with pungent washed rind cheeses such as L’ami de Chambertin and Epoisses. Even the official Burgundy wine site favours white wines with cheese!

The best wine and beer pairings for steak pie

Posted by Fiona Beckett on October 10 2021 at 06:52

As with many other pairings the best match for steak pie depends how you cook it and whether the sauce includes beer, stock or wine

If it’s beer as in a steak and ale pie the obvious answer is beer - a robust bitter or brown ale I suggest although you could use a strong Belgian ale like Orval or Chimay and if you prefer wine I've drunk old Bandol with steak pie with great success.

Porter and stout are also good pairings for a pie with a dark meaty gravy, especially if the same beer has been used in the sauce. As in this match with steak and stilton pie.

If you use red wine to make the pie that generally makes wine the better pairing. Again no reason why you shouldn’t drink a similar wine to the one you’ve used in the pie - a Corbières, Faugères or other Languedoc red would fit the bill perfectly.

If mushrooms are a feature as in a steak and mushroom pie you could consider a robust style of pinot noir such as those from Central Otago.

If you use stock in the pie which will result in a lighter, less intense gravy you could go either way - a lighter bitter or a medium bodied red like a red Bordeaux or a rioja crianza would all hit the spot.

Some traditional steak pies also include ox kidney which again makes for a richer dish. Again I'd have a marginal preference for a strong beer here though a robust red like a Malbec would also work.

Image © MariaKovaleva at shutterstock.com

The best food pairings for Pinot Noir

Posted by Fiona Beckett on August 17 2021 at 07:21

Pinot noir is one of the most versatile red wines to match with food and a great option in a restaurant when one of you is eating meat and the other fish.

There are ingredients that will pair with practically any pinot noir, for example, it's a classic wine match for duck. Pinot can also pair well with salmon or tuna, depending on the way you’ve cooked them and the style of pinot you’re drinking.

Here are some food pairings for different styles of pinot noir, most of which (barring the mature pinots) should be served cool or chilled:

Light, fresh pinots

Such as: inexpensive red burgundy, Alsace pinot noir and other less expensive pinots, especially from poor vintages

Good pairings: Charcuterie, ham and other cold meats. Patés and terrines. classic French dishes with light creamy sauces such as rabbit or kidneys with a mustard sauce. Goat cheese. Grilled asparagus. Spring vegetables such as peas

The best pairings with red burgundy

Sweetly fruited pinots

Such as: those from Chile, New Zealand and California with bright berry fruit

Good pairings: Dishes with a touch of spice such as crispy duck pancakes (and hoisin duck bao buns as I've recently discovered!), grilled quail, pulled or char siu pork, seared salmon and tuna. Barbecues. Roast or other cooked beetroot dishes. Dishes that include cherries or figs like this duck and fig combination at Kooyong in the Mornington Peninsula

Silky, elegant pinots

Such as: top red burgundy and other Burgundian-style pinots

Good pairings: Roast chicken or guineafowl (even with lots of garlic as this post illustrates. Pigeon. Rack of lamb, served pink. Rare fillet steak and carpaccio. Beef Wellington. Roast pork with herbs and fennel. Chicken or turkey sausages. Calves liver, sweetbreads. Dishes with morels and other wild mushrooms. Mushroom risotto. Roast or grillled lobster

Rich, full-bodied pinots

Such as: those from Central Otago or pinots from a hot vintage

Good pairings: Butterflied lamb, chargrilled steak, venison. Dishes like cassoulet or duck with olives if they’re more rustic. Roast goose. Hare Royale as you can see from this post. Coq au vin where the sauce is made with pinot noir. Glazed ham. Roast turkey. Brie and similar cheeses. Milder blue cheeses such as Gorgonzola dolce.

Mature, truffley pinots

Such as: older vintages of Burgundy

Good pairings: feathered game such as grouse, partridge and pheasant. Cold game pie. Dishes with truffles.

Wine and lamb: my 5 favourite pairings

Posted by Fiona Beckett on February 28 2021 at 06:30

It’s tough to say what the best wine matches for lamb are - it’s served so many different ways and there are so many wines (mainly red) that work but here are my five favourites.

Bear in mind lamb is a slightly fattier, gamier meat than beef and carries spicing well - you’ll find lamb dishes all over north Africa, the eastern Mediterranean and India. But it can also be quite delicate and sweet - when served rare for example.

Here are the five I most commonly reach for:

PINOT NOIR

The wine to go with more delicate lamb dishes such as rack of lamb served with spring vegetables, lamb noisettes or a spring lamb stew (See this report from the International Pinot Noir Convention a couple of years ago to see how ‘new world’ pinots performed against classic red burgundy)

RIOJA

Go to the Rioja region of Spain and you’ll invariably be offered a mountain of lamb cutlets cooked over smouldering vine cuttings - one of the most delicious examples of vineyard cuisine you’ll find anywhere. And a red Rioja reserva is the ideal partner.

CHIANTI

If you’re serving your lamb Italian-style with garlic and rosemary reach for a bottle of Chianti Classico. Its fresh acidity offsets lamb’s slight fattiness perfectly - one of those matches which makes both the wine and food sing.

RED BORDEAUX AND SIMILAR BORDEAUX BLENDS

Another part of the world where lamb is a favourite, particularly in the Médoc. Again likely to be served simply with garlic. A red Bordeaux or similar blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot will offset it beautifully. (Also good with classic British dishes such as Lancashire hotpot and shepherd’s pie!)

SOUTHERN FRENCH REDS AND OTHER GRENACHE/SYRAH/MOURVEDRE BLENDS

Wines from the Rhône and Languedoc-Roussillon are good for more robust lamb dishes such as braised lamb shanks, Moroccan tagines or other spicy stews and casseroles - even milder lamb curries.

For a longer list of options read Top Wine Pairings for Lamb