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)

Wine, beer and other pairings with Mexican food

The thing you need to ask yourself when you’re wondering which wine - or other drink - to pair with Mexican food is what kind of Mexican. Authentic Mexican or Tex Mex?

If it’s the former you’ll need a wine that can handle the bright citrussy flavours. If it’s the cheese-laden latter you’d be be better off with a beer or robust red wine of which there are plenty made in Mexico these days though few make it to the UK.

It’s also a question of what type of Mexican meal - a few small sharing plates or a more substantial dish like a mole. Or possibly even both.

Here’s a simple guide:

Top pairings with Mexican food

Tacos, tostadas and dips like guacamole and salsa fresca

There tend to be a lot of bright citrus flavours in these types of dishes: crisp fresh whites like Sauvignon Blanc and Albarino work particularly well as do classic margaritas, wheat beers (especially witbiers) or citrussy pale ales. Fresh fruity non-alcoholic cocktails like this citrus fizz or watermelon or hibiscus-flavoured Agua Fresca are good matches too.

Six of the best drinks to pair with tacos

Tamalas and other dishes with masa harina

Chardonnay is great with corn.

Cheesy enchiladas or burritos

With a chicken enchilada I'd go for a pale ale or light smooth dry white like a chenin blanc or unoaked chardonnay. With beef enchiladas or burritos try an amber ale or a medium-bodied red like a young Rioja or other tempranillo, a garnacha or a Côte du Rhône or a Bonarda

Moles

Moles suit dark Mexican beers like Negra Modelo or other dark beers - maybe even a stout with a chocolatey mole. Winewise I'd favour robust but not over-tannic young reds such as Petite Sirah and Zinfandel. Slightly smoky, gamey reds such as mourvèdre (or GSM blends) and barbera work too. If you feel your mole could benefit from a bit more sweetness go for a Chilean cabernet or a riper style of zinfandel

Other slow braised dishes like carnitas

Barbera, malbec or syrah. Amber and dark ales and lagers

Mexican desserts such as churros and cajeta pancakes

With cajetas (caramelised goats milk pancakes) I’d go for a sweet muscat or late harvest sauvignon blanc. With churros I’d personally skip the wine and drink a black Americano coffee.

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6 of the best pairings for spaghetti bolognese

Given the arguments about how to make a bolognese sauce it’s hardly surprising there should be a difference of opinion about what wine to serve with spaghetti bolognese but here’s what I would go for:

Best red wines with spaghetti bolognese

* a medium-bodied Italian red such as an inexpensive Chianti, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo or a simple Sicilian red. It’s the acidity in Italian reds that makes them so refreshing

* Italian grape varieties such as barbera and sangiovese made elsewhere

* inexpensive Languedoc or Roussillon reds

* Zinfandel. Always good with tomato-based pasta sauces

Can you drink white wine with a bolognese sauce?

Absolutely especially if the sauce is made with white wine or includes milk like Anna del Conte's ragu then you’ll find it will work really well. I suggest a dry Italian white such as Verdicchio.

What about beer with bolognese?

Maybe another surprise but if you use beer rather than wine to make your bolognese sauce and include bacon and a little smoked pimenton for a smoky note you’ll find it’s a terrific pairing. Try a Belgian-style blonde ale or an amber ale.

Note: these drinks will work with other pasta dishes served with a bolognese sauce. It’s the sauce you match not the pasta shape.

For wine pairings with other pasta sauces see

Wines to match different pasta sauces

The best wine pairings for spaghetti puttanesca

Spaghetti puttanesca - or ‘whore’s spaghetti’ to translate it literally - is a full-flavoured pasta dish with strong, punchy flavours but which wine should you pair with it? As with other pasta dishes, it’s all about the sauce.

There are various theories about how the dish - a comparatively recent invention - got its name, the most plausible being that it was a simple storecupboard dish that could be slung together between clients’ visits. Etymology aside, the best wine pairings for pasta puttanesca should consider its core ingredients.

Puttanesca is heavy on garlic, anchovies, capers, chillies and olives - quite a lot for any wine to handle. My preference, given the base is cooked tomatoes, would be for a southern Italian red - even a basic carafe wine would do.

Here are some specific suggestions:

• Sicilian and southern Italian reds such as nero d’avola, negroamara and primitivo
• Inexpensive zinfandel (you don’t want one that’s too extracted or high in alcohol with this punchy pasta sauce)
• Barbera - from Northern Italy or elsewhere - always a good wine with a rustic dish
• Inexpensive Portuguese reds from the Alentejo - ripe and supple, they make a good stand-in for an Italian red
• and if you fancy a white try a crisp southern Italian white such as Falanghina or Greco

Needless to say if you’re making the dish with another type of pasta like penne the recommendations would be the same. You match the sauce not the pasta shape.

See also Wines to match different pasta sauces

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