Food pairings for wheat beer I: witbiers (bières blanches) and lighter wheat beers

Wheat beers are fabulously flexible when it comes to food matching - the beer world’s equivalent of a crisp white wine.

There are two main styles - the cloudy, citrussy, aromatic Belgian-style witbier (aka bière blanche) and the richer banana-and-clove flavours of German hefeweizen which you can read about here.

In between are a range of wheat beers from different sources which fall somewhere between the two but are basically suited, like witbier, to salads, seafood and dishes flavoured with citrus and herbs

Matches for Northern French and Belgian style witbiers:

Seafood such as crab, mussels, oysters and clams - witbier is great for a beery version of moules marinières

Simply prepared fish like fried or grilled sole or plaice

Fish cakes

Smoked salmon or trout

Dim sum and other light Chinese dishes such as stir fries

Sushi

Raw fish such as ceviche and tartares

Fried fish like fish and chips, calamari or whitebait

Seafood pastas and noodles like crab linguine with chilli and coriander or pad thai

Seafood and light vegetable risottos

White pizza or seafood-topped pizza

Spring vegetables such as peas, beans and asparagus - as you can see from this article

Light fresh cheeses such as young goat cheese, sheep cheese and feta. Beer and food matching guru Garret Oliver recommends an omelette with sharp apple and goats cheese

Salads, especially mozzarella basil and tomato salad, Greek salad and caesar salad

Brunch dishes

Potjevleesch - a chunky jellied terrine of pork, chicken and rabbit you find in north-east France

Lighter Thai and Mexican dishes flavoured with citrus and herbs

Thai green curries

Photo ©zavgsg at fotolia.com

Matching food and Priorat

I was reminded about my trip to Priorat almost exactly two years ago by my recent visit to the Roussillon which has a similar terroir. And I think the wines would go with similar kinds of food. These were my suggested pairings at the time . . .

Priorat has some of the most expensive wines in Spain but they’re also high in alcohol and reflect their wild, untamed terroir. There’s a marked difference between wines from ‘hot’ vintages like 2003 and 2005 and the more recent fresher cooler wines of 2007 and 2008 and between older vintages and younger ones. The former can develop quite bosky ‘animal’ flavours, particularly those that contain old Carignan but then, surprisingly some can be quite delicate, almost ethereal.

In terms of comparison with other wine regions I would think Châteauneuf is a better reference point than Bordeaux despite the presence in many wines of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

Although they obviously appeal to the Asian market to me they’re not the obvious bottle to reach for with subtle, delicate cuisines such as Cantonese or Japanese (although some of the top winemakers are making wines that would match well). The whites (which are again similar to those of the Rhône) are more suited to cooked shellfish, fish and vegetable dishes than to raw or lightly cooked ones.

Like most great wines most would benefit from being served with simple food and as full-bodied reds, grilled and roast meat, especially lamb and beef. The bigger, more broadshouldered wines would pair well with meat served rare with a degree of charring; older vintages with slow roasts like slow roast shoulder of lamb. Lighter more graceful wines from higher vineyards or more recent vintages could work with dishes like braised rabbit. (I particularly liked Sara Perez Ovejero of Mas Martinet’s suggestion of pairing her sumptuous Els Escurcons with braised rabbit wih olives and herbs)

In fact furred rather than feathered game seems a good direction to go. I’d also like to pair Priorat with venison, hare and wild boar (or rare breed pork), again slow-cooked. Think oxtail too. I found a slightly funky 2004 Vall Llach absolutely transformed by a dish of braised oxtail with Priorat and prunes, bringing its primary fruit once more to the fore. It just seems the right thing to do with such strongly terroir-driven wines to pair them with food from the region - or across the Pyrenees with dishes from south-west France. Priorat and cassoulet? Priorat and Toulouse sausages with Puy lentils? Priorat with duck confit? They’d all work.

Then of course there’s cheese. We didn’t have much while we were away but Priorat, which has much in common with rich, brambly wines like Amarone and those from the Douro, would make a good companion for stronger, more challenging cheeses, especially blues. And on the basis of successfully pairing a mature Manchego with some of the wines I’d definitely look at some of Spain’s other excellent sheeps’ cheeses.