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Should a £3.99 wine be an award-winning food match?
The results of this year’s What Food, What Wine? competition were announced yesterday and, as in previous years, I’m sure eyebrows will be raised at some of the trophy winners.
The award-winning under £10 wine with mushroom risotto, for example was a £3.992011 Toscano Rosso from Aldi while Blossom Hill’s 2012 Winemaker’s Reserve Chardonnay - Blossom Hill! - scooped the top award as a match with chicken korma.
Critics of wine competitions will no doubt feel vindicated that professional tasters can’t tell their a*** from their elbow when judging wines blind but as a member of the judging panel myself - which also included four MWs and a couple of fellow wine writers - I can assure you that these matches worked. The winning wines might not all have been ones I would have chosen personally but they were ones that the majority felt went best with the dishes which were all prepared to home-cooked recipes by TV cook Jo Pratt.
The fact is - as I remarked last year - you don’t necessarily need an expensive wine to create a successful wine match. In fact sometimes it gets in the way. And the fact that you can indulge in a spot of wine matching whatever your budget is surely something to be celebrated? It shouldn’t be the exclusive province of those who can afford expensive bottles and posh restaurants.
Other interesting results from the competition:
* The most successful wines overall were Spice Trail White 2012* (£6.49) an inexpensive aromatic white which won two trophies (for Chicken Tikka Masala and stir-fried prawns) and De Bortoli’s 2008 Deen Vat 5 Botrytis Semillon which scored 5 stars with both apple pie and custard and Stilton. (Though the trophy for apple pie went to Brancott’s Letter Series B Late Harvest 2011)
* It was good to see an English sparkler do well: the 2010 South Ridge Cuvée Merrett won the over £10 trophy with fish and chips (Cono Sur, surprisingly picked up the gong for best under £10 wine with their sparkling brut)
* The under £10 trophy for shepherd’s pie - a new category this year - was won by Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 and the over £10 by Vidal’s 2010 Reserve Series Syrah (so much for red Bordeaux, my usual go-to match). Vidal also scooped the trophy for the best wine over £10 with stir-fried king prawns with their White Series riesling 2011. In fact New Zealand came top of the trophies’ table with 7 trophies compared to France’s 5, Chile’s 4 and Australia’s 3.
* No trophies were awarded for wines with chocolate roulade which maybe highlights the difficulty of matching wine with chocolate or for wines under £10 with Christmas turkey though the winning over £10 wine - Hurtado Reserva Pinot Noir 2011 - only just tipped that price point at £10.99.
The greatest disappointment of the competition this year was that the winning wines were quite similar in style to those that won the previous year which at least shows consistency in the judging but perhaps a lack of adventurousness among the wineries, importers and retailers taking part. Hopefully introducing some new food categories which don't have the previous year’s results to draw on for inspiration will rectify that.
You can find the full list of winners and 5, 4 and 3 star-rated wines on the What Food, What Wine? website.
* Frustratingly the 2012 vintage we tasted seems impossible to track down at the moment. Booth's may have it next month (September 2013)
Some food and wine pairing tips from What Food What Wine? 2012
I’ve just spent the past two days at What Food What Wine? tasting wine alongside dishes as disparate as smoked salmon and apple crumble, Stilton and steak and lasagne and lamb - a bit of an assault on the palate (and stomach!) but one of the best ways to work out what wine really works with your favourite recipes
It’s the second year of this groundbreaking competition which is fronted by popular TV presenters (and husband and wife) Susie and Peter of Saturday Kitchen. The big difference is that while the food may not be exactly the same as you’d serve it at home (roast turkey without sprouts and spuds? You must be joking!) the dishes have been devised by a proper home cook (TV chef Jo Pratt).
You’ll have to wait until the end of next month to find out which bottles we voted the trophy winners but in the meantime here are a few general observations and tips you might find useful:
* More expensive wines don’t necessarily make better food matches. Our judging categories were divided into under £10 and over £10 wines and sometimes the under £10 pairings were just as good
* Some classic wine matches stand the test of time, for instance roast lamb with Bordeaux-style reds and sweet or fortified wines with Stilton. On the other hand there are always new discoveries to be made - for instance how well Sauvignon Blanc pairs with smoked salmon. As good as champagne!
* Steak is not the breeze that everyone thinks it is. You really need to think about how it’s cooked. Serving it rare will smooth the rough edges off a rustic red or a very full-bodied tannic young wine which might taste a bit overpowering with a medium to well-done piece of meat. Lay off the ketchup if you don’t want to complicate things further - or at least leave it until you’ve tasted the wine with the steak
* In fact it always pays to taste a dish with a wine before you add extra seasoning or sauces. A citrussy white can do the same job as a squeeze of lemon, as we discovered with the fish and chips category.
* “You don’t want tannin with turkey” - a good observation from wine consultant Angela Mount. Think fruit, not oak when you come to buy your Christmas red - though an oaky white can conversely work quite well
* Wine pairings can have a different effect. Some will echo flavours and textures in a wine like the orangey dessert wine we tried with the Christmas pudding (yes, we had that too!). Others may provide a lighter, more refreshing contrast. It depends how adventurous you - and your guests - are. Complementary pairings tend to be less challenging than contrasting ones.
*There are always fascinating new discoveries to be made such as this year’s discovery that umami-rich parmesan can make some wines - whites in particular - taste almost sweet
* A home-made dish may need a slightly different wine from a shop-bought one. For example Jo’s delicious mushroom risotto had a strong flavour of porcini that proved a great match for Pinot Noir. A lighter, creamier one might pair better with a Chardonnay. If you want to get the best out of the award-winning wines use the recipes on the site (no great hardship there!)
I should make clear that I am a senior (paid) judge on What Food What Wine and that we have reciprocal links so obviously have an interest in its success. But I honestly think they're doing a terrific job in taking food and wine matching forward.
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