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Vegan Food and Wine Pairing: How to Pair Wine with Vegan Food
With media interest in vegan food and vegan-friendly wine at an unprecedented high, you might wonder what sort of wines pair with vegan food best. Is it even OK to drink wine with vegan food? How do I know if my wine is vegan? And how do I craft plant-based wine pairings as good as their carnivorous counterparts? So here’s the lowdown.
The best food pairings for rosé
Rosé was once considered a summer wine but increasingly more people are drinking it year round with almost every type of food and on any and every occasion. But what food goes with rosé?
Wine and Appetizer Pairings: a quick guide
The best wine to pair with appetizers and hors d’oeuvres largely depends on whether they precede a meal, as is traditional, or - as is more common these days - actually make up the meal itself, says regular contributor Monica Shaw. After all, we all seem to enjoy grazing these days.
What wine to pair with canapés and other party food
You might think wine pairing is a strange subject for a post on canapés as they are by their very nature varied and no-one - even a 3 Michelin-starred restaurant - pairs a different wine with each one.
The best food pairings for syrah
Syrah and shiraz, as you may know, are the same grape variety but quite different in character. Syrah, especially from the Northern Rhône, tends to be savoury, shiraz from Australia, far more sweet-fruited.
The best wine pairing for steak (updated)
Steak is a natural partner for red wine, but is there a definitive “best” red for steak?
What wine to pair with curry - my top 5 picks
If you’re wondering what wine goes with curry, you’re not alone. There are probably more opinions about the matter than there are types of curry. The word ‘curry’, of course, can encompass a whole range of dishes from a mild, creamy korma to a spicy vindaloo so you need to focus on what kind you’re dealing with. In this guide to wine with curry you’ll learn:
The best food pairings for dry (or off-dry) riesling
It’s sometimes hard to predict what type of food will pair well with riesling because they’re all so different - some being bone dry, some ultra sweet, some positively floral, others zingy and citrussy.
The best pairings with red burgundy
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.
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What wine - and other drinks - to pair with Korean food (NEW)
If you’ve developed a taste for Korean food - as so many of us now have - you may still be struggling with what drink to pair with it - and whether that should include wine.
Best food pairings with sauvignon blanc
Sauvignon blanc is many people’s favourite wine but what type of food pairs with it best?
Six of the best food pairings for Australian Shiraz (updated)
What most people probably think of in terms of Australian red wine is a Barossa or McLaren Vale shiraz - big, lush, sweet and ripe, the ideal pairing for grilled or barbecued beef.
What wines pair best with soup? (updated)
One of the few food and drink combinations I don’t feel that happy about is wine and soup. Not all soups, obviously, but many of them.
The best food to pair with Chardonnay
If you’re looking for food pairings for chardonnay, you’re in luck! Whatever the style it’s a fantastic food wine. Which makes it all the more remarkable that many people still say they don’t like chardonnay.
Which foods pair best with Merlot?
Merlot has one of the widest ranges of styles of any red wine from the light, quaffable merlots of the Veneto to the grandest of Bordeaux.
The best wine pairings with Beef Wellington
Beef Wellington is real treat and deserves an equally indulgent red wine to pair with it.
The best food pairings for Pinot Noir
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.
The best wine pairings with meatballs (updated)
Meatballs are essentially comfort food so you probably don’t want to drink anything too fancy with them.
Six of the best pairings for Cabernet Sauvignon
If you’re looking for the ideal food pairing for cabernet sauvignon you don’t have to look very far. Almost any red meat, especially served rare, is going to do the trick.
Top wine pairings with scallops
Scallops are some of the most delicious seafood around and some of the most flattering to a serious white wine.
The best wines to pair with fish soups and stews (new)
Fish soup is often more of a main course than a starter so a dish you might well want to pair with wine. And depending how much fish it has in it it may be more like a stew.
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What type of wine pairs best with Vietnamese food? (updated)
Wednesday marked not only the start of the Chinese New Year but the Vietnamese New Year celebrations too - known as Tet.
How to pair beer and food
I was recently asked the question: “What am i looking for when matching beer and food? Do I want a beer with similar flavours or should I be looking for a contrast?”
The best food pairings for Zinfandel
Like most wines made from red grapes Zinfandel comes in a number of styles from light and juicy to blockbuster ‘killer’ zins but they have a common thread of ripe brambly fruit and in most cases a richness that makes them a good match for red meat and other hearty dishes, especially those with a hit of smoked chilli.
The best wines to pair with crab
Crab is one of the most delicious kinds of shellfish and the perfect foil for a crisp white wine. But there are other crab dishes that pair better with a fuller-bodied white or even a red.
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The best food pairings for amarone (new)
Amarone or Amarone della Valpolicella is a full-bodied red wine from the Veneto region of Italy that gets its richness and slight sweetness from being partially fermented on the skins of dried grapes, a process referred to in Italian as appassimento.
The best food pairings for Chianti Classico and other Tuscan sangiovese (updated)
There’s a lot of talk about how the wines of a region tend to match its food but that seems truer of Tuscany than almost anywhere else.
What wine to pair with gazpacho
If there’s one dish more difficult to pair with wine than already tricky tomatoes it’s gazpacho, the chilled Spanish summer soup that includes raw onion and peppers as well. So what wine should you pair with it?
What food to pair with Malbec
Malbec has become so popular it may have become one of your favourite red wines but what are the best kind of dishes to pair with it?
What's the best type of wine for a barbecue?
Beer is still seen as a more common pairing than wine with a barbecue but if you’re planning one this weekend - or barbecuing any other weekend this summer - and you prefer drinking wine you may well be wondering which one to choose.
Top food matches for Beaujolais (and other gamay)
Beaujolais - by which I mean red Beaujolais - is the most French of wines, the perfect wine pairing for a picnic or bistro meal.
The best wine matches for fishcakes (updated)
Fishcakes are one of the ultimate comfort foods - but is there an equally comforting wine pairing?
What to drink with cake (updated)
A recent email from a reader asked me to suggest a wine to go with “a triple coconut cake with a tangy pineapple icing served with fresh fruit salsa that has kiwi, strawberry, mandarine oranges, blueberries and fresh pineapple in it”.
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8 great drinks to match with mince pies (updated)
Mince pies are so popular we all start eating them well before Christmas so what’s the best drink to pair with them?
The 10 trickiest foods to pair with wine
Look up any guide to food and wine matching and you’ll find a list of foods that are regarded as anathema to wine. I’ve done it myself but have come to the conclusion recently that the problems are overstated.
The best food pairings with white burgundy
White burgundy includes a multitude of wines from generic bourgogne blanc to the grandeur of a Bâtard-Montrachet or Corton-Charlemagne. But it’s the affordable wines that I’m focussing on in this post. What type of food do they pair with best?
20 Christmas wine pairings to learn by heart
One of the most popular posts I’ve ever written on this site was one called 20 food and wine pairings to learn by heart - an easy reference guide to commit to memory.
10 top food pairings for South African wines
If you’ve visited the Cape Winelands you’ll know what an amazing food and drink scene it has but you may still wonder what sort of dishes to order in a restaurant or to pair with South African wines at home.
My 25 top food and wine pairings
How on earth to whittle the great food and wine combinations I’ve experienced down to a mere 25? And not to base them all on a few favourite wines and foods?
Organising a wine and seafood pairing dinner
Last night we had a fun five course wine and food matching dinner at Rockfish Grill in Bristol which showed the range of wines you can match with fish. Here’s a few thoughts about how we approached it for those of you who are organising a similar event.
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
The best food and wine pairings for Valentine’s Day
If you’re planning a special meal for Valentine’s Day you may be wondering which wine to pair with your menu. I’ve picked some favourite Valentine’s Day foods and suggested some matches that should work well with them.
6 things you need to think about when pairing wine and vegetarian food
If you think it’s difficult to pair wine and vegetarian food, think again. It’s no trickier than it is for those who eat meat or fish.
Top pairings for dry and off-dry Alsace whites
On a recent visit to Alsace, I had the pleasure of rediscovering the region’s diverse wine offerings, from crisp Rieslings to Gewürztraminer and Pinot Gris. What struck me during this trip was how integral sweetness is to perfecting a food and wine pairing—a nuance that can vary greatly between a youthful bottle and a more aged vintage.
My top 20 drink pairings of 2013
So what stood out in the way of food and wine matches - and pairings with other drinks - in 2013?
My top food and wine pairings of 2020
Back in March when Covid first hit I remember thinking ‘no-one’s going to want to think about food and wine pairing’ and put my match of the week feature on hold.
Six drinks you might not have thought of pairing with Indian food
Asking what to drink with Indian food is a bit like asking what to drink with European food - it’s so incredibly varied - but there are pointers that should hopefully make the decision a bit easier.
15 Easter wine pairings to learn by heart
If you're wondering what wines you should buy for Easter weekend here's quick guide to what I think are the best Easter wine pairings.
A beginner's guide to pairing food and wine
You know your interest in wine has entered the next level when you start to wonder what food goes with the wine you’re drinking. So I thought it might be helpful to put together this beginner's guide, covering the basics of pairing wine with food.
What wine to pair with goose
If you’ve decided to serve goose rather than turkey this Christmas you’ve already opted to be adventurous. So you could arguably be adventurous about your wine pairing too.
My best wine (and other) pairings of 2017
Those of you who visit the site regularly will be aware I post a regular match of the week - the most interesting wine - or other drink - pairing I’ve come across in the past 7 days.
Wine pairing: it’s not about rules just useful knowhow
Every so often someone has a go at food and wine pairing. The media love it as they like to knock anything to do with wine (the other old chestnut being that wine professionals haven’t a clue because they can’t always recognise wines blind)
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Why a little wine pairing knowhow is useful
Every so often someone has a pop at food and wine pairing. The media love it as they like to knock anything to do with wine (the other old chestnut being that wine professionals haven’t a clue because they can’t always recognise wines blind)
Planning ahead: The best wines to pair with your Christmas dinner
I suspect many of you decide what you’re going to eat for Christmas and buy in wine without connecting the one with the other. From a food pairing point of view ,however, it would obviously be better to plan your drinking around the meals you’ve decided to make.
Which wine to pair with Texas BBQ
US-based wine writer and educator David Furer reports on an epic tasting in the homeland of American barbeque, Austin, Texas pairing a selection of international and home-grown reds with different meats.
What's the best way to introduce food and wine pairing into your restaurant?
More and more restaurants are introducing an element of food and wine pairing into their menus. It may be simply a question of suggesting a wine that is available by the glass to go with a dish or a more ambitious food pairing experience - the key thing is that both the front of house and the kitchen can pull it off.
The best food pairings for Sauternes
Sauternes is a famously luscious sweet wine from the Bordeaux region of France but what kind of food should you pair with it? This post deep dives into what you should eat with Sauternes, both sweet and savoury.
The best food pairings for Xinomavro
With its vibrant acidity, unusual aromatics, and loud flavour profile Greece's Xinomavro is not for the faint-hearted but it makes an ideal food wine. The best pairing, as so often, depends on the style says Peter Pharos.
The best wine pairings with beans
Pulses such as beans are a good friend to the vegetarian winelover - their rich, mealy texture provides a similar foil as meat to a hearty full-bodied red.
The effect of temperature on food and wine pairing
Does the temperature at which you serve a dish affect the wine pairing? Matt Walls investigates: (This article was first published in 2012)
My 12 best drink pairings of 2014
In my annual round-up of the best matches of the year I usually end up listing around a third of my matches of the week so I thought this year I’d set myself the the challenge of picking one from each calendar month.
What Food, What Wine? Indian: which type of wine pairs best with a curry
A lot of people still think that wine isn’t a good match with spicy food but our final session of What Food, What Wine? judging this week suggested that there’s no reason for winelovers to throw in the towel. The success (or otherwise) of the pairings did however depend on the heat of the curries and how ‘wet’ or dry they were.
The best food pairings for orange wines
More and more people have been drinking orange or amber wine but what’s the best kind of food to pair with it? In this post, I’ll guide you through the best food pairings for orange wines, drawn from my own experiences and tastings.
The best food pairings for assyrtiko
There are few grapes that bring Greece to mind like Assyrtiko, the saline wonder of the Cyclades. But what do you pair with it? As often, the answer depends on the winemaking style and terroir, because there is not one Assyrtiko (I should know, I recently tried 80 of them.)
The best wine pairings for Navarra wines
Advertising feature: Navarra is one of the most forward-looking of Spanish wine regions offering boldly flavoured wines that are a match for a wide range of dishes.
The best food pairings with Saint-Emilion
Saint-Emilion is a familiar name on a wine list but what sort of food goes with it best? Sommelier Nathalie Gardiner suggests her favourite pairings.
20 food and wine pairings to learn by heart
Inspired by the recent spate of minimal ingredient cookbooks such as Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Three Good Things I thought it might be helpful to come up with 20 wine matches that are easy to remember and which pretty well everyone will enjoy.
12 great South African food and wine pairings
I actually experienced so many great wine and food matches last week in South Africa - some accidental, some intended - that it would be invidious to pick out just one as my match of the week so here are a dozen that really stood out for me. (See also my match of the week last week of Semillon and seafood)
The best food pairings for Gewurztraminer
Often compared to rose petals, lychees and Turkish delight, gewurztraminer is the wine world’s most exotic grape variety so what on earth do you pair with it?
What are the best pairings for Provence rosé?
Provence rosé has a distinct character that sets it apart from other rosés on the market. It’s known for being crisp, dry, and refreshing—qualities that align it more closely with white wines than traditional rosés. This unique profile can be attributed to the region’s winemaking techniques and climate, which yield wines that are both light and structured. Within this style, however, there are variations. On one hand, you have the lighter, easy-drinking wines, known as “vins de soif,” which are perfect for casual sipping. On the other hand, you have more complex and robust rosés, referred to as “vins de gastronomie,” which are designed to pair with a wider variety of foods.
The best food pairings for cabernet franc
Cabernet franc can be the most food-friendly of wines, as good with fish and veggies as it is with meat but it comes in several styles. If you’re looking for a food match for cabernet franc I’d be mainly thinking of the lighter more fragrant Loire type which stars on its own in such appellations as Saumur, Saumur-Champigny, Bourgeuil, St Nicolas de Bourgeuil and Chinon. Even then it can vary from vintage to vintage and from lighter wines to more serious oak-aged examples.
The best food pairings for dry Furmint
All countries like to boast that their signature grape variety goes with practically everything but in the case of Hungary’s furmint it’s true.
Clever pairings for rare sherries
I don’t think I ever go to a sherry tasting without coming away renewed in my conviction about what a marvellous match it is for food and the one I attended yesterday was no exception. It was organised by the enterprising Les Caves de Pyrne who are importing for the first time into the UK some rare sherries from Emilio Hidalgo and took place at Dehesa, the sister (if that’s the appropriate word) restaurant of the better known Salt Yard.
Food pairings for Apothic and other sweet red wines
Heavily promoted Apothic is just one of a range of sweeter red wines that have been launched on the market recently. Not having much of a sweet tooth, I must confess it’s not particularly to my taste but I can see that it would greatly appeal to wine drinkers who find drier reds unappealing.
Is there a scientific basis for wine and food pairing?
I went to a really interesting seminar last week on matching champagne with food. It was based on the chemical compounds flavourist Danny Hodrien of F & F projects had identified in Mumm champagnes using gas chromatography, solid phase micro-extraction and mass spectrometry (No, I don’t know what they are either). Based on those findings Iain Graham, the executive chef at the Caprice had devised a range of canapes that incorporated the flavours rather than seeking to complement them
6 versatile wine pairings for a Chinese New Year feast
Asking which wine is the best match for Chinese food is a bit like looking for the best match for European food - it in no way reflects the diversity of Chinese cuisine.
10 Argentinian wine pairings that don’t involve steak!
Everyone knows that malbec and steak is a classic pairing but the Argentinians do of course eat other foods and drink other wines. Here are 10 that I came across on my recent trip that might possibly surprise you.
Which drinks pair best with Thai food? (updated)
The predominant flavours of Thai cuisine are sweet, sour, hot and salty - slightly different from the warm spicing of many Indian curries or the more fragrant, herbal notes of Vietnamese. So which which drinks pair best with a Thai meal?
The best wine pairings for feta cheese
Since this baked feta and tomato pasta recipe went viral on TikTok a couple of years ago, feta has been on every home cook’s radar but what sort of wine do you pair with it?
8 foods you might be surprised to find pair brilliantly with sake
If you drink sake already you probably have your favourite pairings - sashimi, sushi, and yakitori among them -but it goes with more than just Japanese food albeit dishes that may be prepared with Japanese techniques or seasonings
Food and wine pairing in Trentino
For many foodies, Italy is way up there on the must-visit list. Not only are there world-class restaurants in all the big towns, even the smallest villages boast places where the chefs (who are often self-taught) take pride in bringing out the best in the ingredients they work with.
If you don’t eat meat what should you pair with your best red wines?
This was a question that popped up in our Matching Food & Wine Facebook group so I’ve included a couple of our members' suggestions but it’s well worth following the full thread
Wine pairings for a chocolate-themed dinner party
Ever tried chocolate with smoked salmon? Or with butternut squash soup for that matter? Unlikely matches, I’ll grant you, but ‘chocolate’ - in its confectionery guise - is actually a misnomer. It’s most likely cacao you’ll be cooking with in future, if the founders of the fashionable chocolate brand ‘Venezuelan Black’ have their way.
Which foods pair best with high alcohol red wines?
Despite the growing concern about alcohol levels in wine many reds still clock in at 14.5% or more, a level at which they can become an unbalanced pairing for traditional European food. Many traditionalist would say that they are therefore not ‘food wines’ but as with other types of wine it depends how well they’re made and whether overall the wine is in balance. Châteauneuf-du-Pâpe for example rarely hits the shelves at under 14% but wears its alcohol lightly.
Christmas pairings with port, sherry and madeira
You may well have given a fair amount of thought by now to what you’ll be drinking with your turkey or goose and have set treasured bottles of Bordeaux or Burgundy aside for the main Christmas meal. But what about all the other occasions over the festive period which these days tends to stretch a good 10 days into the early New Year?
Top wine pairings with asparagus
Whenever anyone talks about foods that are difficult to match with wine, asparagus always comes up but I reckon the problem is overstated.
The best food pairings for Tokaji Aszu
Tokaj or Tokaji Aszu from Hungary is one of the most historic and delicious dessert wines which now has it’s own dedicated day on December 10th but if you’re looking for the ideal food pairing you can take it much further than the dessert course.
The best pairings for fino and manzanilla sherry
Manzanilla, as you probably know, is a fino sherry made in the port of Sanlucar de Barrameda rather than in the cities of Jerez or Puerto de Santa Maria which gives it its characteristic salty tang.
6 of the best pairings for pinot grigio
That pinot grigio is many people's favourite white wine should come as no surprise - it’s a refreshing, versatile wine that pairs really well with light, summery food and ever-popular Italian staples such as pasta and risotto.
The best food pairings for Vermentino
Vermentino is incredibly versatile - a brilliant wine pairing for anything fishy, herby or citrussy and a great wine for spring and summer drinking.
The best food pairings for dry oloroso sherry
The Spanish are more adventurous than us when it comes to matching sherry and food. I remember drinking a dry oloroso with roast partridge a few years back in Jerez. But what else could you pair with it?
Three surprisingly good pairings for sparkling wine
Last week I had three dishes that went unexpectedly well with sparkling wine - for slightly different reasons:
The best food pairings for Mencia
When I scoured the website for existing pairings with mencia I was amazed how many dishes I’d suggested it with. It really is an incredibly versatile food wine.
Six food pairings for gin that might surprise you
Given the immense popularity of gin the chances of you sitting in a bar downing a gin-based cocktail are pretty high. But at some point you're going to need something to eat so what kind of food can you pair with it?
5 wine and beer pairings for shepherd’s pie
You’ll always find people argue about shepherd’s pie but in my view it should be made with lamb rather than beef (that’s cottage pie) and with very little, if any tomato - apart from maybe a dash of ketchup for sweetness.
The best food pairings for white rioja
White rioja is tricky when it comes to wine pairing as it comes in such contrasting styles. There are the crisp fresh unoaked white riojas which behave much like a sauvignon blanc and much richer barrel-fermented ones which can tackle more intensely-flavoured fish and meat dishes
Wine Pairings for Smoked Meat
One of our readers from Texas wants to know: what wine works with smoked meat?
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?
Wine and Indonesian food: which wine pairs best with Rijsttafel?
I posted this last year after trying Rijsttafel - the Indonesian speciality that’s widely available in Amsterdam. Translated literally as ‘rice table’, it’s an elaborate array of curries, salads and pickles which present a tough challenge for any wine.
Dry or fruity? Which style of white wine pairs best with simply grilled fish?
About the last place I’d have expected to have an enlightening discussion about food and wine matching is in a fisherman’s shack called Chez Loulou down on the Languedoc coast. Actually I do it an injustice. It’s a restaurant - just - but one that relies for its appeal on fabulously fresh fish rather than fantastically skilled cooking.
The best pairings for albarino (and alvarinho)
If I had to sum up the best food pairing for albarino in one word it would be seafood. Which makes sense considering where it comes from on the coast of Galicia in the Rias Baixas region of northern Spain.
The best food pairings for Grüner Veltliner
Winemakers like to tell you that their wines go with everything but in the case of Grüner Veltliner, Austria’s best known white wine, it’s true.
The best food pairings for Grenache
Although grenache is a grape variety that is not often celebrated, it’s one that deserves a closer look. As usual it’s hard to pin down a definitive style but it’s fair to say grenache is usually full-bodied, soft and low in acidity. Some grenaches are pretty powerful - usually due to natural bedfellows like syrah and mourvèdre being blended in - others, like Côtes du Rhône, are easy-drinking.
Some unusual food pairings for tea
Most people wouldn’t think in terms of combining tea and food beyond the classic pairings of Indian teas with a traditional afternoon scone or sponge, or jasmine tea with Chinese food but there are many other possibilities to explore, says Signe Johansen in this post from our archives.
The best wines to pair with haggis (updated)
I’ve argued before that whisky and beer are the best pairings for haggis but what if you prefer wine? What colour and style work best?
What wines and beers to pair with meaty stews and casseroles
Meaty stews and casseroles are hearty, comfort food so what type of wine should you pair with them or is beer a better match?
Top food pairings with Clare Valley and Eden Valley riesling
One of the most distinctive styles of white wine, dry rieslings from the Clare and Eden Valley in south Australia have a distinctive limey twist that makes them a particularly good match for Asian and Asian-inspired food.
Answers to your food pairing dilemmas, from German apple cake to green olives and capers...
Some recent questions that have been posed to me have involved such ingredients as German apple cake, chocolate roulade, red mullet with green olives and capers, and English cheese. Here my choice pairings for your top food dilemmas (feel free to leave a comment with your own food dilemmas below)...
Three surefire pairings for pinot noir
Most of the time, as you’ll have noticed, I feature the more offbeat wine pairings I’ve come across in my match of the week slot. This week I’ve been reminded of the virtue of some that seldom go wrong.
How to pair beer and food
I was recently asked the question: “What am i looking for when matching beer and food? Do I want a beer with a similar taste or should I be looking for a contrast?”
The best wine pairings for peppers
Peppers or bell peppers, as they’re also known, crop up in so many dishes, that you may well have wondered what wine goes best with them - or even if they’re the element of the dish you need to match.
How to host a wine pairing dinner
Ollie Couillaud’s inaugural wine dinner at The Lawn Bistro in Wimbledon, west London yesterday was a masterclass in how to get it right.
Wine and lamb: my 5 favourite pairings
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.
The best food pairings for Barolo and Barbaresco
The food of Piedmont in north-west Italy is as highly regarded as its wines so it makes sense to make the local dishes your first choice if you’re looking for a match for a bottle of Barolo or Barbaresco.
What food to pair with alcohol-free cocktails
Advertising feature: If you or members of your family or friends don’t drink how does that affect the kind of food you serve at holiday get-togethers and parties? The answer, happily, is not at all if you opt for high quality alcohol-free spirits.
The best pairings for sweet oloroso and PX sherry
Sherry gets a bad rap for being granny’s tipple of choice but if you’ve never tried an authentic Spanish style sweet sherry you haven’t lived.
Which wines to pair with calamari/squid
Calamari or squid is often served as a starter or appetiser with other dishes so you need to bear that in mind when you’re choosing a wine to pair with it. It also depends on the way you prepare it.
Wine (and other) pairings for Welsh recipes
Tomorrow is St David’s Day - cue for the media to roll out its annual selection of Welsh recipes. Wales produces its own wine, beer and even whisky so what should you drink?
The best crackers for cheese (and wines to drink with them)
Cheese and crackers. Simple, right? Maybe—but the right combination can make all the difference. The best crackers for cheese don’t just hold things together; they add texture, contrast, and a little magic to each bite. Some pairings are obvious, others surprising. Let’s explore.
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?
Top food pairings with Barbera
Barbera is a versatile red that will happily partner pretty well any meaty dish you throw at it. It is more robust and typically drunk younger than its Piedmontese counterparts Barolo and Barbaresco.
Lamb with coriander and the Garage Wine Company's Cabernet/Carignan
This is possibly the most off-the-wall pairing I encountered on my recent Chilean trip and for that reason the most exciting - both on account of the food and the wine.
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6 of the best Spanish wines to pair with tapas
It shouldn’t come as a massive surprise that Spain can provide any style of wine you might fancy to drink with tapas.
The best food pairings for rioja
Rioja - and by that I mean red rioja - is one of the UK’s best-loved wines and one of the easiest ones to match with food too.
Dessert wine pairing: ‘Sweet Thai Green Curry’ with Lapeyre Jurancon
This wine pairing may sound difficult to get your head round - let’s face it, it is! - but it was a very clever dessert at the 3 star De Librije in Zwolle, Holland last week
What wine to pair with hummus
If you’re wondering what wine to pair with hummus or houmous you need to take account of the fact that it’s rarely served on its own.
The best wine and beer pairings for savoury pies
We Brits don’t need much encouragement to eat pies—they’re a staple of comfort food culture. But when it comes to enjoying a drink with your pie, the question arises: which is the better match—wine or beer? The answer, as always, depends on the type of pie you’re talking about and the flavours it brings to the table.
Which food to pair with South African chenin blanc
You might think it odd to pick out South African Chenin rather than Chenin Blanc in general but I do think the wines are distinctive, particularly when it comes to the crisper styles which are much zestier than they tend to be in the Loire
The best food pairings for Carmenère
You may not be familiar with Carmenère but it's a delicious red at this chilly time of year.
Two bargain buys from The Wine Society
The Wine Society held its summer tasting yesterday where the buyers pick out six bottles they’re particularly enthusiastic about. Normally it’s a social event - a chance to get together and chat over lunch - but inevitably this year it was on Zoom.
Which wine to pair with a Moroccan tagine?
Exotic and aromatic, Moroccan tagines somehow manage to suit all types of weather and not being particularly spicy are relatively simple to match with wine. The best wine pairing for tagine depends of course on the type of tagine you’re eating.
What type of food pairs best with Brunello di Montalcino?
I always like to respond promptly if someone draws attention to a wine match that’s not available on the site so thanks, Nigel B of Hong Kong for pointing out there was nothing on Brunello di Montalcino.
Sake and food pairing: Chilean seabass hobayaki with warm daiginjo sake
I was always taught the best sakes were served chilled but the other evening at London's Sake no Hana I got to taste a super-premium daiginjo sake at room temperature with a dish of grilled Chilean seabass and it matched perfectly.
The best food pairings for Lambrusco (updated)
If you’re wondering why I’m devoting a post to Lambrusco you obviously haven’t tasted the real thing!
The best food pairings for Pinotage
Like any other red South Africa's Pinotage comes in different styles - some lighter and fruitier than others. When you're matching it with food you take a cue from the sort of ingredients and dishes that go with its two ancestors - Pinot Noir and Cinsault.
What wine (and other drinks) to pair with poke (updated)
If you haven’t heard of poke - the Hawaiian dish of cubed raw fish usually with rice and/or vegetables - you soon will. It’s everywhere (and pronounced, by the way, pokay not poke).
What wine to pair with corn
Eating corn on the cob is one of the pleasures of high summer especially now there are so many different ways to cook it. But if you love corn or sweetcorn what wine should you pair with it?
Eight great drink pairings for sushi
You might think sushi would be tricky to pair with wine but surprisingly that’s not the case. And there are other drinks that work too.
The best pairings for amontillado and palo cortado sherry
Amontillado sherry has richer, nuttier flavours than a classic fino or manzanilla sherry and calls for different food matches. Think more in terms of cured meat, game and cheese than seafood and richer, meatier tapas.
Top food and wine matching experiences in the Cape Winelands
So sophisticated is the South African food and drink scene now that you can expect to find suggested wine pairings at practically every restaurant you go to but some wine farms have made even more of a feature of their skill at combining the two - a fun way of learning the art of matching food and wine.
Which foods pair best with tawny port?
We rarely think of tawny port as a flexible pairing for food. We serve it with stilton, obviously and with hard cheeses like cheddar, with nuts and dried fruits and over Christmas with fruit cake and mince pies but that’s usually as far as it goes.
Why Greek wines go with more than just Greek food
Peter Pharos argues that his home country’s wines deserve a place on the table with the world’s most popular cuisines.
Pairing wine and Indian seafood
Indian seafood dishes showcase a rich variety of flavors, from creamy coconut-based curries to smoky tandoori preparations and fiery regional specialties. Pairing wine with these dishes can be tricky due to the interplay of spice, acidity, and umami, but the right wine can elevate the experience. Here are 10 popular Indian seafood dishes with wine pairing suggestions to help you find the perfect match:
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Matchingfoodandwine.com relaunched with style!
Welcome to the relaunched matchingfoodandwine.com. I hope you like our glamourous new look devised by our good friends Miller Design and executed (with infinite patience) by web designers fuzzylime.
Pairing Pinot Noir and lamb
A report on the fascinating food and wine matching workshop that was held at the International Pinot Noir Celebration in Oregon last month which showed that you can find a pinot pairing for almost any kind of lamb dish.
The best wine matches for luxury foods
It's party time and with any luck you'll be indulging in more than your fair share of luxury foods. But what to drink with them? The easy answer for most is champagne and that often works because it's as much a mood match as a food one. But if you're not content with the obvious so I've also come up with a few intriguing and stimulating alternatives:
Matching wine and charcuterie - an experiment
About the most daunting audience that anyone could face is a group of wine writers, especially if a number of those happen to specialise in food and wine matching so it was with some trepidation that I agreed to lead a tasting on wine and charcuterie in London on Monday night on the eve of the London International Wine Fair.
Which wines to pick with vegetarian food?
As it's Word Vegetarian Day I thought I'd re-run an article from Decanter on wine and vegetarian food I wrote a few years ago but still contains some useful pointers from top wine producers and sommeliers. (Some of the people quoted are now in different jobs.)
How food can make your wine shine
I have no evidence for it but I’m sure that the vast majority of wine that people buy is bought to drink with food. Yet most of the wine that’s tasted or presented to journalists and bloggers is shown on its own.
WineTrust100.co.uk
A new online wine store whose USP is only selling 100 wines at any one time - apparently we get confused by more than that.
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.
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Fine Wine and Fast Food
The news that Greggs, the mass market bakery was opening a champagne bar in Fenwick in Newcastle created a predictable storm of publicity this week (good on them!) but the idea of matching fine wine with fast food is nothing new.
Pairing wine with Szechuan (or Sichuan) cuisine
Just as you think you might have got to grips with matching wine with Chinese food along comes a regional cuisine like Szechuan which is twice as challenging, as I discovered at a wine dinner at Flinty Red in Bristol. Flinty Red has closed since I originally wrote this post in 2012, but the wine pairing lessons remain.
Pairing Indian wine with Indian cheese
Chef Shaun Kenworthy reports on what he believes to be a unique tasting of Indian wine and Indian cheese.
Can you match wine and chillies?
Who better to turn to than the Aussies for advice on pairing wines with a wide range of spicy Asian food? Here's another preview of the food and wine matching sessions at the Melbourne Food Festival - Solving the Eternal Chilli Dilemma. Answers from Neil Prentice of Moondarra Wines and chef Benjamin Cooper of Chin Chin.
Sweet Bordeaux and savoury food
Last week, the Union des Grands Vins Liquoureux de Bordeaux, the body that represents Bordeaux sweet wine producers, hosted a tasting of wines from six of the appellations they represent to partner savoury and sweet dishes at a lunch at le Cercle restaurant in Chelsea.
Pairing Indian food with the biodynamic wines of Bonny Doon
I have to confess I found it pretty hard to concentrate on the finer nuances of the food and wine combinations at the recent Cinnamon Club dinner. But when the speaker is the discursive Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon and you're sitting next to him that's no great surprise. Before the meal had even started we were into Kierkegaard and a vigorous discussion of terroir in the bar below over our glasses of Vin Gris de Cigare (a typically unorthodox full-bodied rosé based on Grenache, Cinsault and Roussanne).
What type of wine works best with a barbecue?
This week is National Barbecue Week in the UK and if you're planning a barbecue this weekend you might well be wondering what to drink. Here's an article I wrote for Decanter a few years ago which still holds good today, I think.
What bugs restaurant critics about wine service
To kick off my coverage of the first Wine & Culinary International Forum in Barcelona last weekend (and while I disentangle the many complex threads on food and wine pairing) here are some highly practical points which were made by a high level panel of restaurant and wine critics including Jancis Robinson, Victor de la Serna of El Mundo and Nick Lander, restaurant critic for the Financial Times and author of the recently published The Art of the Restaurateur. (My comments in italics)
In search of the perfect steak wine
This report on a steak and wine tasting I did at Hawksmoor Spitalfields back in 2007 is now over 10 years old but the advice still holds good. It's quite a long read though so for more concise steak and wine matching advice head to The Best Wine Pairings for Steak.
Matching sweet wine and Sichuanese food
Can Tokaji – the great dessert wine of Hungary, and one of the sweetest wines in the world – go with Chinese food, asks Margaret Rand? And if it can, would you want it to?
Wine and spice
To mark National Curry Week here's an article I wrote for Decanter a while back about Indian food and wine matching at the Cinnamon Club which still contains some useful advice about wine and spice pairing:
Pairing food and Chablis
Chablis, with its crisp acidity and flinty minerality, is a dream wine for food. From fresh Petit Chablis to complex Grand Cru, each style offers unique food pairing opportunities. Whether you’re a fan of oysters, creamy sauces, or even roast chicken, there’s a Chablis pairing waiting to be discovered.
What to eat with your favourite wines this Christmas
Although we wine writers like to think we might be able to encourage you to be more adventurous in your wine choices this Christmas the truth is you’re probably going to stick to the wines you're familiar with.
Thai food and orange wine
Orange wine wouldn’t have been the first pairing I’d have turned to with Thai food but what I love about this business is that there are always opportunities to revise your opinion
What kind of food should you serve with fine wine?
Most of the time we’re pairing wine and food it’s the food that comes first but for people in the trade it’s more often about what food will flatter the wine. But how do you ensure a successful match?
Les 110 de Taillevent, Paris - food and wine matching nirvana
An establishment bearing the name Taillevent sounds scarily expensive - the main restaurant is - but don’t let that it you off eating in its very innovative and well-priced brasserie which opened in Paris just under a year ago.
Will Studd's tips for matching cheese and wine
Those of you who are lucky enough to live in Oz have the enticing prospect of the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival coming up next month - a two week extravaganza of feasts, workshops and tastings with some of the country's top foodies and wine experts.
What are the best wine matches for shellfish?
Shellfish and wine is one of the happiest of marriages: the one making the perfect foil for the other. Whether it’s a few oysters or an opulent lobster thermidor you need an accompanying glass to enjoy it fully.
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 . . .
10 wines to buy from Lidl
With supermarket wine aisles looking severely depleted it was good to hear this week that Lidl was going ahead with its usual bi-monthly Wine Tour in the UK, starting today. Not all the wines might be available in all branches and there may be restrictions on the number you can buy but take advantage while you can.
Which wine to drink with paella?
Paella, the iconic Spanish dish, can be paired with a range of wines, but choosing between white, red, or rosé depends on the type of paella you’re eating and its key ingredients.
The extraordinary food and wine of Georgia
There's no tradition of wine & food pairing in Georgia because, "we're permanently in the process of eating and drinking, so everyone is continuously matching for themselves," firmly declared Georgia's 'wine queen', Tina Kezeli, my host for a week's tour of eastern Georgia's Kakheti wine region. Georgian meals are lavish affairs with tables laden with dishes appearing in regular sequence but without regard for timing or harmonious wine pairing. Some guidance is needed.
6 wines from grapes that begin with VE to drink on VE day
With VE day coming up on Friday you may have already made plans for what you’re going to eat and drink which could well be home-grown, UK produced, wine, beer or cider.
An interview with Enrico Bernardo
If any sommelier looks set for Gordon Ramsay-style super-stardom it has to be Enrico Bernado.
Matching wine with fusion food
There seems to be quite a buzz around pairing wine with spicy food at the moment - detractors saying it’s a waste of time, people like me saying that on the contrary you can derive a good deal of pleasure from it.
My most exciting food and drink matches of 2012
Regular visitors to the site might have noticed that the title of this annual review has changed this year. Not the 'best’ matches of the year but the ‘most exciting’. That’s partly to avoid trotting out over-familiar pairings like steak and Cabernet or Chablis and crab, excellent though those were but also to reflect that this year has been a particularly inspiring one for food and drink combinations. And not just wine.
Is Koshu the best match for Japanese food?
I suspect you’ll be hearing a lot about Koshu this year. No, it’s not some unfamiliar aspect of Japanese cuisine but a white wine made from a grape of the same name. A campaign to promote it in the UK was launched at a lunch in London yesterday by a VIP line-up of Japanese goverment officials from the Yamanashi prefecture where most of the winemakers are based.
Pairing wine and spices
Author and food blogger Signe Johansen reports on a visit to spice blender Rolf Gast.
Pairing oysters with sake and other seafood
Shirley Booth explains the different grades of sake and why it goes so well with oysters and other seafood.
Food villains - 9 awkward customers that could kill your wine
This weekend I’ve been down at my favourite food festival in Dartmouth where I’ve been giving a number of wine talks. One of them was a forum on food and wine matching with wine writer and TV presenter Susy Atkins and former sommelier and wine supplier Tim McLoughlin-Green of Sommelier’s Choice.
Matching Lebanese food and wine
Many of us are familiar with Lebanon’s rich culinary heritage, courtesy of the Lebanese diaspora and food writers such as Claudia Roden and Anissa Helou. Yet the prevalence of popular Lebanese dishes such as tabbouleh and hummous in our supermarkets is not yet matched by Lebanese wines despite a long history of grape cultivation dating back to the Phoenicians.
How to create a dish to match a wine
Signe Johansen recently competed in - and won - a food bloggers challenge to come up with the perfect dish for a Casillero del Diablo Chilean Cabernet. Here’s how she went about it. (You can find the recipe for the winning dish, Pigeon breast and chocolate mole with redcurrants and parmesan mash here.)
5 wines to buy from Lidl’s latest wine tour (August 2021)
Lidl has just released its latest limited release ‘wine tour’ selection. As I’ve mentioned before these aren’t quite the bargains they once were - only one is under £7 - but they all represent decent value for money, especially if you’re a fan of French wine.
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Matching wine and yakitori
Yakitori, the Japanese art of grilling skewered chicken over charcoal, is a deceptively simple dish with complex flavors. Traditionally enjoyed with sake or beer, pairing yakitori with wine presents a unique challenge. Japanese cuisine, in general, can be tricky when it comes to wine pairings due to its delicate balance of umami, sweetness, and salt (learn more in my post about drink pairings for sushi). Yakitori, with its smoky, savory, and sometimes caramelized elements, requires careful consideration to find wines that complement rather than overpower its flavors.
Sparkling wine and spicy snacks
The idea of drinking sparkling wine with Indian street food might seem crazy but it’s a really good pairing as I was reminded last night when I dined at Masala Zone just off Carnaby Street with Warren Edwardes, the CEO of a company called Wine for Spice.
Thanksgiving Drinks: Festive Cocktails, Mocktails and More…
Thanksgiving has long been associated with harvest feasting, but what to drink with the holiday spread? While food may normally form the focus for your drink pairing choices, Thanksgiving - now more than ever - is as much about celebrating togetherness as it is about the turkey, stuffing, cranberries, and pumpkin pie.
Matching food and wine at Le Gavroche
If I told you we’d kicked off a tasting menu with a dish of barely seared, pepper-crusted tuna, with a punchy sesame and ginger dressing paired with a chilled cherry beer you’d probably think we’d dined at one of London’s cutting edge Asian restaurants rather than one of its most venerable institutions, the two Michelin-starred Le Gavroche. But its chef-patron Michel Roux Jr is quite prepared to challenge his well-heeled Mayfair clientele. In fact I suspect that if he felt he could get away with it his whole menu would be packed with similarly bold combinations.
A review of Josh Wesson's 'Wine & Food'
It’s almost 20 years ago now since Josh Wesson wrote his first book on food and wine pairing - the ground-breaking Red Wine with Fish: the new art of Matching Wine with Food which he co-authored with David Rosengarten. He then went on to set up the attractive and innovative wine store Best Cellars which groups wines by style
Win a case of Plaimont wines from south-west France
Although France is famous for wine there are parts of the country that fall under the radar and one of these is south-west France which is represented by the growers’ co-operative Plaimont which has vineyards which stretch from the foothills of the Pyrenees to the hills and valleys of Gascony. Benedictine monks grew vines in the region back in the 11th century. THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED.
Pairing whisky with Indian food
Among the many invitations I get to food and drink matching events a recent one to attend a dinner at the Bombay Brasserie in London where each course was paired with whisky sounded the most intriguing. But pairing a high strength spirit with spicy food was surely a recipe for disaster?
A model wine-pairing experience in Mendoza
On my last day on Mendoza I had one of the most sophisticated winery restaurant pairing experiences I’ve ever come across, quite worthy of the Napa Valley. Ironically it was at Ruca Malen, who made the Malbec I enjoyed at Don Julio in Buenos Aires in Mendoza on the first day of the trip.
Win a luxury Spanish food and wine hamper from Mercado 44
One of our most popular competitions last year was a luxury Spanish food and wine hamper from my mates Owen and Tom Morgan of Bar 44 who have the most brilliant restaurants and tapas bars in Bristol and Cardiff and I’ve managed to twist their arm to do it again.
Braised cuttlefish and artichokes with orange wine
This week’s match of the week was a toss up between this pairing of orange wine and braised cuttlefish at Emilia in Ashburton and a delicious tuna and crab taco with a cracking margarita at Zapote in Shoreditch but I reckoned you know that tacos (fishy ones especially) are great with margaritas and it’s always a struggle to know what to drink with artichokes.
Vidal icewine with feta and honey cheesecake
It’s always satisfying when a challenging food and wine hit it off and both cheesecake and icewine undoubtedly present their problems.
What to drink with a kebab - and it's not lager!
Inspired by the British Kebab awards Zeren Wilson wonders what the perfect wine pairing is for a kebab and comes up with some surprising conclusions.
Win a fabulous case of Rioja!
I know this month’s competition is going to be really popular because so many of you love Rioja. However it’s probably the red wines of the region you’re most familiar with: this is a chance to try the whites and rosados (rosés) too along with some more expensive wines you may not have had a chance to taste before.
Can synaesthesia enhance our ability to appreciate wine?
Author (and self-proclaimed shopkeeper) Sally Butcher of Persepolis asks whether Grenache rosé reminds you of patchouli and Malbec of Beethoven. And are we missing out if we’re not fellow synaesthetes?
Can you drink rosé with cheese?
Q: I am putting on a cheese and wine tasting for a friend but the problem is he doesn't drink dessert wine as he's diabetic and doesn't enjoy reds. I have come up with some white wine and cheese matches, but am looking for some rose and cheese pairing suggestions:
Is this wine the perfect match for Thai food?
Thai food is particularly difficult to match with wine. Not only do you have the heat to contend with but the tricky sweet-sour flavours and - as with many Asian cuisines - several dishes on the go at a time.
The best food matches for Amarone
A recent lunch* and discussion hosted by Masi at Heston Blumenthal’s Dinner gave a revealing glimpse of what the best food pairings for amarone might be.
Mature Marlborough chardonnay with modern Japanese food
I don’t often go to wine lunches or dinners, preferring to experiment with a range of wines from more than one country and producer with the food I’m eating but I couldn’t resist the temptation of trying New Zealand producer Astrolabe’s wine with the food at Sake No Hana in London's St James's.
Flavour matching with Niki Segnit
The surprise publishing hit among food books last year was not the record selling Jamie’s 30-minute meals or even the new Nigella but an unillustrated book called The Flavour Thesaurus by an unknown author, Niki Segnit. The book catalogues nearly 1000 flavour combinations which are described in an endearingly quirky way. It’s erudite, original and funny
On the road in the Pacific North West: Day 4
What happened to days 2 and 3 you may be asking and indeed that’s what I’m asking myself. We swept through Eastern Washington as fast as a tornado, barely pausing to sleep, never mind write.
Using ‘bridge’ ingredients to create a perfect match
One of the most useful tricks to master, especially when you’re dealing with a tricky-to-match ingredient, is to introduce a ‘bridge’ ingredient - in other words an element in the dish that makes it easier to pair with the wine you want to drink.
What wine goes with Easter eggs?
I wouldn’t want you to agonise too much about which wine to pair with Easter eggs - it’s most likely a question of what’s conveniently to hand but you don’t need me to tell you that Easter eggs are sweet so you need a wine with a corresponding touch of sweetness.
Indian veggie food and sauvignon blanc
After a lively discussion about what to drink with curry on my #weekendwinematching slot it was good to discover a new angle on pairing wine with Indian food.
Lamb rogan josh with huitlacoche and Torres Milmanda chardonnay 2008
This may well be the most off-the-wall pairing I post this year: chardonnay with a lamb curry? Extraordinary - and this is why
Aubergines with walnut sauce and amber wine
It’s hard to pick out one pairing out of the multitude of dishes we were served with amber or orange wine during my first visit to Georgia last week but I’m going for one we barely ever failed to find on the table - grilled aubergine with walnut sauce.
10 top wine buys from Aldi
Aldi held their (socially distanced) autumn wine tasting in London the other week. As usual there were some really good buys, mostly under £7 with a couple of more expensive ones that are well worth the money. These were my standout buys.
How to use your smartphone to take great restaurant shots
Jeanne Horak-Druiff aka Cooksister, no mean photographer herself, picks up some tips from top photographer Paul Winch-Furness at a recent Errasuriz wine pairing dinner at Pollen Street Social
Wine and pepper
Like salt, pepper has a pronounced effect on wine, often making reds taste softer and lusher than they otherwise would. Unlike salt though, you also find peppery flavours in wines such as Northern Rhône Syrah and Austrian Grüner Veltliner.
Rhubarb cheesecake and 2007 Peller Estates Cabernet Franc Ice Wine
With four days in Edinburgh and three at the Ballymaloe Food & Drink Litfest in Co Cork this weekend I’ve been overwhelmed with good food and drink matches but as I haven’t singled out a dessert for a while I’m making Tom Kitchin’s Rhubarb cheesecake my hero dish this week.
Ryn and Cordie - in search of the perfect partner (the food & wine matching formula)
Leafing through Ryn and Cordie’s new book I realised how untypical it was. You get the impression most wine books - even ones about food and wine matching - are written for middle-aged men. The few for women tend to be of the fluffy Chicklit variety with cartoons indicating that wine isn’t really a subject they need overly bother their pretty heads with.
How to host a tamalada (Mexican tamale-making party)
If you’ve never before heard of a tamalada then get ready for what could be the next best invention in food-based entertaining. A tamalada is is a traditional Mexican event where groups of family and friends gather together to make tamales, often around Christmastime. What’s a tamale? Let’s start there…
10 good wine buys from the current Sainsbury’s offer
In anticipation of a England World Cup win that sadly didn’t happen Sainsbury’s is running a 25% off six bottles deal this weekend (with some exclusions* including sherry which I normally hoover up when they have one of these promotions). But there are plenty of other good deals
The best wine matches with salt cod
Salt cod, a popular Good Friday dish in parts of the Mediterranean, is cooked many different ways which suggest different wine pairings.
Korean meatballs with mango, lime and ginger gin
Oooofff, Korean food is spicy! Even when I toned down the gochujang chilli paste in the meatballs I made on Saturday night they were a challenge for most of the wines I tried with them (a characterful Babylonstoren rosé powered through). But the best match by far was a gin and tonic made from Romy's Edition Mango, Ginger and Lime gin, a collaboration between Bristol-based Six O’Clock Gin and Indian food writer Romy Gill.
Matching wine and tapas
Lucy Bridgers selflessly devotes herself to finding the perfect pairing for tapas on a tapas crawl through some of London's leading tapas bars
Pairing beer with dessert
If you were going to introduce someone to beer the last course you’d probably think of would be a dessert but as I discovered at a beer and pudding matching session at Brown’s Hotel in London it can be a surprisingly successful combination.
What wine would you drink with Pad Thai?
What’s the best wine for pad thai? Well, it’s a dish you might well not think of pairing with wine at all but according to a report on the blog Musings from Thailand, an adviser to the Thai government has suggested a campaign to link French wine and Pad Thai as a way to promote Thai food overseas.
Wild boar with cherry sauce and Karam Corpus Christi
It’s almost impossible to pick out one pairing from last week’s trip to the Lebanon but if I’m forced to it has to be a dish of wild boar with cherry sauce I ate with Habib Karam the owner of Karam winery (and - extraordinarily - the airline pilot who flew us to Beirut)
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Tongdak (rice-stuffed chicken) and orange wine
Continuing in the spicy food vein of last week, this time I was eating at a Korean restaurant called Bokman in Bristol.
Roast partridge and Pinot Noir
I’ve already suggested pinot noir as a good pairing for partridge so it was good to find the recommendation vindicated at lunch with Carolyn Martin of Creation Wines at 67 Pall Mall last week.
Roast lamb and unoaked grenache
Roast lamb goes with practically any red wine you care to drink with it but grenache is a less common pairing than, say, cabernet sauvignon or tempranillo.
Wine of the week: Ventisquero Root: 1 Carmenere
Recommending a specific wine is a bit of a lottery at the moment. I had planned to tell you about this seductively velvety Chilean red a few days ago but couldn’t get get into the Morrisons site. But I’m hoping you can find the odd bottle in store although its current sharp promotional price of £6 (until April 4th) may make that a long shot.
Guacamole and dry riesling
Alsace riesling isn’t the first drink I’d have reached for with guacamole but it makes perfect sense.
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White onion and cheddar tart and Mayacamas chardonnay
I was really spoilt for choice with wine pairings at Claridges last week. (It’s not often I get to write a sentence like that …)
Middle eastern-style lamb with grilled vegetables and a natural red wine
We all know that roast lamb is a great pairing with red wines but the assumption is often that it’s prepared in a classic French way so it was interesting to note over the weekend that if you give it a middle-eastern spin exactly the same applies
What to drink with Turkish food
Turkish food is not traditionally accompanied by wine. And although the Turks do have a wine industry not much of it makes its way over here. But here are some thoughts on possible pairings for Mark Hix's Turkish inspired recipes in the Independent this weekend"
What to drink with a TV dinner?
This month’s issue of Observer Food Monthly hasa special on TV dinners featuring celebrities talking about their favourite snacks. Very few beverages are mentioned so I thought I’d suggest a few pairings ;-)
Fillet of beef with 2009 Pio Cesare Barolo
Beef and red wine is a blindingly obvious match but it gets more interesting once you think about the cut and the way that it's cooked.
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Pet nat and pizza
I’ve been on a road trip visiting wineries in Kent for the last few days but the highlight from a food and wine pairing point of view was the pizza and pet nat combo we had at Westwell, a ‘low intervention’ (aka natural) wine producer just southwest of Canterbury.
Wine of the Week: The Society’s Exhibition Rioja Reserva 2017
There are apparently only low stocks left of The Wine Society’s Exhibition Rioja Reserva 2017 which should encourage you to snap up a few bottles if you're a member.
Wine of the week: Maruxa Mencia 2019
I’ve got a bit of a thing about mencia at the moment so this bottle really hit the spot and for under £10 (on Majestic’s mix six deal) it’s great value
Lettuce with smoked fish and vermouth sauce paired with vermouth
I hesitated to make this astounding drink pairing which I had at Mauro Colagreco’s new restaurant at Raffles in London recently my match of the week because I it would be really hard to replicate but I’m sure would fascinate the chefs, sommeliers and other food and drink professionals among you.
Chacra '55' Patagonian Pinot Noir and mushroom risotto
Most of the pairings in this weekly slot are chosen for the way they flatter food but here’s one that’s designed to show off a very special wine: a 2010 Argentinian Pinot Noir called Chacra Cinquenta Cinca or Chacra 55.
Bagna Cauda and Arneis
I could have chosen any one of the pairings at the ‘An A to Z di Vini Divini’ wine dinner at Bocca di Lupo last week as my match of the week but this is one of the most useful ones as bagna cauda, an anchovy, garlic and olive oil dip with raw vegetables isn’t the easiest dish to pair.
6 of the best drinks to pair with tacos
Tacos are the ultimate crowd-pleaser—easy to love, endlessly adaptable, and downright delicious. But when it comes to finding the perfect drink to go with your favourite taco, things can get a bit trickier. Should you reach for a cold beer with tacos? If so, should it be a lager, a pale ale or something else? Do margaritas work with tacos, or they better left as a pre-taco tipple? Can wine work with tacos? If so, red or white?
Thai food and off-dry German riesling
This is not the first time, I know, that I’ve suggested Thai food with riesling but it was such a standout pairing at Kolae last week I felt I should remind you of it.
Kibbeh and Domaine des Tourelles red
I agonised over whether this should be the standout pairing from this marvellous Lebanese meal at Arabica last week but it won by just a whisker.
Wine of the Week: Norton Winemaker’s Reserve Malbec 2014
Now that malbec has become the Rioja de nos jours there are so many brands on the market that it’s hard to choose which to buy.
My top 20 books to give your friends for Christmas 2017
You might think the last thing you need is another list of this year’s cookery books. but indulge me in this slightly different take - who would you give them to and why would you find them useful.
What the IPNC is really like
So the International Pinot Noir Celebration aka IPNC has pretty well been and gone apart from today’s brunch and it’s fair to say it’s very different from what I expected.
How Greeks celebrate Easter: the feasting after the fast
No-one who hasn’t experienced a Greek Easter can imagine the scale of the feasting. Wine writer Ted Lelekas tells all about "the most lavish and important meal of the year".
Thai green curry and English rosé
Those of you who follow the site closely might have noticed the Match of the Week slot had disappeared. Because I was no longer travelling and eating out I thought what I was drinking with what would be of little interest and that you probably wouldn’t be able to get hold of the bottles I was writing about anyway
Chinese New Year is a celebration of feasts and family
In this post from the archives food, drink and travel writer Qin Xie explains what the Chinese drink with the most important feast of the year and what goes down well in her own family.
Wine of the week: Colomé Torrontes 2015
The last couple of weeks have passed in a flurry of tastings marked by a number of standout (and some depressingly bad) wines.
Six of the best matches for Bacchus and Bacchus-based wine blends
If you've bough a bottle of English wine to celebrate St George's Day or English Wine Week you may be wondering what sort of food suits it best.
Tandoori grouse and an Indian ‘SuperTuscan’
If you’d asked me a week ago whether I thought it was a good idea to cook grouse in a tandoor oven and then to serve it with a full-bodied red I’d have said no, and no. Which shows how you can continually be surprised by this food and wine pairing lark.
Indian-spiced soft-shell crab and English sparkling rosé
You might have thought English sparkling wine and in fact English wine in general was a bit delicate for Indian food but this pairing at Trishna last week was spot on.
Deep-fried shrimp tacos and Mexican sauvignon blanc
By and large I’ve been drinking beer and cocktails while we’ve been in Mexico but I was curious to see what the country had to offer in the way of wine
Tierra Hermosa 20° (Veinte Grados) 2010, Andalucia
Today’s Guardian column was all about getting out of your wine drinking rut which in the case of Spanish wine most likely means Rioja.
Singaporean food and cocktails
Last week’s standout pairings were all about cocktails - first at a dinner at Avenue to celebrate the World’s 50 Best awards taking place in Singapore next year and then a meal at the newly launched Kym’s the latest restaurant from the much-fêted Andrew Wong about which more in due course.
Laurent Miquel Vendanges Nocturnes Viognier 2013, Pays d’Oc
I like the lushness of Viognier but often find cheaper ones a bit muted, however this one from Languedoc producer Laurent Miquel which is on offer currently at £6.70 in Waitrose and online* is the real deal.
Tuscan-style sausages and beans with Montepulciano
It’s been so busy the last few weeks that good pairings have been coming thick and fast but this was a great match I enjoyed at an offbeat new occasional restaurant which was launched by food and wine writer Marc Millon in Topsham, Devon the other day. (He’s also contributed a couple of pieces to this site including this wonderful piece about Bagna Cauda)
Wood-roasted fish and assyrtiko
This might not sound like the most cutting edge pairing - unless you haven’t heard of assyrtiko which is perfectly possible - but bear with as they say …
Mature Savennières with chargrilled carrots, burnt aubergine, miso and walnut pesto
OK, this pairing at Jason Atherton’s new Social Wine and Tapas isn’t exactly easy to reproduce at home but it was certainly the highlight of my food and wine matches last week.
Chicken, cep and tarragon pie with Chinon
Actually there are a number of wines that pair well with chicken pie, also beginning with ch - chablis, chenin blanc and champagne to name three.
Bao and Bacchus
Who would have thought a few years ago that it would be as easy to drink local wine in southern England as it is over the channel in northern France? (Well, almost. I’m not counting Burgundy!)
Cune Gran Reserva Rioja Imperial 2005
It’s easy to overlook the familiar in favour of the esoteric, particularly when you’re a wine writer but it’s hard to think of a bottle that consistently gives more pleasure than Cune’s Gran Reserva Imperial Rioja.
Korean Bulgogi and Mencia
Given the overall punchiness of Korean food, you might think pairing it with red wine was a lost cause but as it’s often beef you’re dealing with, especially in a Korean barbecue restaurant, don’t let that put you off.
10 great beer and food matches for summer
We all know a beer goes down well with a ploughmans and that it’s a great drink to wash down a barbecue but here are 10 more unusual pairings which should liven up your summer drinking.
Pairing rosé champagne and dim sum
Is rosé champagne a good match with dim sum? Our roving correspondent Lucy Bridgers retains admirable control of her critical faculties while being plied with successive vintages of Bollinger's Grande Année . . .
Sticky toffee pudding and 20 year old tawny port
One of the most exciting projects I’ve worked on this year is to collaborate on the wine list at Gridiron, a new restaurant from my pal Richard Turner of Hawksmoor, Meatopia and Pitt Cue fame.
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Condrieu and Cornish Brill salan
The idea still persists that wine doesn’t go with Indian food but when the flavours are subtle and the dishes presented individually you can pair some of the best wines in the world with it.
A cut-price amarone and some other good wine buys from Asda
It’s easy to overlook Asda as a source of decent drinking because so many of their wines tend to be downright dreary but there are exceptions and their prices - cheaper than Aldi and Lidl in many instances - are hard to ignore.
What to drink with chicken wings (and your other Superbowl snacks)
Let’s face it a well-honed wine pairing probably isn’t top priority on Superbowl night but there’s no reason why you can’t sip something delicious as you’re nervously nibbling your chicken wings (or your nails).
Spicy prawns and Chilean riesling
Last week I hosted a fabulous wine dinner at my local Indian restaurant Nutmeg in Bristol. We’d had the opportunity to have a run through beforehand and I was really happy with all the wines which were chosen in conjunction with their supplier Talking Wines.
Fish curry and Gruner Veltliner
Last week I hosted a tasting for Bristol-based spice company The Spicery in which we explored a number of different wine pairings for different styles of curry - including an Indian Shiraz!
Why Cava is cool for a barbecue
Advertising feature: Cava might not be the first bottle you’d think of taking to or serving at a barbecue but if you think of it simply as a meal cooked over fire rather than under the grill or in the oven why not? And being an exceptionally food-friendly wine it will sail through.
Wine of the week: a cut-price Sauternes
If you’re unsure what to buy it’s always tempting to go for a big name but when you find you’ve got an equally good option at half the price it’s mad not to go for that.
Mon Vieux Hell’s Heights Sauvignon Blanc 2013
It’s always a bit hairy doing a live food and wine pairing if you haven’t had a chance to have a run-through first - and even if you have some variable, usually the food, invariably changes.
Koyle Costa Sauvignon Blanc, Colchagua Costa 2012
If you’re a Sauvignon Blanc fan but are looking for something a little different try this deliciously fresh, elegant Chilean Sauvignon.
Is red wine a good match for chocolate?
I’ve never totally bought into the idea but a recent wine and chocolate tasting put on by Australian Wine at Australia House in London went halfway to convincing me.
Smoked eel with crab remoulade and Slovakian Müller-Thurgau
A good obscure pairing to kick off the week from the newly opened Vinoteca wine bar at Seymour Place.
Lamb mechoui and 2007 Chateau Musar
This, I think, was the standout pairing from our Honey & Co wine club on Sunday and a great illustration of the difference a dish can make to the way a wine tastes.
23 year old Chablis and crispy chicken wings
There were a couple of contenders for match of the week this week. I particularly enjoyed a gin and tonic with my king prawn coconut curry for a start but I’m going for this pairing as it’s always tricky to know what to drink with an very old wine.
Pistachio pesto and solaris
One of the best food pairing experiences I’ve come across in a winery is the one laid on by Hebron vineyard in West Wales.
The best food matches with New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc
The flavours of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc - and this is why it is so popular - are powerful and aromatic: citrus, gooseberry and passionfruit in spades. So you if you're looking for a food match need big flavours on your plate to stand up to it.
Pasta with Stilton and onion sauce and a new wave Spanish red
When I’m not writing about food and wine matching I’m writing a book - and a blog - about budget eating called The Frugal Cook. So this week’s match is a chance discovery with a scratch supper I knocked up last night (for which you can find the recipe on the blog)
Chocolate layer cake and single vineyard rioja
I’ve always been sceptical about the combination of red wine and chocolate but I came across one in Moscow last week that was simply sensational
Chocolate brownie and Churchill Late Bottled Vintage Port
I was invited to host a food and wine evening by the Bristol Uni Wine Circle last week which I have to say, despite the vast quantities of food and drink consumed, they took impressively seriously.
Lamb with Nebbiolo d’Alba
For some reason I always think of beef with nebbiolo and other wines like Bordeaux and rioja with lamb but this combination at one of Bristol’s best restaurants Bulrush the other night was stunning.
The Society’s Saint-Aubin 2017: a poor man’s Puligny-Montrachet
This wine is a winner on three counts - it’s from a lesser-known - and very good value - Burgundy appellation, Saint-Aubin, which is just next door to the better known and more expensive Puligny-Montrachet, it comes from the excellent 2017 vintage and it's an own label bottling from the admirable Wine Society,
Cheese and cider matching revisited
When you think how well apples go with cheese it’s amazing that cider isn’t the automatic go-to for a cheese board but as we discovered at Cheese School, some work better than others with particular styles of cheese.
HKK - where the drinks are as fab as the food
Maybe Chinese restaurants are like buses. You don’t get any new openings for a while then several come along at once. So after Bo London the other day, it’s HKK, the latest project from the Hakkasan group.
Pinot Noir and Asian food
Following Lauraine Jacobs’ report earlier this week from the Pinot Noir 07 conference in Wellington here are some more timely thoughts on pairing pinot with Asian food from another attendee Ch’ng Poh Tiong.
Smoking Goat ‘fish sauce wings’ and Peter Lauer 'Fass 16' Saar riesling
It’s well established that riesling is a good match for spicy food but you don’t often get as good a pairing as the new Soho bar Smoking Goat’s already fabled ‘fish sauce wings’ and Peter Lauer’s 2013 ‘Fass 16’ Saar riesling..
Sauvignon blanc and salsa verde
Sauvignon blanc might not strike you as the obvious wine to pair with lamb but when it’s accompanied by a salsa verde, as it was in this dish we made at a cookery class at the Square Food Foundation* last week it can work really well.
Peruvian-style scallops and Rioja rosado
I thought it was pretty brave of rioja producer Ramon Bilbao to present their wines at a cutting edge Peruvian restaurant last week. Still, everyone knows rioja goes with Spanish food so why not? You never make new wine pairing discoveries if you don’t push the envelope.
Vitello tonnato and Etna Bianco
It’s not often you find a wine that sails through every dish you put in front of it but I’d say on the basis of Friday night’s Italian feast at Wild Artichokes in Kingsbridge that the Tenuta Tasca Buonora Etna Bianco 2017 would see you through almost any Italian meal.
Palais Royal and Roquefort
We’ve been down in the Languedoc for the past week, revisiting some of the winemakers we haven’t seen for a while. They included Domaine de l’Arjolle, one of the first wineries we bought from when we bought a holiday home down here in the early 1990s.
Raan and Grover Chêne
I’ve been thinking a fair bit about red wine and Indian food lately - of which more in due course - but wanted to flag up one pairing from my trip to India last week which definitely worked.
Italian beer and food matching at Tozi
Sophie Atherton reports on the introduction of a new range of 'birra artigianale' (craft beer) at ciccetti restaurant, Tozi.
Venison and Cot (Malbec)
The most successful wine pairing from a tasting I hosted on behalf of Touraine wines the other day was not the expected sauvignon and goats cheese or even fish and chips but a rich gamey dish of venison with a robust Cot, the name by which Malbec is known in the Loire.
Roast poulet de Bresse and aged Jura chardonnay
Roast chicken with chardonnay - what’s new about that I hear you say? Well, nothing, obviously but imagine some of the BEST chicken you’ve ever eaten and a GREAT chardonnay - in this case the 2005 Stephane Tissot Arbois chardonnay Les Graviers - and it becomes one of those stellar wine pairings you dream about.
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Ox cheek lasagne and zinfandel
It’s always a treat going round to my friends Stephen and Judy for supper.
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Hake with white asparagus, smoked caviar and gamay
You might instinctively reach for a glass of white wine with hake but red wine can work equally well. And not only when it has a red wine sauce.
Fish stew and an oaked Valencian white wine
As those of you who follow me on instagram will know I’ve been in Valencia for the past two weeks, trying to improve my Spanish which hasn’t left a great deal of time for considered food and wine pairing but this was a great match at a restaurant called Rausell in the city centre.
Sticky chicken ‘tulips’ with vintage Sercial madeira
It’s not often you get eight pairings in a single session, any one of which could have been a match of the week which makes this week’s choice particularly difficult but I’m going for a combination that surprised me as much as, I suspect, it will amaze you.
Morrisons The Best Marques de Los Rios Rioja Blanco Reserva 2011
I’m flagging this up not because I think you’re all going to love it - mature white wines are not for everyone* - but because I think it’s a fantastic achievement for a supermarket to stock a six year old wine of such quality in its own label range.
How to organise a beer and cheese tasting
Today my son Will and I did an artisan cheese and craft beer tasting at the Great British Beer Festival to promote our new book An Appetite for Ale (due out at the end of September. Hint.) It seemed to go down well so I thought it might be something you’d enjoy trying at home with your friends.
Wine with cheese: Gorgonzola and Vin Santo
You know that port goes with Stilton, right? Well, here’s another good variation on the pair-sweet-wines-with-blue-cheese rule: a glass of Vin Santo and a creamy Gorgonzola.
Olives and Côte Rôtie
You’ll have to forgive me the vagueness of this week’s match of the week, which is actually more of a hack, but I’ve largely been desk-bound so it’s been slim pickings.
The Hole in the Wall, Little Wilbraham: not your average country pub
The Hole in the Wall at Little Wilbraham near Cambridge sounded like the sort of twee country pub that I hate. Discovering it had a celebrity chef and a tasting menu made it appeal even less but on my visit last week I was bowled over
Does The Kitchin deserve a second Michelin star?
You can’t help feeling that it’s Tom Kitchin’s misfortune to be in Edinburgh. Not because his isn’t proud of his Scottish roots - he obviously is - but because if he were in France I’m sure he’d have two stars rather than one.
Duck casserole with Vilarnau Els Capricis Cava
There’s a certain repertoire of ingredients and dishes that are regularly paired with vintage champagnes and other sparkling wines - luxury foods like lobster, turbot, sweetbreads and even roast chicken but until last week’s trip to the Cava region I would never have thought of pairing them with a casserole
Goosnargh duck and elderberries with a Canary Islands red
Visiting two gastronomic restaurants that offered food and wine pairing in the Lake District last week (Forest Side and Hipping Hall) I’m struggling to pick out the stand-out match but I think it has to be the fabulous combination of the local Goosnargh duck with a wine I hadn’t tried before - the 2015 Tajinaste Valle de la Orotava from Tenerife that was served as part of the tasting menu at Hipping Hall.
Kaiken Terroir Series Torrontes 2014
This week I’ve managed to be in both Chile and Argentina so it was a toss-up which should provide the wine of the week . . .
Introducing Eat This, Drink That
Many of you will have already discovered my new subscription newsletter Eat This, Drink That and might be wondering where the idea came from and how it fits in with Matching Food & Wine.
Teroldego and Tapas
Sometimes you get in a rut with a particular food and wine combination - maybe on a ‘if it ain’t broke, why fix it? basis. Such is the case for me with tapas which I tend to recommend pairing with something Spanish - usually manzanilla sherry or - depending on the amount of seafood - a crisp Rueda, dry Spanish rosado or a young Rioja or similar Spanish red.
Indian seafood and Sollasa Mumbai
Deciding what to drink in an Indian restaurant if you don’t go for beer is always a bit of a challenge but now there’s a new option in the form of Sollasa, a delicious aperitif-type drink that has been created to go with Indian food.
Game consommé with a Croatian red
Given that wine dinners are all about combining food and wine it’s not that often that the resulting pairings blow you away but I was hard pushed to pick just one out of the four brilliant matches at last week’s Autumn Delights dinner at Adelina Yard in Bristol.
Coffee and maple syrup-brined pork with Saint Joseph
Occasionally a wine pairing comes along that you simply don’t expect. Invited to a barbecue at the weekend, I took along some reds I’d been tasting which I frankly wasn’t sure would go with the sweet marinades you generally encounter at a BBQ.
Chocolate and orange cake and Chateau Climens
I’ve always considered Sauternes is too delicate a wine to pair with chocolate unless it’s accompanied by something like passionfruit with which it chimes in but it turns out if the wine is old enough - and good enough - it can handle even a chocolate cake.
Chardonnay and charred aubergine with coriander chutney
When I think of coriander I rarely think of chardonnay - more like a sauvignon blanc or a riesling - but the tasting sponsored by Wine Australia at Imbibe the other week before last really surprised me.
Asparagus with poached egg, watercress sabayon and Chateau Doisy-Daene Sec
Asparagus and fine white Bordeaux sounds a bit of a risky wine match but the way the dish was prepared made it a standout pairing.
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Apricot sorbet and moscato di Pantelleria
There were lots of interesting food and wine matches during my trip to Pantelleria and Etna last week with the Sicilian winery Donnafugata but the most surprising one to me was this pairing of an apricot sorbet and a light moscato, the 2022 Kabir.
Pistachio and date cookies with Cavendish Vin de Liqueur
An incredible pairing this week and one I’m afraid you’re unlikely to be able to replicate - so far as the wine element is concerned anyway. But there are alternatives which I’ll suggest.
Sausage, Cep and Chestnut Galette
This recipe was created by my friend cookery writer Claire Thomson of 5 o’clock apron to celebrate the release of this year’s Beaujolais Nouveau about which we’ve just made a reel which you can find on my instagram feed @food_writer.
American beers at Kitty Fisher's
The American Brewers Association chose uber-cool Kitty Fisher's in Shepherd Market, Mayfair for their annual lunch for British beer writers this week. Sophie Atherton reports on the outcome.
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Tempura Jersey Royals and Jersey Royal vodka
You probably wouldn’t think of pairing wine - or any other drink - with Jersey Royal potatoes but then you probably wouldn’t be having them as the central feature of a five course tasting menu as I was at Pêtchi in St Helier in Jersey last week.
Tandoori lamb chops and a Portuguese red
In our careless way we often refer to Indian food as ‘curry’ especially when talking about wine pairing but the base ingredient and the way it is cooked is just as important as in any other cuisine. And surprisingly the wine match can be quite obvious.
Leeks and Skyborry perry
One of the many appealing things about Birch in Bristol is that they have an extensive list of artisanal ciders. Which is maybe not so surprising given that they are intending to sell the restaurant and concentrate on making cider themselves.
Gorwydd Caerphilly and white burgundy
Cheese and wine is always a bit of a minefield so it’s good to find a partnership that works really well. This was one of six pairings laid on for the launch of the Bristol Wine and Food Fair which takes place next month (and at which I’m holding a number of Cheese and Wine Masterclasses, so do come along).
Tarte Tatin and Pineau des Charentes
I had some great food and wine matches in Dublin last week but most were predictably good (albarino and seafood, Ribera del Duero and lamb …) so I’m going for this combination from the menu at a brilliant little restaurant called Mae.
Nduja and a super-Tuscan red
I don’t often get inspiration from chefs when it comes to food and wine pairing - you’d think they’d be into wine but they often aren’t - but Theo Randall’s suggestion of a super-Tuscan red with his dish of roast sausages with borlotti beans and nduja sauce was spot on.
Tea & Tapas: does it work?
As a massive sherry fan I confess that I find it hard to envisage any other drink with tapas but when you’re invited to experience an off-the-wall pairing you go - or at least I do.
Eating out tips for Toronto
I really didn’t have much idea what to expect of Toronto. I knew it was ridiculously cold in winter and that it was hard to buy liquor (not a good combination) and that you could eat pretty good ethnic food, especially Japanese. But nothing quite prepared me for the range and scope of the city’s 5000+ restaurants. Here’s where I managed to get to in the 4 days I was there (thanks to taking in more than one venue at every possible opportunity)
Vietnamese fish sauce chicken wings and tamarind whiskey sour
It might seem perverse to pick out a cocktail match during a week of drinking stellar wines in Oregon wine country but I’m saving my new thoughts on wine pairing with Pinot Noir for a more wide-ranging piece. And this is a great cocktail pairing
Radicchio, almond and pecorino salad with Soave
Soave, as I’ve pointed out before, is an incredibly versatile food wine but it rarely goes as well with anything as it did with this salad at one of my favourite Bristol locals Sonny Stores the other day
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Petit Munster and Gewürztraminer
Sometimes Match of the Week is not so much about an undiscovered pairing but one that’s executed in a particularly inventive way. Which was absolutely the case at a dinner at Monica Galetti’s restaurant Mere last week with the famous Alsace producer Famille Hugel.
Carpaccio of venison with Mollydooker The Boxer shiraz
My match of the week is not in fact my match of the week which was some sublime sashimi and koshu at the Japanese embassy but as that pairing has featured before I’m going for my second best this week*.
Braised rabbit and Château Fond Cyprès Syrah de la Pinède
Most of this past week has been spent in Paris where almost every wine match is a good one. There’s been a lot of Beaujolais - and other Gamay - drinking and a fair amount of crisp dry whites such as Aligoté - but the pairing I’m going to pick is a Syrah I didn’t know with a stonking great plateful of braised rabbit at the legendary Baratin.
Spicy spam and Mosel riesling
I can’t say spam is high up on my list of things to eat let alone pair with wine but in New York last week I discovered a brilliant match for it at a quirky Hawaiian Lower East Side restaurant called Noreetuh
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Roast chicken and Rioja (but not all riojas!)
Another great chicken pairing following last week’s ‘cos you can never have too many of them.
Paté en croute and mature Saint Estèphe
Having spent two days in the company of the most high profile advocates of the art of food and wine pairing in France, the Gardinier brothers of Taillevent, I have more outstanding wine matches than I know what to do with this week
Oaked white rioja and rabbit terrine
This time of year is full of pre-Christmas get-togethers which means a higher than usual number of meals out and an above average number of interesting wine pairings.
Chocolate brownies, vanilla ice-cream and PX sherry
This was by far the most popular pairing at a chocolate and wine tasting I did for the West of England Wine and Spirit Association in Bristol on Friday night. We didn’t actually have the ice cream but I think it would have made it even better.
Salted Salmon with Tarragon Butter
This recipe comes from a fascinating book by award-winning food writer Sybil Kapoor called Sight Smell Touch Taste Sound which reveals the role our senses can play in the way we cook and eat.
What to pair with Beaujolais Nouveau (updated)
With southern hemisphere wines from the 2024 vintage already hitting the shelves the annual release of Beaujolais Nouveau has become less significant than it once used to be but it’s still a fun occasion to mark.
Manzanilla sherry and sushi
Sushi is possibly not the first kind of food you’d think of pairing with wine but turns out it’s surprisingly good with sherry.
Spring, Somerset House - the return of Skye Gyngell
No restaurant in London can have been more visited or commented on its first couple of weeks than Spring. Everyone seemingly has been there and has a view - not always complimentary - of the merits of chef Skye Gyngell’s return to London.
Root Vegetable Stew with Herb and Mustard Dumplings
If you've been experimenting with vegan food this January or 'veganuary' as it's been dubbed you'll know that vegan food doesn't have to be insubstantial or, indeed uninteresting. For those of you who remain to be convinced here's a hearty stew from Rachel Demuth of Demuth's Cookery School in Bath which contains both cider and sherry!
Sausage rolls and orange chardonnay
I admit orange wine is the last pairing I would have thought of with a sausage roll. Especially a high-end orange wine like Radikon’s.
Laksa and Riesling
Laksa is one of those dishes you hesitate to pair with wine being both a soup and really spicy but the pairing I came across at the Pegasus Bay wine dinner at The Providores the other night was spot on.
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Cold roast beef and a light Loire red
If you see the words roast beef you might automatically think of a full-bodied red - a Bordeaux or cabernet sauvignon, for instance - but there are times, as last week, when a light red will work just as well.
Paris tips and trends
Last post (for the moment) from Paris! A quick run-down of the most interesting food and wine ideas I picked up for those of you who haven’t time to read the full reviews:Sardines - cheap, sustainable - this summer’s must-eat fish, it seems. Grilled (Le Temps au Temps), served with red peppers and black-eye beans (La Gazzetta) served whole in a tin with seaweed butter (Cristal de Sel)
Spicy beef and Barbera d'Asti
Barbera wouldn’t have been the wine I’d have generally turned to with a beef dish that came accompanied by a spicy Thai relish but it worked surprisingly well.
Smoked haddock and apple salad with New Zealand Riesling
I was overwhelmed with good wine pairings last week but given that quite a few were similar to ones I’ve written about before I’m making this my star match.
Smoked, caramelised salmon with Disznókö Tokaji 6 puttonyos 1993
This week’s match is not mine but fellow wine writer Margaret Rand’s who also writes for Decanter. She recently went to Hungary at the invitation of AXA Millésimes who ownes the Tokaji producer Disznókö - as well as Château Suiduiraut - for what must be the most extraordinary wine dinner ever conceived: a Chinese meal, paired with sweet wine cooked by two Bordeaux-based chefs Tommy and Andy Shan of Au Bonheur du Palais, (which happens to be AXA proprietor Christian Seely’s favourite restaurant in the city).
Sea bass carpaccio and Grüner Veltliner
The other day we went to Il Vino d’Enrico Bernardo, an innovative new restaurant in Paris run by the world’s best sommelier in 2004 which has just won a Michelin star. The unusual aspect is that there is a wine rather than a food menu. You choose what you want to drink and they create a dish or a menu around it.
Pizzocheri and Valtellina
A slightly obscure pairing this week from the Lombardy region of Italy, the focus for an absolutely brilliant pop-up supper I went to at Wild Artichokes in Kingsbridge last Friday.
Pear, watercress and chickpea salad and viognier
Sometimes the best insights come from having a bottle already open rather than consciously choosing what to drink with a dish. I suppose I knew that viognier would go with a salad but it was the composition of this particular salad that made the pairing work so well.
Dorset Blue Vinney and Bristol Supreme Sweet Sherry
This is the most interesting and original wine and cheese pairing of the four* I devised for my talks at the Bristol Wine and Food Fair over the weekend. I wanted to come up with a variation on the usual port and Stilton combo and this was it.
Bacchus and chilli
The most surprising wine pairing discovery of the year so far is that England’s Bacchus is remarkably good with chilli
Slow-cooked salmon with a yuzu-flavoured beer
I dithered between two brilliant beer pairings at the British Guild of Beer Writers Beer Meets Food event at the Wild Beer Co, Wapping Wharf last week, both of which involved citrus.
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Pomerol and gravy
This might sound a bit of a weird pairing - what about the meat the gravy goes with? The answer is there wasn’t any.
Chicken, lemon and olive tagine with Rioja reserva
Friends came round the other night and I cooked one of my favourite new recipes - a chicken, lemon and olive tagine (which appears in my forthcoming book Food, Wine and Friends, she adds, unable to resist a cheap plug!). One of the reasons it’s slightly different from the authentic Moroccan version is that I remove the chicken skin which makes the dish a lot lighter.
Rioja rose and serrano ham crisps
This is not so much a wine pairing that’s greater than the sum of its parts as a great wine recommendation and food recommendation that happen to go really well together
Octopus and albarino
Octopus is a bit of a cult ingredient on restaurant menus at the moment. I’ve already noted two good wine pairings for it - with Baga and orange wine but this weekend I found another at the Sabor pop-up Polperia at the Dartmouth Food Festival.
Cauliflower tortellini with hazelnuts and 10 year old Muscadet
I agonised over which match to highlight this week - there were so many good ones, especially from my trip to the Jura which I’ll report on in the next couple of days but I’ve gone for this intriguing and off the wall pairing from a seasonal wine dinner at Lido in Bristol on Saturday night.
Sausages with rich Guinness gravy
If you don’t like Guinness don’t be put off making this recipe for St Patrick's Day from my book Sausage & Mash. It makes the most fantastic dark, rich, sticky onion gravy that doesn’t taste remotely of beer.
Stuffed piquillo peppers with brandade and Hunter Valley Semillon
Like many of you, I suspect, I’ve been working my way through the older bottles in my cellar* and unearthed a 2014 vintage of Brokenwood Semillon the other day which I visited on my last wine visit to the Hunter Valley.
Smoked cods roe and Metissage
This week’s pairing is as much about the wine as the dish though the two went exceptionally well together.
Rainbow trout ceviche and Western Australia riesling
I can’t actually believe I’ve never tried it before but I made some ceviche as part of a Zoom masterclass organised by the Bristol Food Union, a collaboration of local restaurateurs and food producers to raise money for those who have been most affected by the COVID 19 crisis.
Rabanadas and tawny port
Having been in Portugal for three days this week it’s no surprise that my top match this week is a port but the food pairing is surprisingly simple and delicious.
Monkfish and Meursault - and Muscadet, come to that
One of the best restaurants to enjoy well thought out food and drink pairings is Trivet in London which comes as no great surprise when you learn that the two partners - Jonny Lake and Isa Bal - worked at one of the UK’s most famous restaurants, The Fat Duck.
Mini Yorkshire puddings with rare fillet of beef and Central Otago Pinot Noir
A student gathering is not the first place you’d think of finding a good wine pairing or, indeed, a drinkable wine at all but the talk I gave last week at the University of Bristol Wine Circle produced some great combinations.
Margaux and Turkish chicken with walnut sauce
There’s nothing I love more than a surprise when it comes to food and wine pairing and I would not in a million years have predicted that a pukka Bordeaux would go with this exotic Turkish dish.
Caramel-flavoured desserts and tawny port
Last week I was in northern Portugal where I think it's fair to say a fair bit of port was consumed. There was one striking finding from a food and wine pairing point of view: that toffee- or caramel-flavoured desserts are a perfect match for tawny port.
Assyrtiko and cold herb soup
As Greece’s best known grape variety you’d probably think of pairing assyrtiko with meze or seafood but as this week’s match of the week shows it’s good away from its home territory too.
Santa Julia Innovacion Malbec/Touriga Nacional 2013
So here’s a special for Malbec World Day - maybe a bit of a cheat as it also includes some Touriga Nacional but I quite like Malbec in a blend.
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Cauliflower, potato and caraway homity pie
A wonderfully comforting recipe from Mark Diacono’s lovely book Vegetables.
Whisky and a cheese and onion toastie
You may be thinking more of whisky in the context of haggis this week given Burns Night is coming up but an accidental pairing suggested another direction to take it
Seville orange soufflé and Primo Franco prosecco
You may be used to drinking prosecco as an aperitif, maybe even with a nibble of parma ham or some other cichetti but last week was the first time I’ve been to a dinner where prosecco featured right throughout the meal.
Prawn laksa and dry German riesling
It was a bumper week for wine pairings with some classic favourites such as pork and Beaujolais (an excellent Fleurie at Cora Pearl) and oysters and muscadel (at the new Hawksmoor in Edinburgh) but I’m going for this riesling pairing as it solves the thorny problem of what to drink with laksa.
Spaghetti with courgettes, basil, smoked almonds and Bordeaux rosé
I was sent a really unusual rosé the other day from biodynamic Bordeaux wine estate Chateau le Puy, their 2019 Rose-Marie.
Black truffle and fontina pizza and Puligny Montrachet
It’s easy to get into a mindset with food and wine pairing where you automatically revert to a tried and tested combination. Like pizza with Peroni or a Sicilian red
What to drink at Noma
If you go to the world’s best restaurant* you may think in terms of downing an expensive bottle of Champagne. Think again! The best match for Nordic food is a Nordic drink . . .
Some great Gascon discoveries
Last week I spent a couple of days in the Gers region in the south-west of France researching a piece on foie gras (for which you’ll have to wait a couple of months, I’m afraid, until it’s published in Decanter). But I made some other interesting discoveries.
Simon Rogan at The Cube
It’s a complete indictment of my lazy southerner mentality that I’ve never made it up to Simon Rogan’s restaurant L’Enclume despite glowing reviews that would have had me charging half way across France for a similar experience.
Seared tuna with sesame and 2013 Elephant Hill Syrah
My final meal in New Zealand last week was also one of the most impressive of my recent trip: lunch at the award-winning Elephant Hill winery in Hawkes Bay.
Prosecco and burrata
I wonder how many people think about food when they’re drinking prosecco. Not many, I suspect. Given the comparative sweetness of most bottles I certainly tend to think in terms of sweet dishes as much as savoury ones as you can see from this post. Teatime seems to me the perfect occasion to drink it.
Crisp duck salad with Fielding Estate Riesling
I came across so many great wine pairings in Toronto last week it's hard to pick out one but this dish just shaves it as my match of the week.
Pairing cognac and cheese
Cognac pairs with chocolate, we all know but what about cheese? Surprisingly there are some standout matches as I discovered when I chaired the cheese workshop at the 2014 International Cognac Summit in France a couple of years ago.
Pear frangipane tart with Pacherenc du Vic Bilh
If you want to show off a fine dessert wine the ideal match is a simple French apple or pear tart, so there should be no surprise then at this pairing of a pear frangipane tart (pears with a spongey almond base) and a Pacherenc de Vic Bilh cuvée 'Octobre'.
Mangalitza pork pie and Pomerol
I often get asked what the best pairing for a serious red wine is and I don’t think the people who pose the question would expect the answer 'pork pie'.
Fruit and flower tart with German auslese riesling
I've struggled to come up with a single pairing from last week as all the matches I was offered at the two-Michelin-starred The Ledbury were spot on but this, I think, is the most spectacular.
Fresh crab salad and 17 year old Muscadet (and yes, you did read that right!)
Apologies for returning once again to the subject of crab but it is one of my favourite summer foods and this was the outstanding match of last week.
Cod pot au feu and Beaujolais
Beaujolais cuisine is typical old-school bistro food - so it was no surprise to find on my recent trip that it sailed through the charcuterie, andouillette and oeufs en meurette. But I had rarely had it with fish so I found this pairing with a cod pot-au-feu at Georges Blanc’s brasserie Le Rouge et Le Blanc at the Hôtel lea Maritonnes particularly interesting.
Chai tea junket and Moscato d’Asti
I don’t normally go for the wine pairings with tasting menus as it’s one of the most expensive ways of ordering wine but thought it was worth a whirl at a recent pop-up by chef Stephen Harris at the much-lauded Noble Rot wine bar.
The Tasting Room at Le Quartier Francais
When I first went to Le Quartier Français in Franschhoek around 10 years ago I was blown away. Since then its chef Margot Janse has become one of the world’s most high profile chefs and the food more experimental. Would the experience be as memorable?
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Grappa, chocolate and orange
There were a lot of enjoyable wine matches in Trentino last week - the indigenous wines work really well with the local alpine food - but this unusual grappa pairing at the Campiglio Bellavista in Madonna di Campiglio was the standout combination.
Planeta Eruzione Bianco 1614
One of the most interesting things that’s happening in wine at the moment is how big producers are pursuing new areas and old grape varieties and Planeta is no exception
Gin of the month: Four Pillars Bloody Shiraz Gin
You like gin? You like shiraz? You’re in luck! Australian distillery Four Pillars has combined the two in a gin they’ve called Bloody Shiraz, the perfect bottle with which to celebrate Australia Day.
La Fromagerie: a return visit to cheese heaven
Marylebone High Street in central London has become a mecca for foodies in the last few years but the jewel in the crown is undoubtedly Patricia Michelson’s La Fromagerie, a glorious jumble of a shop that sells everything from cheese (obviously) to chocolate, via honeys and herbal infusions.
La Chassagnette: so pretty but more misses than hits
Given that I plastered photographs of La Chassagnette all over my instagram feed the other day you might think a review was superfluous but the truth is that pretty plates do not necessarily a great restaurant make.
Menestra
I first had this wonderful vegetable stew - a northern Spanish equivalent of a spring vegetable minestrone - in a restaurant in Pamplona and dreamed about it for several years before managing to recreate it.
Best ever seville orange marmalade
I’m not a great one for ‘the perfect this’ or ‘the perfect that’ in recipes but if you’re a marmalade aficionado I promise you this is as good as it gets. Intensely fruity, thick and sharply flavoured.
Lotus root stir-fry and chrysanthemum tea
It seems invidious to pick out just one wine pairing from my visit to the Okanagan valley last week (of which more in due course) so I’m going for the first drink I had on my arrival: chrysanthemum tea at a brilliant Chinese restaurant called Chef Tony in Richmond, the town just next door to Vancouver.
Vincisgrassi and Saint-Aubin
I love a collaborative cooking project so when I stayed with my friend food writer Fiona Sims at the weekend we embarked on a vincisgrassi, an elaborate mushroom lasagne from Rachel Roddy’s fantastic book, an A-Z of Pasta. It was made famous by Franco Taruschio of the Walnut Tree but you can find Rachel’s version here. (Note the fabulous crisp edges!)
Thai beef salad and off-dry Riesling
It’s easy to get stuck in the trap of thinking red wine is the only accompaniment for meat, especially red meat but in these days of multi-cultural eating that’s not necessarily true. And a good case in point is a Thai beef salad with its zingy, hot/sour flavours which influence the match much more than the beef does.
Stir-fried pork with Thai basil and Australian riesling
This week’s match of the week doesn’t come as a big surprise but it’s sometimes good to be reminded of tried and tested pairings rather than ones that come totally out of the blue.
Salmon with shellfish sauce and aged semillon
Last week I was in Australia’s beautiful Hunter Valley enjoying their two great specialities semillon and shiraz.
Raspberry cranachan and Black Tokyo Horizon
As it turned out the star pairing of my bizarre Brewdog Burns night was not the haggis spring rolls and Punk IPA but an equally off the wall pairing of raspberry cranachan and Black Tokyo Horizon, a 15% Imperial stout.
Cote Hill Blue and blackberry mead
It’s not often that food and drink that goes together perfectly turns up at exactly the same time but serendipitously I was sent a selection of delicious meads last week just as my order of blue cheese from The Courtyard Dairy arrived.
Chocolate and muscadel
There hasn’t been much food and wine pairing going on in the Beckett household this week as I lost my sense of taste with Covid - fortunately for only four days - but I tasted a wine yesterday that I know would make the perfect match with chocolate.
Braised ox cheek and Lalande de Pomerol
As is often the way Christmas wasn’t a time for any startling food and wine discoveries, rather for celebrating favourite combinations but I realise I forgot to mention one pairing just before Christmas at Angelus restaurant in Lancaster Gate.
Sweetbreads with mushrooms and Dog Point pinot noir
One of the great pleasures of living in Bristol over the past 15 years has been the friendship I’ve struck up with chef Stephen Markwick and his wife Judy.
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Brined smoked pork and refosco
It’s always a toss-up whether to drink red or white wine with pork. I normally go for white but I really liked this combination of a brined smoked pork chop with a light(ish), slightly smoky refosco at Casa in Bristol the other night.
Romanian butterbean dip with caramelised onions
I came across this delicious butterbean dip on a recent visit to Romania and couldn’t put my finger on the main ingredient.
Smoked mackerel salad and 'ancestral' cider
Last week was mainly about cider - I went to the Cider Salon in Bristol at the weekend where I enjoyed a succession of English ciders with a five course feast prepared by Native Vine.
Pulled pork roll and a smoked Belgian-style pale ale
As those of you who follow our Facebook page may have spotted I was in France last week so you might expect a pairing with a wine from Languedoc. But no: the outstanding match, as with the previous week, was with a beer - and a rather unusual one at that . . .
Guineafowl and Oolong tea
Chinese meals apart it’s not often I get to match tea with savoury dishes but importer Lalani’s tea pairing lunch at Gauthier, Soho this week showed just how exciting the combination can be
Baba with rum
Yes, you did read that right. Baba with rum not rum baba.
Spiced whitebait with sriracha and Chinon rosé
As you’d expect many of the usual suspects featured in my pairings this weekend (chocolate, anyone*?) but the match I was most impressed by was nothing to do with Easter
Chocolate truffles and PX
You can tell how much I love sherry from the fact that this is the second week running a food pairing involving sherry has been my match of the week.
Grainstore, Granary Square: where veggies take centre stage
If you want to understand where the London restaurant scene is heading you need to go to Grainstore. Sure, the capital is still in thrall to pork, barbecue and street food but Bruno Loubet’s exciting and ambitious new project is a clear pointer to the way things are going.
Moroccan salads and vin gris
Wine is by no means served in all restaurants in Morocco so the idea of going so far as pairing it with specific dishes is equally if not more unfamiliar.
Miso-marinated pork belly and Karasi Sour cocktail
Sometimes I wonder what pork belly doesn’t pair with. It seems to be delicious with so many drinks but even so It’s always intriguing to find a new match.
Roast pigeon and Salice Salentino
A slightly unseasonal but absolutely delicious wine pairing from Bjorn van der Horst’s much anticipated new restaurant Eastside Inn. The talented Van der Horst used to cook at the Greenhouse and then for Gordon Ramsay at La Noisette and has now branched out on his own. I’ll be posting a full review in the next couple of days but this, for me, was the outstanding match of the meal, selected by sommelier Thierry Sauvanot, also ex-Ramsay.
Pork scratchings and Nyetimber 2006
This may be a mystifying pairing to those of you who don't live in the UK but bear with me ....
Olive oil vanilla and pistachio cake with Muscat de Rivesaltes
It was a tough call to single out the best pairing from my meal at Galoupet in Knightsbridge last week but as I haven't featured a dessert for a while this just shaded it.
Chocolate and roasted Oolong tea
The most interesting meal I had last week was undoubtedly at Viajante, an innovative new restaurant in what used to be Bethnal Green town hall. You can see my full review on decanter.com but I just wanted to write a bit more about the pairings.
New York sweet cranberry mustard
A delicious relish to serve with the Thanksgiving leftovers or to bookmark for Christmas from Diana Henry's Salt, Sugar, Smoke. It keeps for up to 2 weeks in the fridge.
Welsh rarebit and a glass of organic milk
This week's pairing is for all those of you who are having a dry January this month (although here’s why I’m not).
British pepper salami and Morgon
Usually this feature focusses on less familiar wine pairings but sometimes you can’t beat a tried and trusted combination.
Mango shrikhand with Floris mango beer
Last week I did another pop-up with Bristol chef Romy Gill - this time at the Butlers Arms in Sutton Coldfield which is owned by Twitter friend Chris Giles and his wife Paula.
Mackerel and red gooseberry juice
Pairing food with no and lo-alcohol drinks is still in its infancy, alcohol-free drinks being pretty new on the scene themselves so it was lovely to have the opportunity to run through a series of alcohol-free pairings that were offered as an accompanying flight to the tasting menu at restaurant Hjem near Hexham in Northumberland.
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Fresh crab and a citrussy spritz
Even wine writers have to take a day off occasionally, especially if they’re lunching with a teetotaller, but it’s always a bit of a challenge finding a drink that goes as well with food as wine
Domaine Roc de Chateauxvieux Touraine Gamay
If you like Beaujolais you’re going to love this 2019 Touraine gamay, from Domaine Roc de Chateauxvieux which has the same bright juicy happy-making fruit.
Terrenal Garnacha
Marks & Spencer might not be the first place you think of looking for a wine bargain but their Terrenal garnacha from the Cariñena region of Spain is an absolute steal.
Timberyard - Edinburgh’s most atmospheric restaurant?
One of the main problems restaurants have is consistency. Keeping up the standards not only of the food but decor and service. So could Edinburgh’s Timberyard make an equally good impression as it did when I first went 16 months ago?
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Burmese Mango Salad with Peanut and Lime
I've loved all of Meera Sodha's books but her new one, East, which includes vegetarian and vegan recipes from the Indian sub-continent to the far east may be the best yet. And I love the zingy fresh flavours of this mango salad.
Coq au riesling and Alsace riesling
One category of wine pairings that pretty well always works are ‘terroir-based’ matches - in other words wine and food combinations that have grown up with each other - and this week’s is one of those.
Cold sesame noodles and weissbier
Thanks to my friend Signe Johansen of Scandilicious I finally got to Koya in Frith Street the other day - London’s food bloggers most popular noodle haunt and the winner of last year’s Observer Food Monthly’s Best Cheap Eats award.
10 year old Bonnes-Mares grand cru burgundy and confit duck
Rooting round the cellar (well, cupboard under the stairs) in France last week I stumbled across a bottle of 2003 Bonnes-Mares, a Grand Cru burgundy from Jean-Luc Aegerter I’d been sent as a sample about eight years ago and furtively stashed away until it was ready to drink.
Monkfish with chorizo and godello
I finally got to The Sportsman at Seasalter in Kent this week - a restaurant I’ve been wanting to go to for years. It more than lived up to expectations - which isn’t always the case with a famous restaurant is it? - in terms of service as well as food but there was a standout wine pairing from the meal I was particularly impressed by.
Mackerel and artichokes with Mademoiselle rosé
As I’ve been down in the Languedoc for the past week most of my food and wine combinations have been classic. Picpoul and oysters (always great), a rich grenache/syrah/mourvedre blend called Cascaillou* with a beef daube (spot on) and my wine of the week, Mas des Chimères Oeillade (a cinsault) with grilled lamb and herbs.
Guineafowl with cherries and Beaujolais
I’ve been so busy catching up after my Alsace trip that I haven’t had much time for new food and wine discoveries but here’s one we had at Les Temps Changent in Chalons-en-Champagne, a hotel we frequently stop at to break the journey through France.
German spätlese riesling and rare venison
One of the most interesting things I noticed on my trip to Germany last week was how Germans drink riesling with red meat. I wouldn’t have thought it would work but was utterly convinced by this pairing of super-tender rare venison with an exotic spätlese (late picked) riesling.
Chateau d’Yquem with Gorgonzola and a pressed apple terrine
OK, I don’t expect you to have a bottle of Chateau d’Yquem to hand, let alone a 1999 or 1989 vintage but this would work with any mature or not-so-mature Sauternes or similar sweet Bordeaux
Pumpkin ravioli and sparkling albarino
Having ended up unexpectedly in hospital last week I struggled a bit to find a match of the week. Water doesn’t make the most inspiring pairing for food although it (the food in hospital) isn't by any means as bad as it used to be. So I’ll tell you about the the dish I had before I was taken ill.
Sushi and an oaked Luis Pato white
About the last thing you’d think I’d be recommending after 4 days in Portugal last week would be a wine pairing for sushi - but that was the outstanding match.
Endive, Stilton and walnut salad with blanc de blancs champagne
Champagne two weeks running? I know - it is a bit indulgent but I just couldn’t ignore last night’s extraordinary dinner at the Savoy to celebrate the trophy winners and launch of the first Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships. Besides it is our 400th Match of the Week - equally something to celebrate.
Dark chocolate and Guatemalan rum
Another good chocolate pairing this week - plain dark chocolate and delciously fudgy Cana Negra gran reserva Guatemalan rum from Marks & Spencer
Contemporary sushi and Sancerre rouge
The best meal on my whirlwind tour of the Centre Loire* last week - and there was stiff competition - was a Japanese meal prepared by sommelier Juli Nakata-Roumet, the Japanese wife of the local promotional body’s director of communication Benoit Roumet
Cider and Camembert
I know we always think in terms of wine and cheese but sometimes other drinks can be just as good, if not better. Like this week’s pairing of medium-dry cidre traditionnel and Camembert I came across at a simple roadside restaurant just north of Domfront in Normandy.
Chicken with pomegranate molasses and orange iced tea
One of the areas of food and drink pairing I’m always trying to crack is soft drinks - so it’s good to find an inspired match that really hits the spot - not too sweet as most soft drinks are for me.
Apricot brandy pancakes
A simple and impressive recipe to serve for pancake day. Although apricots are obviously at their best in the summer you should be able to find imported ones from countries such as South Africa and Chile.
Goats' cheese and Sauvignon Blanc
Despite the freak flurries of snow and sub arctic temperatures last week spring has officially arrived and with it longer daylight hours and a switch to lighter eating. For me there’s no combination that reflects the season better than goats' cheese and Sauvignon Blanc, one of the great classic food and wine pairings.
What to pour for your mum this Sunday
Last week I went to the perfect breakfast hosted at one of London’s favourite restaurants The Wolseley by the champagne house Billecart-Salmon in aid of Britain's Biggest Breakfast - a month long fund raising event for Cancer Research UK The charity is urging everyone to hold a breakfast for their family, friends or colleagues during March (still 17 days to go . . . ) and it struck me that this would be a particularly nice way to celebrate Mother’s Day.
Young red rioja and menestra (Spanish vegetable stew)
Of all the great food and wine pairings I experienced in Rioja last week this was the most unexpected.
Tandoori salmon and fino sherry
One of the more successful pairings from the otherwise rather challenging sherry lunch I attended at the Cinnamon Club last week was a dish of tandoori salmon with a Valdespino Innocente fino. I tend to overlook fino in favour of manzanilla but I’m not sure it’s not a more flexible match with food.
Sashimi and Koshu
This week’s match had to involve the extraordinary Kaiseki meal I had at Umu. I wrote it up extensively a few days ago so I won’t dwell on it again but rather focus on the pairing that I think would work best in a less rarified contest. And that’s sashimi and unoaked koshu.
Lebanese mezze and Côtes de Provence rosé
Since I was in Provence for three days last week you might have expected me to come up with an all-Provençal pairing as my match of the week but in fact it was a lunch of Lebanese mezze that provided the best partner for the local rosé we were tasting.
Fruit toast, Bath soft cheese, truffle and Macvin du Jura
One of the things I most enjoy about high-end restaurants is what they offer in the way of cheese.
Fresh walnut tart and Jurançon
With two spectacularly high profile meals last week (see my last two posts) it was hard to choose a match this week. Should it be the Crozes-Hermitage and Herdwick mutton, kidney and oyster pie I had at Hix, or the perfect pairing of Sebastian Bobinet’s 2006 Saumur Champigny 'Amateus Bobi' and pig’s trotter at Pierre Koffman’s pop-up restaurant at Selfridges? (There - I’ve told you anyway!)
Beef stew and oloroso sherry
Last week I was at the Copa Jerez, an international wine and food competition where teams pair a 3 course menu with sherry.
Max’s (well, actually Felicity’s) chocolate pots
One of the things that’s compensated for not being able to go to restaurants, as I explained here, is cooking with friends on Zoom.
Jersey royal potatoes with peas, wild garlic and crème fraîche
A recipe for one of my favourite ingredients (potatoes) from one of my favourite restaurants, Root in Bristol, whose chef, Rob Howell has written a glorious cookbook of their food which is basically vegetable-based without being wholly veggie.
Poached turbot with champagne
Of all the wine matches I enjoyed last week - and it was an unusually good week for food and drink pairings - I’m going for this dish of poached turbot with champagne - not because it was startlingly original but simply so brilliantly executed.
Matcha cheesecake and shiso icecream with Smith Teamaker Astoriamaro ‘Digesteaf’
It might seem perverse to pick a tea pairing as my match of the week after four days in wine country and one of the leading beer cities of the US but this combination was so unexpected and so brilliant I had to single it out.
Cinnamon beignets with peach jam, Nutella and a black Americano coffee
Those of you who follow my Twitter feed will be aware I’ve been away at the Vegas Uncork’d festival so it might seem a touch perverse to pick out a non-wine pairing as my match of the week - and one from a meal outside the festival programme.
Baked celeriac and blanc de blancs champagne
Not many producers take food and wine pairing as seriously as champagne house Gosset which sponsors an annual ‘Matchmakers’ competition for young sommeliers and chefs which was held at the Cordon Bleu's Cord restaurant in Fleet Street
Thai fishcakes and witbier
Although I'm not one of those who is resolutely against pairing wine with spicy food there are definitely occasions when beer goes at least as well, if not better and this is one of them.
Parsley soup, snails and Muscadet!
Not the most appealing food and wine pairing you may think but I have to assure you it was delicious! It was at the newly opened Berners Tavern which is run by chef-of-the-moment Jason Atherton.
Dassai 50% unfiltered sake with lamb cutlets with Korean spices
I imagine you all know how well sake works with sashimi but it came as quite a surprise to me - wagyu aside - how well it could handle red meat and spice
Wagyu beef tataki and ginjo sake
We get so used to thinking of red wine as the only pairing for beef that it’s good to be reminded there are other options. Especially when it comes to Japan’s fabled Wagyu beef which is all about subtle tastes and textures.
Le Petit Aioli and Bandol Rosé
A classic pairing this week but beautifully executed.
Peter Gordon's nam phrik num dressing
An amazingly delicious Thai-ish sauce that I discovered a few years ago when I was researching food pairings for pinot gris and which seems especially appropriate as I'm in New Zealand currently.
Roast turkey and zinfandel
This last fortnight, you won’t be surprised to hear, has been all about festive food particularly The Bird which we’ve finally despatched but before we move on to healthier fare I wanted to give a shout out to my top pairing for turkey this year which wasn’t even on my hitlist.
Prawn raviole and white Bordeaux
Having spent 3 days in Bordeaux last week I’m spoilt for choice about my match of the week but I’m going for one of the less obvious pairings (so not Pauillac and lamb!).
Guava Collins and Singapore Noodles
Traditionally it’s been difficult to find a pairing for noodle dishes, especially soup noodles which have the triple drawback of being hot, sour and wet. But the other night at Alan Yau’s new restaurant Cha Cha Moon (of which more to follow when I do my round-up of new London openings) I had a delicious non-alcoholic cocktail which really hit the spot.
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