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.

9 great wine pairings for duck (updated)

Pinot Noir is the go-to wine with duck, and for good reason. Its lush fruit complements the meat in the same way as fruit like plums and cherries. But duck can be cooked many different ways, which means there’s plenty of opportunity to experiment.

Which wines pair best with pork?

As with most foods, the best wine pairing with pork depends how the pork is cooked, and what it’s served with.

White or red wine? What’s the best pairing for risotto?

Talking about wine matches for risotto is a bit like talking about wine with pasta - it’s depends on the other ingredients you use, not the rice.

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.

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?

12 great wine pairings with salmon

Salmon is in many ways the chicken of the fish world - an ingredient you can serve in many different ways and therefore match with a number of different wines.

What wine goes best with chicken - red or white?

When it comes to pairing wine with chicken, the good news is that you’re spoiled for choice.

The best wine pairings with venison (updated)

What is the best wine pairing for venison? An easy answer is the same sort of wine you’d drink with beef, but I’d suggest a few modifications as the two are not quite the same. Three qualities of venison, or cervena as it’s sometimes referred to in New Zealand, particularly distinguish it from beef and should influence your choice of wine match: 

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 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.

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.

Which wine pairs best with salad?

Asking which wine to pair with salad is a bit like asking about what wine to match with meat or fish. There's no single answer. It depends on the vegetables you use, what other ingredients it contains and what type of dressing you use.

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 wine pairing for steak (updated)

Steak is a natural partner for red wine, but is there a definitive “best” red for steak?

Four favourite wine matches for coq au vin

Coq au vin (chicken in wine) is of course cooked in wine - usually red wine - so does that mean you should pair it with the wine you've used to cook it in?

Top wine pairings for lamb

It’s true that lamb is one of the most wine-friendly of meats, as at home with red Bordeaux and Rioja as it is with the fruitier wines of the new world. But if you’re looking for a spot-on wine pairing it’s worth thinking just how - and for how long - you’re going to cook it.

Top wine (and other) pairings for sausages

There are very few occasions on which sausages don’t appeal but what’s the best pairing for them?

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.

What’s the best wine pairing for tuna?

Tuna is a meaty fish which adapts just as well to a red wine as to a white. So which to choose?

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.

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 wine pairings with meatballs (updated)

Meatballs are essentially comfort food so you probably don’t want to drink anything too fancy with them.

8 great wine (and other) matches for roast chicken

Both red and white wine go with roast chicken so the key thing to focus on when picking a wine pairing is what flavourings you put with it and the sides you serve. These elements can vary widely depending on where you are in the world, but there’s no doubt that roast chicken has global appeal: 

The best wine pairings for turbot (updated)

Turbot is a luxurious fish you might well be serving over the holiday period, most probably roast or seared. But what sort of wine should you pair with it?

Six of the best wine (and other) pairings with chicken pie

Chicken pie - or chicken pot pie - is classic comfort food. But what sort of drink goes with it best? Wine, beer or cider?

The best wine pairings for ravioli and other filled pasta

Just as pasta pairings are all about the sauce, stuffed pasta such as ravioli are all about the filling so you need to take account of what that’s based on and any accompanying sauce. 

Calusari Pinot Noir - a brilliant pinot noir for £5.99

The general view is that it’s impossible to buy decent pinot noir under £10 but I find it’s a theory that’s consistently being disproved these days. And that the best of the cheaper pinots are as good as many burgundies at twice the price.

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.

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.

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.

Beetroot and pinot noir risotto

Beets are everywhere at the moment but have you ever thought of using them in a risotto? And adding a dash of pinot noir?

Gladstone Pinot Noir and hare royale

My match of the week has to include Gladstone Pinot Noir from Wairarapa in New Zealand which featured in two unexpectedly good pairings at two different restaurants.

Duck with figs and Kooyong Ferrous Pinot Noir

I know duck and Pinot is a bit of a no-brainer but this was such a great dish and such a stellar wine that it's worth revisiting. (Coupled with the fact that some of you may be having duck for Christmas.)

Salmon and Pinot Noir

If you think you automatically need to partner a fish dish with white wine think again! Meaty fish such as salmon and tuna take really well to Pinot Noir, the grape variety that the hero Miles raved about in the hit movie Sideways.

Filet 'sliders' and Pinot Noir

Those of you who have read my report yesterday on the 20th anniversary of Charlie Trotter’s will know I’ve spent the last few days in Chicago eating some quite amazing food. But occasionally you need a change from all that gourmet fare and I found it in that great Chicago institution Gibsons steakhouse where they serve something called a ‘Gold Coast Slider’.

Venison tartare with Mountford's The Rise 2009 pinot noir

As you can imagine I’ve been drinking a fair amount of pinot noir in New Zealand this week (it’s a hard life). In general Kiwis pair it with lamb for obvious reasons but the most striking match I came across was with a venison tartare at the North Canterbury forage, a fabulous event I’ll be writing more about in due course

Cherries (and plums) with Central Otago Pinot Noir

One of the standard ways of devising a wine pairing is to pick out flavours in the wine and put them in the accompanying dish. Not too much or it can cancel out the flavour of the wine but done with skill, as it was by chef Des Smith at The Hunting Lodge, it’s pretty impressive.

Lapin au vin and Au Bon Climat Pinot Noir

The other night I went back to one of my favourite restaurants Ransome’s Dock, a friendly neighbourhood restaurant in Battersea that has great food and an even more stellar wine list, put together with detailed and well-written tasting notes by chef/proprietor Martin Lam. (You can download it from the site)

Chicken with 40 cloves of garlic and Thierry Puzelat Pinot Noir

Last week’s highlight was a trip to the newly opened downstairs restaurant at Terroirs, a restaurant of which regular readers will know I’m a huge fan (along with the rest of the UK’s wine-writing fraternity).

Pulled pork and pinot

The problem about discovering your match of the week at someone’s else's house is that you can’t really take a photo of the food if you don’t know them that well.

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.

Lethbridge Ménage a Noir Geelong Pinot Noir 2010

This week’s wine highlight was the Australia Day tasting which seems to get better every year. I could have picked out a whole load of interesting bottles but this came from the producer who made the biggest impact on me, Lethbridge of Geelong

Sixteen Ridges Pinot Noir Early 2014

This full-flavoured pinot noir from Worcestershire took me totally by surprise this week. I would never have guessed it was from the UK.

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.

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.

Rabbit ballotine with Domaine Lucci Wildman Pinot Noir

If i'm asked what my favourite wine is I usually say I don't have one as there are always moments when I fancy one wine more than anything else. But Pinot Noir has to be up there, especially a glorious, hedonistic Pinot like this Domaine Lucci Wildman Pinot which is one of the most delicious wines I've tasted all year*.

Piggie burger and Pinot Noir

Pigs and Pinot is a well established combination that is the focus of an annual celebration at Charlie Palmer’s Dry Creek Kitchen at the Hotel Healdsburg and after reminding myself of the combination last week at Daniel Boulud’s new London outpost Bar Boulud I can see why.

Peter Gordon's beef pesto and Pencarrow pinot noir

I found myself back in an old haunt last week - Peter Gordon’s The Providores in London’s Marylebone High Street. As the bar was crowded we went up to the restaurant and treated ourselves to the à la carte*

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.

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.

Peas and pinot

Having been flying around the world for the best part of the past month I had a quiet week at home last week which (unusually for me) involved no outstanding drinks pairings.

Il Passo Segreto Appassimento Sangiovese

Confession time. Off-dry reds like this 2017 Il Passo Segreto Appassimento Sangiovese are not really my thing but it’s hard to think of a more romantic looking bottle and if you’ve got a sweeter tooth than I have (not hard) you’ll love it.

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.

Beetroot soup and English Pinot Noir

The other day I enjoyed a surprisingly good pairing of a beetroot soup with an English blend of Pinot Noir and Rondo from Kent winery Chapel Down at the London restaurant Roast. I say surprising a) because soup is difficult to pair and b) because the two are so similar in colour that you’d think the wine wouldn’t be a sufficient contrast to the soup. In fact its fruitiness and crisp acidity (the Rondo making it taste more like a mid-weight Italian red) was just the right counterpoint to the earthy rich character of the beetroot.

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?

From the archives: Does Bordeaux need butter?

Italian wines with olive oil-based dishes, Bordeaux with butter-based ones. Sound like a no-brainer? Well, yes, if you happen to be in either region: you obviously drink the local wine with the local food. But just think for a moment about today’s top international restaurants.

10 things you possibly didn’t know about champagne

We are all familiar with the pop of the cork, the seductive stream of bubbles and the heady sensation as you take your first sip, but how much do you really know about the world’s most romantic drink ?

Which wines and beers pair best with mushrooms?

If you think of the ingredients that show off a great wine mushrooms would have to be near the top of the list.

The best wines to pair with beetroot

Beetroot is one of the few vegetables that pairs better with red wine than with white - not only for the colour though that tends to put the brain on auto-suggest - but its rich, earthy sometimes sweet flavour.

When you can pair asparagus with red wine

The idea of partnering asparagus with wine is contentious enough but red wine? Surely that won’t work?

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.

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.

What sommeliers think of customers

Following our article from former sommelier Zeren Wilson on how to order from a wine list, another, wine educator and consultant David Furer, turns the tables and asks some of the US’s top sommeliers what the biggest challenges and frustrations are in their job.

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. 

The 10 best wines for spring and early summer drinking

The last two days have been quite, quite beautiful, starting mistily, basking midday in an unseasonally warm sun and finishing with an extended dusk that announces that spring is finally here. I immediately want to eat lighter meals: the new season’s vegetables are not quite in yet but I can at least plan for summer and that means a spring clean of the cellar, pushing the full bodied reds to the back and assessing what whites, lighter reds and rosés I still have lurking in the racks.

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.

Food and wine matching in Hawke's Bay

Hawke’s Bay is a sunny, coastal province, situated in the east of New Zealand’s North Island. The region is gaining repute as a wine and food locale that marries delicious regional cuisine with a diversity of exceptional wines. Hawke’s Bay is New Zealand’s second largest producer of wine, after the South Island’s Marlborough region, known around the world for its herbaceous, tropical Sauvignon Blancs.

10 top Australian wines: a personal pick

Food and wine writer Natasha Hughes picks the 10 wines that appealed to her most at the recent Australia Day tasting in London and suggests the ideal food match

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.

6 of the best English wine buys from Waitrose’s 25% off deal

I much prefer a 25% across the board discount to offers on individual wines as you can get a good reduction on the bottles you most enjoy. Waitrose does them two or three times a year and the current offer which applies off any six bottles over £5 lasts until next Tuesday, March 9th.*

Mushroom risotto with spatburgunder

OK, this pairing is not rocket science - I’m sure you know that pinot noir is a great match with mushrooms and so obviously with mushroom risotto too. But you may not have totally taken on board just how good German pinot - or spätburgunder, as they call it in Germany - is nowadays.

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.

My best buys from Waitrose’s current promotion

I’ve always held that across the board discounts are the best kind of special offer, throwing up some real bargain buys along with the opportunity to get more expensive bottles at a price you can afford.

10 Wines under £10 to buy from Waitrose

25% across the board offers are always a good opportunity to get a substantial discount on your favourite wines so take advantage of the current offer at Waitrose which runs until Tuesday 12th inclusive

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.

Six of the best wine pairings for roast or baked ham

If you’re serving a ham or gammon as a roast this Thanksgiving or Christmas you need a more full-bodied wine with it than when you serve ham as a cold cut. Which one depends on the glaze.

Wine of the Week: Asda Extra Special Fiano

Finding drinkable wines under a fiver these days is a tough call but Asda’s Extra Special Fiano is worth anyone’s money

German wine and Scandi food - natural born partners

Scandinavian food is becoming increasingly popular but what type of wine should you drink with it? Lucy Bridgers reports on how German wine fares.

Pairing wine and spices

Author and food blogger Signe Johansen reports on a visit to spice blender Rolf Gast.

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:

12 wines you probably wouldn’t expect to find in Marks & Spencer

If you’re an adventurous drinker who likes to try new wines it’s well worth heading for your local branch of Marks & Spencer especially right now (August 2015) when they have 25% off if you buy six bottles.

A quick guide to wine pairings with a Sunday roast

For many of us Sunday roasts aren’t a weekly occurrence any more but that makes them even more of a treat - worthy of a good bottle of wine. But which should it be?

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.

10 undiscovered wine gems from Germany

“If you think you know German wine, drink again” ran the slogan of an advertising campaign in the UK a few years ago. Consumers, it seemed needed persuading but a succession of good vintages, the enthusiastic advocacy of wine writers such as Jancis Robinson and the appearance of a broader selection of German wines on the lists of an increasing number of London’s top restaurants seems to be finally stimulating an appetite for these most underrated of wines.

A perfect vineyard lunch

As I mentioned in my last post our last lunch of the Oregon trip was at Cristom where sales director (no less!) John D'Anna cooked us a great meal. Here's how he did it and - where I have a link to them - the recipes he used. Try it!

All Angels Classic Cuvée and sparkling rosé

There’s so much English fizz around now it takes something special to make them stand out. These two All Angels wines, have the advantage, for a start, of coming from Berkshire, a county which is not as well known for its wines as more southerly counties such as Hampshire, Sussex and Kent.

4 good red wine buys from Lidl

Lidl’s limited edition releases which come out every couple of months are always worth looking out for - and considerably more interesting than their basic range. Here are four that caught my eye at their recent tasting and which have just gone on sale.

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.

10 food-friendly wines from The Beautiful South

Wine writer Matt Walls picks out his favourite wines from Chile, Argentina and South Africa from last week's Beautiful South tasting

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.

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.

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.

What are the best wine pairings for Vacherin Mont d’Or

People occasionally ask me my favourite cheese - an impossible question but Vacherin Mont d’Or is certainly up there in the top 5.

The best wine pairings with monkfish

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

The best wine matches for Comté

After a recent visit to the Jura I've rethought my ideas about which wines make the best wine pairings for Comté cheese.

The pros and cons of buying from Naked Wines

Naked Wines has been controversial since it launched 4 1/2 years ago but there’s no denying its popularity. The company claims to have over 200,000 customers who buy from it regularly, 125,000 of which are ‘angels’.

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.

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.

9 good reds to buy from Marks & Spencer

Following on from my pick of the white wines from M & S's current 25% off six bottles promotion here are eight reds I’d recommend from my most recent tasting in May 2014

Wine Pairings for Smoked Meat

One of our readers from Texas wants to know: what wine works with smoked meat? 

What to match with Christmas ham

A fair bit gets written - including by yours truly - about pairing wine with turkey but what type of drinks go best with the Christmas ham?

Win a gloriously romantic case of sparkling rosé from Graham Beck

I’ve always been a huge fan of Graham Beck, one of South Africa’s best champagne method sparkling wines, so I was thrilled when they came on board with a fabulous prize this month. THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED.

Win a case of H. Blin grower champagne

THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED BUT DON'T WORRY - THERE WILL BE ANOTHER GREAT PRIZE SOON!

Win a case of award-winning English and Welsh wines

The quality of English and Welsh wines has increased immeasurably over the last few years which is reflected in the 245 medals they’ve picked up this year in the Wines of Great Britain (WineGB) awards which were judged this year by TV wine presenters Oz Clarke and Susie Barrie.

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"

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:

Wine and Cheese Pairing for Beginners

Wine and cheese are well known bedfellows but if you’re a beginner it might seem daunting to decide exactly which wine to choose for which cheese. This guide will quickly help you to get started pairing wine and cheese like a pro.

Which wines and beers match best with Chinese food

With Chinese New Year coming up this weekend you may be planning a trip to a Chinese restaurant or planning a Chinese meal at home. But which wine to serve?

What to drink with the turkey leftovers

The answer to the question of what to drink with the Thanksgiving or Christmas turkey leftovers might well be ‘whatever wine’s left over’ - if there is any, of course - but if you’re looking for a wine or other drink to match specific dishes here are a few ideas.

What to drink if you (or your friends) are not drinking at Christmas

It’s hard to get away from the fact that Christmas - in fact pretty well the whole of December - is a mega-boozy period hence the reason so many people go in for Dry January

What wine to serve for a party

Deciding which wine is best suited to serve to large numbers can be tricky. It’s a question of budget (obviously), your own preferences and those of your guests and the type of food you’re serving.

Sponsored: Win a case of glorious Gosset champagne and six champagne glasses

We know you LOVE champagne (who doesn’t?) so one of you is going to be very happy indeed to win this month’s prize, a case of Gosset champagne and six champagne glasses.

Best buys in Waitrose's autumn 2018 wine range

Waitrose is currently running one of its 25% off six bottles deals - a good opportunity to stock up for Christmas. I've listed some under £10 bargains from their most recent tasting but also some more expensive wines you mightn't normally buy but which are worth snapping up at this price. (Don't read too much into the picture above by the way - it's simply the wines of which I managed to get a relatively decent shot rather than the ones I rate most highly!)

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.

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

What to eat with Cloudy Bay

For most people the New Zealand winery Cloudy Bay is synonymous with sauvignon blanc but their range now extends to sparkling, sweet and red wines, a message underlined by a dinner at Hix Mayfair (in Brown’s Hotel) the other day.

Can Can chicken

Continuing with our series of South African Braai recipes to celebrate the World Cup, here’s winemaker Paul Cluver’s version of beer-can chicken made with apple juice rather than beer.

Pairing Errazuriz wines at Pollen Street Social

New world wines are sometimes criticised (usually by the French!) for overwhelming subtle Michelin-starred food but award-winning blogger Jeanne Horak-Druiff of Cooksister found much to admire when she attended an Errazuriz food, wine and photography evening at Pollen Street Social.

Seared cod with red wine sauce and Premier Cru Santenay

There’s still a bit of resistance to drinking red wine with fish, let alone with a white fish like cod but last week I had the perfect dish to combine with a good red burgundy.

Cambridge Road Dovetail Martinborough 2011

It’s easy to think you know what to expect with New Zealand wine - immensely drinkable, intense fruit flavours - but this range from Cambridge Road in Martinborough really blew me away

What wine to order in a restaurant?

You’re eating with friends - there’s a party of six of you and you all order different dishes off the menu. Whose dish do you match or do you just give up the struggle?

Mission, Bethnal Green

What is a large palm tree doing growing in the heart of Hackney? Let alone INSIDE a building (a converted warehouse set in a railway arch). Well, it’s the latest outpost of hipster winebar Sager & Wilde, now with a fully-fledged restaurant, Mission.

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.

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.

10 top wine matches for a vegetarian (or vegan) Christmas

It’s a sign of the times that when I first wrote this post over 10 years ago I said “Vegetarians often get overlooked at this time of year” That’s obviously no longer the case but veggie - and vegan - options are now so numerous and so diverse it can be tricky to work out which wine would work best with them.

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

Goat biryani and natural wine

I subjected myself to a somewhat daunting experience last Thursday trying to persuade a largely sceptical audience of journalists and bloggers of the virtues of natural wine. I think/hope I made some modest headway, helped by the fantastic feast laid on by chef Stevie Parle and his team at Dock Kitchen.

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

Alta Langa spumante and pizza

Last week I was in Piemonte exploring the world of vermouth with Roberto Bava of Cocchi. I discovered many startlingly good pairings about which more about in due course but the one I was most intrigued by was their Alta Langa sparkling wine with pizza, not a combination I would have expected at all.

A Birds Eye pea and truffle buttie with a glass of Meursault? It could only be Heston . . .

Six top chefs reveal their best ever food and wine match and what they'll be eating and drinking this Christmas.

Eggs, chips, truffles and Cava gran reserva

You might think egg and chips was too humdrum a dish to be paired with wine but not the way the Spanish make it.

What are the best pairings for pancakes?

If you’re planning a Pancake Day celebration for tomorrow and haven’t yet decided what to drink here are few ideas.

How to throw a hot dog party

Given the runaway success of Big Apple Hot Dogs and Bubbledogs - London’s smash hit champagne and hot dog restaurant, it can only be a matter of time before you can pick up a dog on your local high street. But in the meantime you can throw your own hot dog party in if you follow these tips from my book Sausage and Mash

Win a fantastic case of Californian wine!

Anyone who has been to California will have fallen in love with the beautiful vineyards and incredible wine and food. Maybe it’s going to be a while before you can get back there but in the meantime here’s a chance to win a fabulous case of wine that reflects the varieties California does so well. THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED

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.

Dappa Grape Marc Spirit

I confess it was the name that hooked me on this week’s drink of the week, Dappa being Devon’s answer to grappa.

3 roses from Aldi to drink right now

At the first sign of spring we all think rosé but ironically, when it comes to cheaper bottles at least, now is not the best time to buy it.

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?

Six of the best wines with a nut roast

You might be surprised that a nut roast isn’t that different from a conventional roast when it comes to finding a wine pairing.

4 tips to bear in mind when pairing Easter lamb

The good news if you’re planning an Easter feast around lamb is that practically any medium to full-bodied red wine you enjoy will be delicious with it. But there are a few variables to take into account that might enhance the pairing

The best wine pairings for partridge

I sometimes think partridge is my favourite game bird - less full-on and ‘gamey’ than pheasant, more subtle and delicate than chicken. But what wine should you drink with it?

A match for pan-fried steak in a creamy mustard sauce

Could you make a suggestion for a pan-fried flank steak with a mustard/cream sauce consisting of shallots, white wine, chicken stock, cream, and Dijon mustard?

You’ve got two things to consider here - the steak which suggests a red wine and the sauce which is creamy and also contains mustard which needs a wine with some matching acidity.

Cold rare fillet of beef and Cinsault

Given that it’s been in the mid-30s in the Cape Winelands recently it’s not surprising the local prefer their beef cold rather than hot but that also requires a change of thinking - from full-bodied to lighter reds.

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.

Gizzi's Thai Roast Duck & Watermelon Salad

If you want to make just one dish to celebrate the Thai new year try Gizzi Erskine's fabulous Thai-style duck and watermelon salad from her most recent book Gizzi's Healthy Appetite.

The 5 best wine (and best cocktail) pairings for garlic cheesy bread

I wouldn’t have thought of proferring wine pairings for garlic cheesy bread had I not stumbled across the fact that it was the most re-pinned image on Pinterest.

6 of the best drink pairings for Brie (updated)

One of the world’s most popular cheeses, brie can be mild and slightly chalky or decadently gooey and quite strong in flavour.

Which wine to pour at an Inauguration celebration

From this side of the pond we've been watching the lavish preparations for the inauguration next week with amazement.  We greet our new Prime Minister the morning after the election with nothing more exciting than a strong cup of tea and toast, most political activists feeling more than a little fragile having stayed up half the night to watch the election results come through.

What is the best serving temperature for wine?

The mistake most people make when they’re serving wine is to pour whites too cold and reds too warm. Assuming you haven’t got a handy wine thermometer here’s a quick guide to the ideal temperature for different styles of wine:

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.

Roast supreme of guinea fowl with sherry and grapes

A perfect autumnal dinner party recipe from James Ramsden's lovely book Do Ahead Dinners.

Wine for turkey: the difference between a Thanksgiving turkey and a British Christmas turkey

Looking at the recipes online for Thanksgiving turkeys, stuffings and sides they’re very much sweeter (and more imaginative) than the typical UK Christmas turkey. They’re often brined, glazed or spiced (or all three), sometimes deep-fried and often accompanied by cornbread-based stuffings and sweet-tasting vegetables like sweet potatoes and squash.

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.

My best buys at Waitrose this summer

Although I’m deeply sceptical about ‘half price’ offers, the periodical 25% off promotions if you buy six bottles that the supermarkets put on are a great opportunity to buy your favourite wine at a bargain price. Waitrose is the latest to do it and here’s my pick of the wines I’ve tasted recently.

Christmas fizz under £15 (updated)

If you're looking for a sparkling wine or champagne for a party here's my pick of what's available under £15 in ascending order of price. I've deliberately picked that figure rather than £10 as I haven't found a champagne I really rate under the £10 mark.

A quick guide to wine serving temperatures

The mistake most people make when they’re serving wine is to serve whites too cold and reds too warm. Assuming you haven’t got a handy wine thermometer here’s a quick guide to the ideal temperature for different styles of wine:

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.

What's the best match for a barbecue?

Should it be wine or beer - or even a cocktail? Last year I asked the Twitter community what their favourite barbecue bevvy was and this is what they came up with . . .

The best wine pairings for vitello tonnato

One of the best hot weather dishes, this piquant dish of cold poached or roast veal with a tuna, anchovy and caper mayonnaise invariably pops up on menus at this time of year. But what to pair with it?

10 top Canadian wine pairings

One of the most impressive aspects of my visit to Toronto last week was the fact that almost every restaurant suggested a well chosen wine pairing against the dishes they served. Here are the ones that stood out for me:

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.

What to drink with Heston’s Diamond Jubilee picnic

Heston Blumenthal’s Jubilee picnic hamper was unveiled yesterday - to be served at Buckingham Palace before an open-air concert on June 4th. The picnic is being funded by Waitrose who must be pleased as punch to have the Palace’s endorsement in this video. The guests will also apparently be given vouchers for a glass of Moët or a bottle of Cobra beer (the other sponsors of the event).

Win a case of fabulous Billecart-Salmon Sous Bois champagne

We know you love a champagne competition but this is really something exceptional: a case of one of my own favourites, family-owned champagne house Billecart Salmon’s Sous Bois Brut.

Domaine Joel Delaunay L’Esprit des Dames Touraine Chenonceaux 2014

This was recommended by the manager at my local Oddbins in Bristol and I really love it.

7 good wine buys from Waitrose

I was going to recommend an English sparkling wine this weekend (what else with THE wedding of the year?) but came across some other good deals at the Waitrose tasting this week I thought you might want to pick up as well

What to drink at a wedding . . .

Q I am the best man at a wedding and agreed to provide the wine for the head table. The couple is serving a soy, ginger salmon and chicken dish (i assume you get a choice). Any thoughts?

The charming eccentricity of Rye Bay Scallop Week

One of the more endearing aspects of the current British food scene is the number of festivals devoted to a single food. I’d heard of oyster festivals, crab festivals and cheese festivals but I’d never come across a scallop festival before.

Warm lamb salad with a pea, mint & feta cheese dressing

A fabulously summery recipe from the very appealing Great British Farmhouse Cookbook - perfect for this time of year.

Thanksgiving turkey with a special Italian stuffing

If you haven't yet decided how to cook your Thanksgiving turkey try this fabulous Italian stuffing from ex-pat American food and wine writer Brian St Pierre.

Supreme of guinea fowl with broad beans, fresh morels and herb gnocchi

A smashing recipe from Chris and Jeff Galvin's Galvin: a Cookbook de Luxe which you could make to impress on Father's Day. It's one of those books that teaches you to cook like a Michelin-starred chef - so also a great present for any Dad who fancies himself in the kitchen.

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.

Lamb and porcini kebabs with sage and parmesan

Maybe I've got a bit overexcited with all the sun this week but the barbecue season doesn't seem that far away so it was good to find Dan Vaux-Nobes' 101 BBQ and Grill recipes arriving through my letterbox.

When to pair red wine with fish

Few people now throw up their hands in horror at the idea of matching red wine with fish. But how many realise just how often you can pair the two?

Which beers to drink at Easter

You may find family and friends resistant to the idea of putting beer on the Easter table (though some will be secretly pleased) but stick to your guns.

What to pair with Camembert: 5 great drink matches

Although it seems similar in style to Brie, Camembert is a trickier cheese to pair with a slightly funky edge that can clash with many wines, particularly reds.

The best wine and beer pairings for steak pie

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

The best wine pairings for hachis parmentier

Que boire avec hachis parmentier? Or ‘what wine should I drink with hachis parmentier?’ - the French answer to shepherd’s and cottage pie.

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.

Good wine pairings for Saint-Nectaire

Having spent a few days in the Auvergne recently and eaten more than my fair share of Saint Nectaire cheese with a variety of wines, mostly natural, here’s what I think works best.

Alternative wine matches for lamb

The perfect match for lamb is red wine, right? Well, mostly but not always as Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's recipes in the Guardian this weekend and my own recent experience have demonstrated

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.

Red wine and peaches

The peaches are so fabulous here in Arles, so gorged with sweet, ripe juice that we’re eating them almost daily. One great way to serve them which I was reminded about the other night when we dined at a local restaurant, Le Corazon is with red wine - just as good as the better-known pears in red wine.

Mushroom 'caviar' and Californian sparkling wine

Every so often you come across a great little recipe than does wonders for almost any wine you pair with it. And so it is with mushroom ‘caviar’, a regular offering from the takeaway section of my favourite local restaurant Culinaria. Basically it’s a mushroom pâté but so reduced and wickedly intense it’s like pure essence of mushroom. Except for the perfect counterpoint - a tiny touch of tarragon.

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

Which wine to choose for Thanksgiving

The first thing to bear in mind about Thanksgiving - and for that matter Christmas - is that it’s as much about mood as food. Who you’re inviting, what age they are and how big your party is are factors every bit as important as what you’re eating.

A spring lunch for 4

Although the blossom is out it still feels a bit nippy at night so here's a light lunch to enjoy with a couple of friends that has a touch of spring about it but still includes a warming stew.

Wine of the week: Bohoek Semillon 2017

One of the grape varieties that has impressed me most over the last few days in South Africa has been semillon and here’s a chance to try it at a really good price.

The Garage Project's Chateau Aro

How on earth can I pick a single wine of the week from my two week trip to New Zealand? The answer is I can’t so I’m chickening out and going for a beer

Wine of the week: Tesco finest McLaren Vale GSM 2015

If you’re mystified by the initials GSM they stand for grenache, syrah and mourvèdre, three Rhône grape varieties which are often blended together in Australia to make generous hearty reds.

Nopi: a model modern winelist

How often do you go to restaurants and groan at the length of the winelist? Or end up simply skimming the recommended ‘sommelier’s choice’ or wines by the glass? Well, the wine list at Yotam Ottolenghi's new restaurant Nopi is a model of what the time-poor, harassed diner wants - simple and intriguing sections, each of which tells a story.

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.

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.

How to pick a good wine from a wine list

Former sommelier Zeren Wilson of Bitten & Written reveals the tricks of the trade when it comes to choosing a good value wine and how to handle the somm.

Where to eat in and around Agde

There was a time when the best place to eat in Agde or its seaside satellite Grau d'Agde which lie between Montpellier and Ste on the Languedoc coast was the Michelin-starred La Tamarissire. After that closed two to three years ago it left a bit of a gastronomic black hole but a couple of new places have sprung up which have serious gastronomic ambitions.

The Swan at Lavenham

We Londoners are spoiled for choice when it comes to weekend breaks. A lot of people are drawn west to the Cotswolds or south to Sussex, Hampshire and the New Forest. For me, though, East Anglia takes some beating.

On the road in the Pacific North West: Day 1

For the next 10 days I’m going to be visiting the vineyards of Oregon and Washington State so the site will turn into more of a blog. Our first day yesterday included lunch at Chateau Ste Michelle, by far Washington’s largest wine producer.

Five reasons to buy a wine called Fizzy Bum Bum!

It's not every wine shop that creates their own wine, let alone a natural wine called Fizzy Bum Bum. But Mike Boyne of the popular Bin Two in Padstow is no ordinary wine merchant. Here are his 5 reasons why you should buy it.

5 reasons to buy wine from Dunleavy Vineyards

In our latest 5 reasons post Ingrid Bates of Dunleavy Vineyards in Somerset argues why you should support a really small producer.

The Colony Grill Room at the Beaumont: pure old-fashioned glamour

It has to be said that no-one knows how to do glamour like Chris Corbin and Jeremy King, the founders of the Ivy and the Caprice and, more recently, the Wolseley, the Delaunay and my current favourite, Fischer’s

Rovi - Ottolenghi’s latest restaurant is perfect for flexitarians

I’m writing about Rovi in almost ideal circumstances. After two visits - one very shortly after opening, the other last week, two and a half months later. I could, of course, have reviewed it after the first visit. It was fully open not a discounted ‘soft’ opening yet there isn’t a restaurant that gets into its stride in the first month. American publications insist that their critics go three times before their review is published I believe. In an ideal world you would.

Daffodil Mulligan: a touch of Dublin in the heart of London

At first sight kale toast appears to be the only vegetarian option at Richard Corrigan’s new restaurant Daffodil Mulligan. Then I spot beetroot but still no mains. The veggie member of our party, having scanned the menu in advance is unimpressed. We’re worried - the other three of us, having heard good things about the restaurant which is named after the daughter of a famous Irish street seller, are gagging to go.

Borago: cutting-edge cuisine in Santiago, Chile

Recently voted the eighth best restaurant in Latin America, Boragó is to Santiago as Noma is to Copenhagen. Food and travel writer Qin Xie experiences it for herself.

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.

Duckstrami

Last weekend our cooking group cooked up an American barbecue of which this brilliant recipe from the Hang Fire Cookbook was the standout dish so I really wanted to share it with you.

Brown rice and potato pilaf

Brown food is a bit of a running joke on instagram but the fact is that monotone brown or beige dishes are often the most delicious. That's certainly the case with Sam and Sam Clark's brown rice and potato pilaf from their most recent book Moro Easy.

Why the Chinese prefer to drink red wine with food

To most westerners the idea of drinking young red Bordeaux with Chinese food seems bizarre. Especially with delicate Cantonese dishes, the most widely available of the Chinese cuisines in the west . Clearly though the Chinese who are paying stratospheric prices for first and second growths - and presumably drinking them - think differently. They don’t turn to riesling and other aromatic and off-dry whites for a reason.

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.

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.

How to handle a wine list - 10 questions you’ve always wanted answered

Former sommelier Zeren Wilson of Bitten & Written reveals the tricks of the trade when it comes to choosing a good value wine and how to handle the somm.

Should you chill red wine?

Q. Should you chill red wine? And if so for how long?

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.

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.

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).

The best wine pairings for eggs benedict

The ideal wine pairing for eggs benedict - that unctuous dish of poached eggs and ham topped with buttery hollandaise sauce - is likely to be dictacted as much by when you eat it as the dish itself.

10 good wine pairings with paté

By paté I’m thinking of what wines to drink with rough country patés and terrines like a paté de campagne rather than fish patés or vegetarian patés which I’ll tackle separately. The sort that you might take on a picnic or eat in a wine bar.

Smoked duck and blood orange salad with Chilean Gewürztraminer

Gewürztraminer is a tricky wine to match, one that one usually falls back on recommending with oriental food, so it’s always good to come across something that’s outside the Asian register.

Salt cod with chorizo and Cabernet - yes, Cabernet!

Few these days dispute that red wine goes with fish - it’s just a question of which wine and how the fish is cooked. Most would accept ‘meaty' steak lookalikes like grilled or spiced tuna or salmon work with Pinot Noir but would hesitate to take it much further than that but last week I found a couple of surprisingly good fish matches at one of my favourite new wine bars 28-50.

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.

Red mullet and saffron risotto with Valtellina

You might instinctively think of pairing a fish-based risotto with white wine but there are two factors that make this one, which I had at a lunch to celebrate the 15th anniversary of The Seahorse restaurant in Dartmouth, a good match for a red.

Red cabbage and shiraz

You might not think red cabbage was a sufficiently important part of a meal to dictate a wine pairing but it’s one of those rare sides that really makes a difference to the wine you choose (ratatouille being another).

Rabbit stew and 2011 Henri et Gilles Buisson Saint Romain ‘Sous Roche’

This isn’t the first time I’ve singled out pinot noir as a good pairing for rabbit (see here for one back in 2011) but it’s good to be reminded what an adaptable wine a relatively modest red burgundy can be.

Pumpkin gnocchi and gewurztraminer

I’ve always thought of gewürztraminer as a bit of an inflexible wine - brilliant with spicy food. rich patés and pongy cheese but not much else. However it went brilliantly with several dishes at my local, Bellita in Bristol the other day including a classic Italian dish of pumpkin gnocchi with sage and brown butter.

Lambs sweetbreads with girolles and Louis Roederer Rich Champagne

It’s a bit of a long story. A customer of my friends Stephen and Judy Markwick who own the Bristol restaurant Culinaria wanted to track down some Louis Roederer Rich and I helped him find it. He wanted me to share a bottle with him as a reward which was totally unnecessary but a gesture it seemed churlish to refuse. (Or that's my excuse anyway!)

Lamb curry and Luigi Bosca De Sangre 2011

A cabernet would have been the last wine I would have thought of drinking with a curry but as happens from time to time you come across an unexpected wine match that really works.

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.

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.

Charcuterie and Beaujolais

With the unseasonally warm weather showing no signs of a let-up it’s time to revisit the classic combination of French charcuterie and Beaujolais - perfect for picnics and other outdoor eating.

Boeuf bourguignon and Saint-Romain

It should really come as no surprise that a beef stew made with red burgundy should pair with red burgundy but when you think about it it’s not a given. A rich stew cooked for hours in red wine accompanied with a light red burgundy doesn’t sound like a match made in heaven even if the cooking wine involved is burgundy.

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.

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.

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)

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.

Which wine should precede a Leap Year proposal?

Men, it seems, are real softies at heart and you will woo them either with their favourite wine or an experience so romantically spontaneous it won’t matter if you drink plonk. “I've always considered gluggability to be a much undervalued virtue in wine, for sometimes, when you are with the right person, that is all that you ever really need.” wrote one friend, wine writer Marc Millon, whose full response you can read below.

Which type of Valentine are you?

From the window displays in the shops at the moment shops you’d think we were all clones when it comes to love and romance. That we’re anyone’s for a bunch of roses, a box of chocolates and a bottle of pink champagne. But lovers come in all shapes and sizes - and ages.

Lyndey Milan's Aussie-style barbecue lunch

One of the highlights of my trip to Australia a few years ago to celebrate the World’s 50 Best restaurant awards was lunch at one of their best known cookery writers Lyndey Milan’s in Sydney

Win a case of Libertine - England’s sexiest sparkling wine!

December’s prize is very much a personal pick - a champagne-style sparkling wine that not only looks different but tastes different too and I absolutely love it.

Sponsored: Win a case of top quality Cava

If you haven’t tasted Spain’s best known sparkling wine Cava recently you’re in for a surprise at the quality of the wines, many of which are now produced from organic and biodynamically cultivated vines. THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED.

Simmonet Febvre Irancy 2012

I’ve lost track of the number of times my wine of the week has been a pinot noir but hell, I’ve been in Burgundy this week so what else could I recommend?

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

Why Valentine’s Day can be more romantic in lockdown

I’ve never understood why people want to go out for dinner on Valentine’s Day. Why would you fancy sitting in a restaurant with dozens of other people, paying over the odds for an often indifferent meal and a glass of overpriced champagne? The only argument in favour is that you don’t have to make it yourself.

Why Fairtrade wine could be better

As those of you who read my Guardian column will know I had a big rant about the quality of Fairtrade wine at the beginning of Fairtrade Fortnight. Now on the last day it seems like a good opportunity to explore how it might be improved

How to learn about wine without opening a book (or spending hours on the internet)

One of the things that still surprises me after all these years is how scared otherwise confident people are of wine. The number of people who preface a comment on a bottle with ‘I really don’t know ANYTHING about wine’ as if their view didn’t count is ridiculous. Even people like chefs and food writers who taste for a living.

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)

Must grouse wine matches be classic?

I’m always in two minds about whether to write about the beginning of the grouse season. After all only a tiny number of people will be sufficiently interested - or well-heeled - to bag the first birds that arrive on restaurant tables this evening.

Top wine and beer matches for game

We Brits have always had a reputation for liking our wines old and our game high but times have changed. Today the key factor in matching game tends to be not how ‘gamey’ it is but how it’s cooked and what is served with it.

Porc à la moutarde

This typically Burgundian dish of pork with a wine, cream and mustard-based sauce is quick, easy and versatile. You could equally well use it for chicken.

How to cook grouse

You might be daunted at the idea of cooking grouse but it's a great treat for a small dinner party.

The best wine pairings with cheese fondue, raclette and tartiflette

Even if you’re not currently on the slopes you might want to take your chance to make one of the great ski-food classics, fondue, raclette or tartiflette. 

John Dory poached in red wine with Daniel Rion Nuits-St-Georges

It was hard to pick just one pairing from the stellar meal I had at Marcus Wareing in London last week but this combination of robustly cooked John Dory and 2005 Nuits-St-Georges from Domaine Daniel Rion was the most interesting, underlining that red wine can be just as good a partner for white fish as for meatier fish like tuna.

Grouse and Chambolle-Musigny

Today is the official start of the grouse season. (Yes, it is the 13th but since the Glorious 12th falls on a Sunday this year they (though I haven’t the faintest idea who ‘They’ are) decided to postpone it a day). For those of you unfamiliar with this gastronomic treat grouse is a small, wild bird that inhabits open moorland, and is much prized for its gamey flavour.

Savigny-Les-Beaune and Chicken and Cep Pie

Finding something suitable to drink with a good red burgundy is a bit of a challenge as so many dishes are highly flavoured these days.