Match of the week

Is this wine the perfect match for Thai food?

Posted by Fiona Beckett (Google+) on April 25 2016 at 10:30

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.

Up to now I’ve thought that off-dry pinot gris or riesling was the ideal pairing but after a meal at the much talked about Som Saa this week, an impossible to get into pop-up which has now found permanent premises in Commercial Street, I’m not so sure.

The food is authentic and therefore really spicy (and we didn’t have the hottest options!). Two dishes in particular, the som tam isaan (country-style green papaya salad) and pad prik king (red pork curry) really blew our socks off. A braised salted beef curry was challenging too.

I expected the medium-dry Markus Huber riesling on the list to be the best match but it was a improbably named German wine called Boogie from Friedrich Altenkirch in the Rheingau, a slightly drier but deliciously fragrant blend of sauvignon blanc, pinot blanc and riesling that sailed through.

Frustratingly the wine is not that widely available in the UK but Handford Wines told me on Twitter yesterday they occasionally have it. It’s imported into the UK by German specialist O W Loeb. For stockists in other countries see wine-searcher.com

For other ideas on what to drink with Thai food read

Which Drinks Pair Best with Thai food

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