Match of the week

Lamb with coriander and the Garage Wine Company's Cabernet/Carignan

Posted by Fiona Beckett (Google+) on April 26 2010 at 09:55

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.

The wine is made by the small Garage Wine Company which is part of a group of independent vintners called MOVI about whom I shall be writing more in due course. It’s the 2008 vintage, numbered #18 and is a blend of Cabernet from the Upper Maipo area and some old bush vine Carignan from Maule (I was tremendously impressed by the Carignan I tasted in Chile). It was deliciously supple and aromatic with intense flavours of fresh figs and dark cherries.

The dish, for which I simply have to get the recipe, was a Peruvian dish of slow cooked lamb in a dense coriander sauce which we had at Puerto Peru, the restaurant where we did the tasting. Its herbal character set off the wine to perfection though I suspect it would also have gone well with some of the other wines we tasted especially the Cabernet Francs.

At the moment the Garage Wine Company's wines are not exported to the UK but you can contact the owner Derek J Mossman Knapp direct through their blog or via email to derekATgaragewinecoDOTcl

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