Match of the week
Beef carpaccio and chardonnay
Beef and chardonnay doesn’t sound like an obvious combo at first glance but it depends, as always, how the beef is cooked.
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
Artichokes and Trebbiano
Artichokes are a notoriously tricky match with wine but don’t have to be an insuperable one as last week’s artichoke dinner at Bocca di Lupo proved.
Smoked salmon and Deanston Virgin Oak single malt whisky
There were a number of great matches with Deanston’s Virgin Oak whisky up in Scotland last week but unusually I’m going for the most conventional - a starter of (very good) smoked salmon with gravadlax and a tomato and cucumber dressing at Gleneagles hotel - on the grounds that it’s the most useful.
Smoked eel and potato soup with dry Moscatel
I could have picked any number of pairings from the really inspiring wine dinner hosted by Bodegas Bentomiz at Gambas tapas bar in Bristol last week but this marginally inched it.
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
Anchovy crisps and a pink Gibson
After hibernating virtually the whole of January I had a run of eating out last week which threw up a number of good matches but this slot is all about discovering more unusual wine and other drink pairings.
Roast carrots with rocket pesto and a Catalan red
Choosing a wine to go with a number of widely differing dishes is always a challenge so I usually try to find a lightish wine that will rub along with both meat and vegetable dishes.
Coq au vin and Moulin-a-Vent
I’ve always loved those huge jars of cooked meals you can buy in France so was pretty excited when I was sent a jar of coq au vin, or rather Coq au Moulin-à-Vent by Chateau du Moulin-à-Vent the other day.
Stilton quiche and white burgundy
This week’s match of the week is the perfect illustration that you shouldn’t be led astray by your basic ingredient.
Hot ham, kumquat relish and saperavi
Given the intense contagioiusness of Omicron it seemed a good idea to have a low key New Year’s Eve celebration this year which took the form of a really lovely kitchen supper with my friend Jenny Chandler and her family.
Kedgeree and a crisp Portuguese white
Do you eat kedgeree - if at all - for brunch or supper? That's probably going to affect whether you have a glass of wine with it.
Duck and rum
OK, this sounds like THE most unlikely pairing but bear with, as they say …
Radicchio, pickled pear and blue cheese salad and Le Bistro Montmija white
This crisp white wasn’t chosen as an exact match more like a wine I thought would run along with everyone’s starters when we went out to lunch at The Bull in Totnes last week
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.
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.
Roast lamb and 20 year old Columella
What to drink with a treasured old bottle of wine is one of the most frequent questions I get asked and the answer I usually give is ‘keep it simple’
White truffles and Boca
A full-bodied red mightn’t be the first wine you’d think of reaching for with white truffles but it works remarkably well as I discovered at a truffle dinner at Bocca di Lupo last week.
Carrot, lemon and tahini soup with Roussanne
i haven't written about soup and wine for ages - I've always felt a bit ambivalent about it on the grounds that it seems counter-intuitive to pair one liquid with another - but this is the second post in as many weeks (the other one being here)
Salt cod croquettes and zero dosage champagne
Even after all this time we still don’t often think of champagne in the context of a meal but a brilliant Champagne Leclerc Briant dinner I went to last week at Berry Bros & Rudd underlined that we might be missing a trick.
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