Match of the week

Practically every barbecued meat you can think of and an amazing Aussie grenache

Posted by Fiona Beckett (Google+) on November 24 2016 at 08:53

Normally my matches of the week are quite specific - a dish and a drink - but it’s always great to find a wine that sails through everything on the table as this gorgeous grenache did at London’s latest barbecue restaurant Temper last week.

It was the Jauma Like Raindrops from the McLaren Vale in South Australia, recommended by their sommelier Donald Edwards and it took absolutely every dish in its stride from some intensely smokey beef to an outrageously good side of beef fat potatoes with raclette. Not to mention the sides of ‘MSG’ ketchup, green sauce and pork, habanero and pickled onion ‘sprinkle’, a battery of flavours for any wine to contend with.

The grapes which come from three different vineyards are organically grown and made without any chemical additions including sulphur which gives the wine a particularly pure, vibrant character. It’s a natural wine but a totally unscary one - just soft, ripe, gorgeous and delicious. There’s a good description of the winery from their American importer Vine Street Imports here.

You can see my article on how you can now drink fine wines in barbecue restaurants on the Decanter website.

I ate at Temper as a guest of the restaurant.

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