Pairings | Portuguese white

Portuguese wine paired with the experimental cuisine at Viajante

Portuguese wine paired with the experimental cuisine at Viajante

Our roving gastronome Lucy Bridgers puts Portuguese wine through its paces with a succession of small plates from the inventive Nuno Mendes.

Pumpkin ravioli and a Douro white

Pumpkin ravioli and a Douro white

You wouldn’t necessarily expect an Italian dish like pumpkin ravioli to pair with a Portuguese white but the match was just perfect.

Salt cod, oxtail and Ferñao Pires

Salt cod, oxtail and Ferñao Pires

It’s not often you have a wine flight with a tasting menu in which every pairing is so perfectly constructed that it’s almost impossible to say which was the best. Every match at Restaurant Nathan Outlaw deserved to be a match of the week but if pushed I’m going to go for this one because it was so unexpected.

Chargrilled endive, hazelnut crumble and Bayonne ham with white Bairrada

Chargrilled endive, hazelnut crumble and Bayonne ham with white Bairrada

I’m having a bit of thing about Portuguese wine at the moment - it’s so great with food and such brilliantly good value. Especially on restaurant wine lists where it’s invariably underpriced in comparison to better known wine producing countries and regions

Wine of the week: Casal de Ventozela Alvarinho 2015

Wine of the week: Casal de Ventozela Alvarinho 2015

If you’re a fan of Spain’s fashionable white wine albarino you’ll almost certainly like its Portuguese cousin alvarinho which is made just over the border.

Two bargain buys from The Wine Society

Two bargain buys from The Wine Society

The Wine Society held its summer tasting yesterday where the buyers pick out six bottles they’re particularly enthusiastic about. Normally it’s a social event - a chance to get together and chat over lunch - but inevitably this year it was on Zoom.

Grilled sardines and - eeek! - Sir Cliff's Onda Nova Verdelho

Grilled sardines and - eeek! - Sir Cliff's Onda Nova Verdelho

As the best summer for a barbeque for some years it’s been a frustrating time for us flat-dwellers but when I was sent some fresh sardines* the other day I knew I was going to have to find some way to grill them outside if the flat wasn’t going to smell of fish for days.

Anchovies and alvarinho

Anchovies and alvarinho

If you don’t like fish don’t go to Olhao! Restaurants in this bustling fishing port on the Algarve serve almost nothing else which is fine with me but less good for people, like my friend J, who has a real phobia about fishbones.

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