My 25 top food and wine pairings

How on earth to whittle the great food and wine combinations I’ve experienced down to a mere 25? And not to base them all on a few favourite wines and foods?

Some criteria had to be set. Nothing too blindingly obvious, or if, well established, some new insight or refinement to add to the subject. Nothing so obscure that you couldn’t possibly replicate it like the remarkable 1820 Bual I once drank with a sabayon of pruneaux d’Agen.

There are obviously omissions, some deliberate. No chocolate (wine matches can be workable but are rarely great). Not much cheese (again, seldom sublime). No offal (a minority taste, great though it can be with wine)

Few of the very simple pairings that can be pleasurable given the right moment and the right company - a simple crisp white with a grilled fish that’s jumped straight from the sea . . .These are the matches that survived, listed in alphabetical order:

Apple tart and sweet Chenin Blanc
A classic-style French apple tart is of course one of the most wine-friendly of desserts but I think it has a particularly affinity with the best Loire dessert wines such as Bonnezeaux and Quarts de Chaume. Don’t be tempted to overelaborate the dish - add cream, if anything.
Other good options with apple tart: Sauternes or similar sweet Bordeaux, Vendange Tardive Gewurztraminer

Caviar and champagne
I did dither over this match both because it’s so well known and because there is a sizeable number who prefer vodka but it’s one of the pairings where texture is key. Only champagne - and top quality vintage champagne at that - can still leave you with the taste of each individual egg intact - vodka is too ‘hot’, even when served ice cold. And if you’re paying that much for the real thing you want to appreciate every mouthful.
Other options with caviar: I originally said none but see my latest reflections here

Chinese food and Bordeaux rosé
There might be better individual matches within the Chinese canon (dimsum and champagne, duck and Pinot Noir) but if you want one wine to take you through the meal Bordeaux ros with its bright, sweet berry fruit handles the combination of sweet and sour particularly well.
Other good options with Chinese: other Merlot or Cabernet-based ross, off-dry German Riesling

Chicken with morilles and Vin Jaune
A classic dish from the Arbois region of France - the chicken (generally a poulet de Bresse) is cooked in a creamy sauce made with morilles mushrooms and the local Vin Jaune, an acquired taste but which gives the dish a lift you wouldn’t get with less intense wine.
Other good options with creamy mushroom sauces: a Viognier, an Alsace Pinot Gris, a top white burgundy or other good quality chardonnay,

Crab and Australian riesling
Ever since I ate Neil Perry’s blue swimmer crab omelette.at Rockpool in Sydney some 10 years ago I’ve been obsessed with the combination of spicy crab and Australian riesling. Crab lends itself particularly well to flavours such as lime, chillies and coriander while Australian - especially Clare Valley riesling - adds a vibrant zest to the dish without overwhelming the delicate texture of the crabmeat.
Other good options with crab: dry German riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, champagne

Duck and Mourvèdre
Mourvdre is a sleeping partner in many southern French reds such as Faugres but always leaves its exotically scented footprint. When it dominates, as it does in Bandol it can be an excitingly sensual partner for duck, especially cooked Provencal style with olives.
Other good options with duck: Pinot Noir, Merlot, Barbera

Foie gras and Jurançon
There are those who disagree but I find starting a meal with Sauternes too overwhelming Jurancon, while sweet, has a rich, sundried apricot and quince character that enables you to segue comfortably into a red. It also handles seared foie gras which can be challenging for Bordeaux-style dessert wines. And of course it comes from the south-west, the heart of foie gras country.
Other good options with foie gras: Tokaji, Vin Santo.

Game pie and 1st growth Bordeaux
One of the best food pairings I ever experienced was at the Connaught in London - a hot, rich ‘pithivier’ of game with a glass of 1979 Chateau Lafite Rothschild. No vegetables, not even potatoes. Perfection.
Other good options with game pie: other less elevated clarets, Cote Rotie and other Northern Rhone reds.

Goats cheese and Sauvignon Blanc
One of the all-time great food and wine matches. It doesn’t seem to matter how old the goats cheese is - a few days or several weeks - or what type of Sauvignon Blanc (though I prefer more austere, minerally styles), it works. The ultimate match is probably a Sancerre with a Crottin de Chavignol which comes from the same region.
Other good options with goats cheese: Loire reds and dry ross

Lamb cutlets with Rioja gran reserva
Lamb of course goes with most reds but when it’s cooked as it is in Rioja and elsewhere in Northern Spain, as herb-strewn cutlets of baby lamb grilled for a few minutes over vine cuttings you don’t want a blockbluster wine to trample all over them. A mature gran reserva has both the power and the finesse to handle the delicate sweet, smoky flavours
Other good options: similar-styled wines from Navarra

Lobster with ginger and Gewürztraminer
A combination I would never have thought of from a wildly flamboyant restaurant called Everest on the 40th floor of the stock exchange building in Chicago where it’s one of the Alsace-born chef, Jean Joho’s signature dishes. Ginger and gewurz is a great combination
Other good options with lobster: Viognier, Meursault and other fine white burgundy, top quality Chardonnay.

Oysters and Chablis
Whether it’s the fossilised remains of oysters that can be found in the soil of the Chablis region or simply the severe steely dryness of the wine there are few purer, more reliable combinations than oysters and Chablis. My own preference is for native oysters, totally unadorned with lemon, shallot vinegar or any other condiment and young premier cru Chablis
Other good options with oysters: Muscadet de Sevre et de Maine, Picpoul de Pinet

Pork belly and dry German riesling
Ubiquitous in gastropubs and other modern British restaurants, roast pork belly works best with a wine that has a high level of acidity plus a touch of sweetness - always good with pork. Cue dry German riesling, especially if apple is served alongside. It provides welcome freshness, cuts through the fat and doesn’t detract from the crispness of the crackling.
Other good options with pork belly: Alsace or Austrian riesling, young red burgundy

Salade niçoise and dry rosé
What to eat with the oceans of ros that are now engulfing the shelves? What better than a classic salade nioise - if you can agree on what the classic recipe is. (Mine includes tuna, anchovies, tomatoes, green beans and hard-boiled eggs with some warm new potatoes on the side) With that I want a strong dry ros from the south of France or Spain
Other good options with salad nicoise: a dry earthy Rhone or Languedoc white

Salmon and chilled Pinot Noir
With most salmon these days being farmed and consequently coarser in taste and fattier in texture than wild salmon it a) tastes better seared than poached b) generally pairs better with a red wine than a white. The obvious choice being a chilled Pinot Noir which picks up perfectly on the richness of the fish and the caramelised crust.
Other good options with salmon: Chardonnay

Scallops and oaked Chardonnay
There’s a delicious caramelised sweetness about seared scallops that harmonises perfectly with the creamy, almost nutty taste and texture of a mature oak-aged chardonnay. To fine-tune the experience, the scallops should be fat, fresh and diver-caught and the Chardonnay at least 2 years old. A little crisp pancetta doesn’t go amiss.
Other good matches for scallops: oaked white Bordeaux, vintage champagne

Seabass and Albarino
The combination of the restaurant world’s most fashionable fish with one of the wine world’s most fashionable wines might be terminally trendy but it’s none the worse for that. Seabass is a delicate fish, often served simply with Mediterranean flavours such as olive oil, tomato and basil and Albarino is the perfect, clean seafood white
Other good options with seabass: Chablis. Loire Sauvignon Blanc

Smoked salmon and manzanilla sherry
Not the most usual combination with smoked salmon but the most reliably consistent one whatever the smoke and whether or not you add lemon. It goes without saying that the sherry should be served chilled from a freshly opened bottle . . .
Other good options with smoked salmon: Sauvignon Blanc, dry Riesling and malt whisky

Steak and Californian Cabernet Sauvignon
I agonised over whether to make my ideal pairing an Australian shiraz (I remember a wonderful match with Grange) or an Argentinian Malbec but in the end it was the vision of a perfectly cooked chargrilled steakhouse-style ribeye with, say, a 4-5 year old Stags Leap Cab that won the day.
Other good options with steak: Any medium to full bodied red you enjoy (the rarer the meat the bigger the tannins it can take on (though see also my recent experiment with different steak cuts)

Stilton and Tokaji
Yes, vintage port is the more classic combination but you should try Tokaji, a pairing I discovered a few years ago at London cheesemonger Paxton and Whitfield. How many putts? Five would be ideal. And a five to six year old wine.so that the rich caramelised orange flavours are fully developed. It’s also fantastic with Cashel Blue from Ireland.
Other good options with stilton: Sauternes, vintage port, sweet oloroso sherry

Strawberries and cream with Muscat de Beaumes de Venise
There’s a sentimental aspect to this pairing - the first time I realised that food and wine could interreact with each other in such a way that both tasted better than they did on their own. Muscat de Beaumes de Venise isn’t a great wine or even particularly fashionable these days but it’s a charming and simple accompaniment to one of summer’s great desserts.
Other good options with strawberries and cream: Sauternes, demi-sec champagne

Thai food and Pinot Gris
Rarely do you find a wine that handles a whole cuisine better than Pinot Gris and Thai food. Like most Asian cuisines dishes are placed on the table at the same time so one wine has to do duty for all. The crispy acidity of Alsace pinot gris makes it a reliably good match but the new wave of pinot gris from New Zealand and Tasmania with their opulent fruit and beguiling sweetness are particularly impressive
Other good matches for Thai food: none are quite as flexible but gewurztraminer works with many dishes.

Tuna and Loire reds
Tuna is often served as rare as a steak these days so like seared salmon suits red wine better than white. The grape variety I think works best is Cabernet Franc especially from the Loire which has a delicious mulberry fruitiness but also a dryness and acidity that works well with the often fragrant spicing of the fish. (It isn’t as good with tinned tuna, though)
Other good options with tuna: Pinot Noir, strong, dry ros

Truffles and Barbaresco
The idea of pairing a full-bodied red with an ingredient as evanescent as white truffles might seem foolhardy but if you’ve been to Piedmont you’ll know just how sublime it can be, especially with the ultra indulgent tagliolini (tajarin) which can be enriched with up to a dozen egg yolks per 500g of flour.
Other good options with truffles: vintage champagne

Veal and Chianti Classico
One of my pet hates is the intensely reduced ‘jus’ that so many chefs now insist on serving so a typically Tuscan roast of veal with a light white wine and stock-based sauce and maybe a few wild mushrooms is right up my street. The entirely natural match is a mature Chianti Classico riserva, intense enough to shine in its own right, subtle enough to enable you to appreciate the flavour of the meat
Other good options with roast veal: old red Bordeaux, Rioja gran reserva

Vietnamese spring rolls and Gruner Veltliner
I like Gruner Veltliner with Vietnamese food in general but its clean, green peppery flavour is quite sublime with the country’s crunchy fresh mint and coriander-laced spring rolls which are not fried and served cold rather than hot. You want a young quite simple grner rather than a mature one
Other good matches with Vietnamese food: dry Austrian or German riesling, Australian VerdelhoThis feature was first published in the June 2007 issue of Decanter.

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