The ultimate guide to matching food and wine Leave a comment
Cantine Rallo Isola della Fiamma Grillo 2020
Sicily (12.5%, The Wine Society, £6.50)
Grillo is a Sicilian grape, a natural crossing of cataratto and zibbibo. This one is glossily viscous and tastes of yellow peaches with a faint tropicality (like mango) and floral notes. I love it with pasta con sarde, the pasta dish that is ubiquitous on Sicily. Somehow, it just goes with the wonderful Arabic-European blend of fragrance and fruitiness of the olive oil, pine nuts, raisins, sardines and fennel fronds.
Grillo is also robust enough to work with salads that have a touch of honey or maple syrup in the dressing (Ottolenghi, I’m looking at you) which can trip up some crisp whites. Think figs with rocket, young pecorino and honey or grilled carrots with red onion pickle and coriander yogurt. Spicy roast chicken or pork would work well too.
The Falls Canadian Riesling 2019
Canada (10.5%, Aldi, online only, £9.99)
Medium-dry riesling fell out of fashion in about 1983 but it deserves a comeback because the style is perfect with so much of the food we eat today. Riesling has a vibrant, limey tang which is great with Thai food and when it’s also a little bit sweet, like this one, it can meet the chilli-heat in south-east Asian food too: think spicy Thai basil chicken, spicy Thai noodles with peanut sauce, green mango salad with shrimp or chicken marinated in lemongrass, lime, Thai fish sauce, garlic and chilli and eaten with lettuce and rice.
It is also a clever match with savoury dishes containing or served with fruit. A few examples: roast pork with sweet apple purée; chicken and apricot tagine; mango and chicken chilli noodles.
Château la Canorgue Blanc 2020
Côtes du Luberon, France (13.5%, Yapp, £16.75)
Made in the beautiful hills where Provence meets the Rhône, this is a bewitching white, dry and generously fragrant. Think white peaches, almond oil, dried thyme and white blossom. The grapes are clairette, grenache blanc, marsanne and roussanne, which may leave you wondering what can you eat with it. Well, the perfume and crisp taste goes very well with seafood or chicken with Mediterranean herbs and garlic.
For instance, prawns sizzled with garlic and dusted with a mixture of chopped flat leaf parsley, basil and thyme or chicken casseroled with tarragon, thyme and lots of garlic. It’s very good with turbot. And its perfume brings out a more fragrant, summery side to mushroom dishes.
L’Atzar Cava Reserva NV
Spain (11.5%, Waitrose, £8.99 down from £11.99 until September 21)
Cava’s bubbles go really well with salty things like crisps, olives, and salted nuts. They’re also good with garlic (for instance, Chinese broccoli with garlic). And with fried things, providing a refreshing mouthful whether you’re crunching through croquetas, fried chicken escalopes, calamares fritas, potato wedges, crispy soft shell crab or vegetable tempura.
In the same way it can work with other salty, fatty foods such as cured hams, fried chorizo or salty, hard cheeses like aged pecorino. Cava also works well with asparagus risotto and with Spanish rice with artichokes and tomatoes.
Of course it’s also a great wine to drink with tapas; there’s an affinity with almost every dish from pan y tomate to fried prawns with garlic.
Quinta do Noval 10 Year Old Tawny NV
Portugal (20%, Waitrose, £19.99 down from £24.99 until September 21)
So many people ignore port unless it’s Christmas; a mistake, in my view. Tawny port is a great drink at any time of year. Aged for a long time in wood, until its colour fades to a gleaming garnet and it begins to taste of orange peel, caramel and roasted hazelnuts, tawny port is at its best served straight from the fridge, after dinner.
A glass of chilled tawny tastes good with hard, nutty cheeses like Manchego; its mellow flavour is beautiful with milky, creamy desserts like crème caramel, crème brûlée, rice pudding or pastel de nata (Portuguese custard tarts); and you could also serve it alongside milk chocolate mousse, pecan tart or vanilla ice cream studded with praline and nuts.
