I was hoping to launch a series of food and wine blog entries with one on wines for Christmas Dinner. I seem to have missed the boat on that, so instead we begin with a few key non-technical principles that I find useful when trying to pick the right wine for food.
- Treat the wine as a sauce or condiment
This can be very useful. Take a very citrussy wine like a dry Riesling or Picpoul de Pinet from the Languedoc region. These have a good chance of matching foods that would take a squeeze of lemon – such as seafood. A sweeter (to cope with the heat) Riesling makes a great match for tandoori dishes, as several visits to Tayab’s in Whitechapel have confirmed. Similarly a peach laden Viognier can be really good with pate, pork dishes and chicken.
- Go local
In other words buy a wine from the revelant region. So if you’re cooking a gutsy Tuscan classic, buy a Chianti; it will probably work.
- Sauvignon Blanc is a good allrounder
If you’re going to dinner and have no idea what’s being cooked, consider taking a Kiwi sauvignon Blanc. A bit heavy for some fish dishes but gebnerally fine. Great with dishes with a touch of chili eg Thai crab cakes, due to its fruitiness and the fact it has the same chemical compounds as capsicums – this also makes it great with goat’s cheese. Fine also with green leaf salad (due to its herbaceousness)
…and finally a bit of a cop-out….
- Google it
If you can’t get to bottle apostle to endure a 20 minute lecture, try googling “moussaka wine pairing” or “osso bucco wine match” and so on. You’ll probably find more than enough suggestions.
