Ever wondered why that wine or those oysters didn’t taste as great as last time? While part of the answer might lie in a difference of quality, more often than not the pairing is to blame, with the wrong match able to really drag your gastronomic experience down. While what constitutes an excellent match is somewhat subjective, there are general guides to help those still discovering the best matches for themselves, bringing the best out in both your food and drinks, and therefore your overall experience.
by Alexx Stewart
It’s best to think ‘light for light’ and ‘heavy for heavy’ in the broadest terms. You aren’t going to want a Cabernet Sauvignon with Oysters, just like you’re not going to want Riesling with your lamb shoulder . You often see it at a restaurant, when a table orders one wine for all to drink, and then everyone has different dishes – one size doesn’t fit all unfortunately, and if there’s a good selection of wines by the glass, you will enjoy everything more, when it’s better matched. Here are a few matches to try that you may not yet have checked out, painstakingly researched by yours truly!
1. A crisp, dry small batch cider with pork belly and sauteed purple cabbage. Texture is one of the things that makes matching such fun, and here the bubbles in the cider cut through the richness of the pork, while the apple and pork are like peas in a pod.
2. A rich cider with mussels in a spicy tomato and garlic broth. Go for a more yeasty, rich traditional French cider and have with hearty mussels and hand cut chips. Heaven.
3. A cool, crisp beer with chilli crab. Sydney Seafood School run a myriad of fabulous cooking classes and the chilli crab class is excellent. The rich, unctuous sauce that flavours the classic chilli crab dish begs for a little freshness, and beer gladly comes to the rescu(e)!
4. A lot of people leave Indian curries to beer, but wines will give you a fabulous match when choosing the right varietal and curry to go together. Best to dine with a large group and order a good viognier, merlot and shiraz bottle and ask for a second wine glass for everyone – try your hand at creating the best matches of the night and share ideas among you – fabulous!
5. Cheese and champagne. No this is not a typo. Once again, texture is friend here, as the richer and creamier cheeses just breeze right through and past your palate, ever freshened by the cleansing bubbles of champagne. Richer champagnes that spend longer on lees such as Bollinger, Charles Heidsieck and vintage blanc des blancs, are the finest drops to match to your Langres, Brillat- Savarin, Chaource and Fromage des Clarines. McIntosh & Bowman’s Cheese and champagne class is definitely one to help you realise the potential on this front!
6. Cognac and chocolate desserts. It’s always a fabulous surprise to guests when you place a bottle of a spirit, and a dessert at the table to match. Rémy Martin VSOP is so fruity and full of light spices, that a chocolate and raspberry tart or chocolate soufflé served with fresh berries and cream will leave all of your guests wondering why the heck they never thought of it. Shhhh. Our secret!
So there you have 6 little gastronomic projects to undertake. Think of the palate like a muscle, the more to exercise it, the better it will get at detecting flavour nuances and great pairings between food and drink.
Enjoy the arduous homework, cheers!
