Weekend wine with Blake Creedon
Like all counsel, the extremes are pretty useless.
First, you’ll see suggestions that are far too general, my favourite example being “great with pasta”, which you’ll sometimes see on the back label of wine bottles.
Given that pasta is a pretty neutral medium dominated by other ingredients, this is a bit like fashion advisor suggesting a hat “goes well with trousers”. More info please!
On the other hand, there’s the comically specific advice suggesting that a particular dish requires you to seek out just one specific bottle, grape or region.
The notion that you can’t find a good wine to go with your dinner in 2011 in any half decent wine shop is frankly a bit deranged.
I’d suggest you’ll get the best fun from your food and wine combos with just a slightly adventurous attitude, along with two rules of thumb.
The first is the most important: Don’t worry. Although some extreme combinations aren’t ideal (for instance a robust red will overwhelm a light fish dish), almost any wine will have some merit alongside any dish. But you can lift dinner into another dimension by accompanying it with a well-chosen wine.
My second guideline is best expressed by a question: what are you matching your wine to?
While certainly your centrepiece ingredient (be it fish, fowl, meat or veg) will bring its own integral identity, much of the time it’s the flavours, textures and ‘weight’ imparted by cooking methods and sauces that you need to match.
Here and on www.blakecreedon.wordpress.com I’m suggesting wines for seafood, and will look at red meat next week. Please treat the suggested bottles not as prescriptions but as broad inspiration. For instance the gewürztraminer might inspire you to try an off-dry riesling. Or you could risk a more full-blown red like a pinot noir instead of the Tarrengo.
Experiment with them — and have fun!
The French Belgian tradition of enjoying chips with Champagne makes a heap of sense. The fresh chardonnay/macabeo in this Cava from Valencia is like a slice of lemon, while the secondary fermentation gives it the breadth to cope with the robust crisp deep-fried. Finger-lickin’ good.
Local tradition can provide great food and wine matching tips and great fish wines are found all along the Atlantic seaboard and the Med. Everyone should have white vinho verde, a Portuguese staple, in their wine repertoire — fresh light and less than 10% alcohol.
The honeyish and mildly spicy notes of the gewurz grape are an acquired taste — but one well worth acquiring. It can be a beautiful match for light spicy dishes. Disproving the grape’s reputation for being a bit OTT, this is cool, clear and with just a hint of lusciousness.
Meaty fish dishes such as a tomatoey bake or a warming stufato can do very nicely with a light red such as a Beaujolais. One great alternative is this highly unusual item from Brown Brothers: The progeny of Portuguese grapes, it’s the only truly native Australian grape. Its light tannins and leafy herbal notes chiming beautifully with a light tomatoey dish.
My two default fish wines are both from French Atlantic seaboard — pretty, fragrant, soft Muscadet and the generally more pronounced, elegant Bordeaux blanc. Here’s the latter in all its fish-friendly glory, its edgily fresh sauvignon acidity augmented by the warmer tones of the semillon. One of the most widely available wines in Ireland, it’s stocked by many supermarkets, independents and online stores.
An enormous buttery chardonnay running the gamut of fruit flavour from lemon to banana, and laced with oaky spice and toast. If it’s a big creamy dish replete with carbs, this might be just the ticket. And you don’t have to splash out — you could instead try Bushland Grape Selection Semillon Chardonnay, available in Aldi for €6.99.
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