Matching Food With Wine - the right way around.
As the weather warms up, winter longing for outdoor dining with family and friends start to become reality. Then comes the ' age old' question, which wine shall I serve with this dish? Katnook friend and noted wine writer, Tony Love, challenges us that perhaps we should think of it the other way around - which dish will I serve with this wine?
As Tony explains, " When it’s dinner party time the plan goes like this: we’re having a leg of lamb, what shall we drink? Usually that means searching the wine rack or a trip to the bottleshop for a classic cabernet or smart shiraz.
Now let’s look at this from a wine lover’s perspective. How about: “I have a great bottle of Coonawarra cabernet-shiraz that we should drink tonight — what should we serve with it?”
That’s my kind of pre-dinner conversation.
The colder months scream for big, bold wines but medium-bodied reds, which tend to have a lower alcohol level and brighter fruitier flavours and aromas, suit the more exotic cuisines that make up a modern Australian table.
When cabernet sauvignon and its various blends is the wine of the night, turn to the red meat section and go no further.
The traditional partner to lamb, cabernet often shows a regional mint character which suits that old school mint sauce addition for a roast leg — and the wine will also rock stronger saltbush and mutton stews.
And, of course, cabernet and beef go hand-in-hand, again in its simpler most familiar roast fillet or rib all the way to slow braises of shoulder and brisket.
If you’ve found a cabernet that has a slight vegetal aromatic, add snow peas or beans to your three vegetables on the side. Or try to include a bunch of baby beetroots which offer a tasty reflection of the purple fruit and earthier impressions of the wine.
In this, part one of our Wine First-Food Next series, we’re going to select our sippings before our supper as a way of turning food and wine matching on its head.
Read Tony's full article here and happy matching!