I remember years back in a smart restaurant listening to a couple insisting to the sommelier that they wanted Sauternes with their roast beef. Ever polite, he brought them the bottle, and they clearly enjoyed their meal.
![The impressive cellar at Champagne De Saint Gall.]()
The impressive cellar at Champagne De Saint Gall. (Image: Champagne De Saint Gall) But while sweet white wine isn’t, to say the least, a conventional choice with red meat, it can be a delight with blue cheese.
And to continue with some accepted advice, if you’re pairing such a wine with your pudding, it should be sweeter than the food, or it’s likely to be overwhelmed.
Similarly, hefty dry wines drown delicate dishes. Red wine can taste metallic with fish; asparagus, eggs and globe artichokes are among foods uneasy with any wine; white wines are often better partners to cheese than reds.
![Champagne De Saint Gall So Dark 2016 (£47, Tesco).]()
Champagne De Saint Gall So Dark 2016 (£47, Tesco). (Image: Courtesy of the Suppliers) Let’s return, though, to the ideas that came with the sample bottle of Champagne De Saint Gall So Dark 2016 (£47, Tesco). It’s predominantly pinot noir, from grand cru vineyards, which as expected creates a champagne which is more than just a celebratory aperitif. Alone, it had plenty of rich red-fruit-led flavour, with a touch of spice and elegant bubbles; with food it shone.
That, explains chef de cave Cédric Jacopin, is because its primary characteristic is power, helped by the sunny vintage and long ageing on lees before disgorgement. Try it, he suggests, with white meats and poultry – or even a summer barbecue, roast lamb, cinnamon fruit buns, perhaps chocolate.
So I gathered a group of wine-interested friends, some other wines to widen the choice and a table-full of food. Sadly, the weather didn’t permit outside grilling but there were plenty of indoor choices.
Yes, the pleasant acidity of the De Saint Gall cut through the lamb’s fattiness well, said one friend, but for most that wasn’t a particularly special combination. Others loved it with parma ham, roast chicken and grilled Mediterranean vegetables. But there was one dish that won hands down – vanilla-roast strawberries, glazed with sugar and olive oil.
![Domaine de Mont Joly Marzy (£19.50, from wickhamwine.co.uk).]()
Domaine de Mont Joly Marzy (£19.50, from wickhamwine.co.uk). (Image: Courtesy of the Suppliers) But what of other wines we tried alongside the varied menu? Overall winner in terms of food-friendliness was a Beaujolais Villages, Domaine de Mont Joly Marzy (£19.50, from wickhamwine.co.uk – another of the many dedicated independent UK merchants who choose with care and price sensibly).
Interestingly, its maker, Jean-Baptiste Bachevillier, spent some of his wine education time at England’s Plumpton wine college, but his Beaujolais is very true to its French roots, the 40-year-old gamay vines digging deep into sandy pink granite soil. It’s aromatic, fresh and with flavours that complement foods from charcuterie and goat’s cheese (no surprise) to brown crab with avocado (less likely!).
![Organic Verdil from the M&S Found range (£9).]()
Organic Verdil from the M&S Found range (£9). (Image: Courtesy of the Suppliers) Hard on Marzy’s heels came an example from an increasingly popular and very food-friendly style, orange wine (white grapes vinified like red, with skin contact, resulting in the orange colour and some tannin on the palate). Organic Verdil from the M&S Found range (£9) is zesty and long lingering, with a touch of spice: great on its own and definitely good with the crab and also with a trickier dish, grilled marinaded artichoke hearts.
![Visio Vintners We The People pinot grigio (£9.50, Tesco).]()
Visio Vintners We The People pinot grigio (£9.50, Tesco). (Image: Courtesy of the Suppliers) Our favourite white was Visio Vintners We The People pinot grigio (£9.50, Tesco), cool-tasting but leaving a warm feeling for its empowering role in South Africa – it’s a Kleine Zalze initiative dedicated to developing skills all through the wine production chain. “Pears” was the immediate comment as it was poured, and so we tried it with the fruit. Perfect! But good too with roast peppers and salads.
![Musar Jeune Rosé (£17, ndjohn.co.uk).]()
Musar Jeune Rosé (£17, ndjohn.co.uk). (Image: Courtesy of the Suppliers) And the joker in the pack? That was a wine from a place where we all ought to be celebrating the growers who persevere under the most difficult of conditions. Musar Jeune Rosé (£17, ndjohn.co.uk) is a younger vines offering from Lebanon’s fabled Château.
Musar, a blend of cinsault and mourvèdre. It’s a wine we found hard to like on its own – ultra dry, savoury and showing a little of its 2022 vintage age – but paired with the likes of smoked salmon or mushroom pâté it developed crispness and depth, a happily palatable change.
