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This weeks feature
Not sure what wine to serve with the New Year fare? Graham Sherwood offers a few suggestions.
There is a basic rule when trying to match wines with the meals - know your grapes! It will help you find the best combination of food and wine and enhance your enjoyment of the New Year fare. |
Do you know your grapes? |
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Turkey
Although a vital ingredient this time of year, turkey is a bland meat, which is why it is usually accompanied by ‘all the trimmings’ of stuffing, bacon rolls, chipolatas and cranberry sauce. It is these trimmings that make turkey quite a challenge to complement. Pinot Noir, the red Burgundy grape, is rustic and full-bodied enough to balance the richness of sauces and stuffings, while Merlot makes a rich, soft, ripe and fruity ‘gluggable’ mouthful.
* Village Maria Cellar Selection Pinot Noir 2004, New Zealand
* Ken Forrester merlot 2003, Stellenbosch South Africa |
Game
Venison, pheasant, pigeon and other types of game require a powerful but subtle wine to accompany their intensely rich flavours. Cabernet Sauvignon - at around the 13 per cent alcohol level - is ideal, its strong, blackcurrant, juicy fruit flavour a perfect, ripe match. Another fine partner for game is the raspberry fruited Tempranillo grape, so you could also consider a Rioja.
* Dourthe Barrel Select Medoc 2003, France
* Fetzer Valley Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon 2001, California
* Vina Herminia Excelsus 2002 Rioja, Spain |
Cold meats
New Year Day staples are notoriously difficult to partner, mainly because of all the pickles and relishes that accompany them. Light, refreshing wines from the Gamay grape (Beaujolais) or fruit reds from the Loire Valley’s Cabernet Franc grape (Chinon and Bourgeuil) will all happily take a comfortable back seat to the mixture of different flavours on the plate.
* Beaujolais Cru Morgon 2004, Labourie Roi, France
* Saumur Rouge ‘Les Nivieres’ France |
A hefty blockbuster... | Beef
This popular alternative to turkey requires a hefty blockbuster wine to match it. Shiraz, or Syrah, complements it well, and the following spicy, peppery, blackberry-fruited bruisers would be good choices.
* Grant Burge Miamba Shiraz 2003, Barossa Valley, South Australia
* Domaine de la Grande Bellane, Valreas, Cotes du Rhone Villages, France, 2004 |
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Vegetarian food
With favourites such as nut loaf or mushrooms crammed full of spicy stuffing, hefty white wines really start to come into their own. Gewurztraminer from Alsace (also ideal with oriental food) and Semillon/Chardonnay blends from Australia are big, rich and weighty enough for most highly-seasoned foods.
* Ironstone Semillon Chardonnay 2003, Margaret River, Western Australia
* Grant Burge ‘Zerk’ Semillon, South Australia |
Rich and weighty... |
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Fish Sales of fresh fish take a nosedive at this time of year.
However, this is more than made up for by our love of smoked salmon, lobster and crab, usually as starters, which need the racy, clean, citric flavours of Muscadet, Italy’s increasingly popular Pinot Grigio, or the classic Chardonnay-based favourite, Chablis.
* Domaine Jean Douillard Muscadet de Sevre et Maine Sur Lie, France, 2004
* Alois Lageder ‘Riff’ Pinot Grigio delle Venezie, Italy, 2004 |
Where a creay sauce is used, in prawn cocktail for example, a heavier, complex flavour is required, so try an oak-aged Chardonnay or Viognier blend.
* Yalumba Y Series Viognier 2004, South Australia
* Santa Rita Chardonnay 2003, Casablanca Valley, Chile |
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