Once More with Feeling!
We had dinner with good friends last weekend. The food and wine were really enjoyable but would’ve been more so with more careful matching. A lovely rich 2007 Chardonnay overpowered the Sydney rock oyster served with just lemon; a terrific Margaret River Shiraz fought with the main course which had pork at its centre; a five year old but crisp Roussanne refused to talk to the rich dessert.
A simple switch would’ve fixed 2 out of 3 mismatches: The Chardonnay would’ve been great with the pork, and the Roussane fine with the oysters.
Yes, I know this is a boring subject so we’ll keep this really simple.
- Dry champagne works well with plain oysters
- Riesling is made for (roast) chicken – MORE
- Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon/ SB (dry, flinty, tangy style)are made for seafood
- Chardonnay – rich & ripe goes with pork, more elegant style goes with veal
- Pinot Gris (the rich, ripe kind) and Gewurztraminer are made for pork
- Viognier in the richer styleis flexible– from richer seafood to pork dishes
- Semillon – goes with seafood when very young; old Semillon goes with crumbly cheeses
- Pinot Noir is made for Duck
- Sangiovese and Nebbiolo (Aussie made) work well with pizza or pasta dishes
- Cabernet Merlot and Cabernet Franc blends (fine, elegant style) are good with lamb
- Cabernet and Shiraz and blends of the two are great with beef / steak
- Grenache Shiraz Mourvedre works well with rich lamb or beef casseroles
- Dessert wines go well with desserts – balance the richness of both
- Ports, Muscats and Tokays go well with nuts and raisins
That’s the basic list. If you want more detail, Wine Folly has a marvellous map you can download from the Wine Folly.
Kim