Good

MATCHES MADE heaven IN

WORDS JOELLE THOMSON

If you’ve ever asked a wine expert what to drink with pizza, spicy food or cheese on toast, this is the column for you. Out with the old and in with the new.

We have all heard the old adage that white wine goes with fish and red wine matches meat – but as we are now living in an age where many people don’t consume either, a major rethink needs to take place and, thankfully, this is a DIY situation. You can try this at home.

Flavours are as important as textures and as I adore smoked paprika and the complexity that it brings to everything from a paella to roast chicken, it usually calls for something a little richer than a big creamy chardonnay – which was the old classic ‘match’ for roast chook. Enter tempranillo and a decent Côtes du Rhône. These reds are the tip of a far larger iceberg of smooth, warm-climate reds that can stand up to a little heat and a lot of flavour, such as paprika and smoky aromas brought to the plate.

Thai food is another example of complex flavours that span a wide range from chilli heat with fresh herbs such as larb chicken all the way through to crisp green salads and creamy curries with duck. There is far more to this wine-pairing idea that simply suggesting gewürztraminer. I can’t think of anything worse than a full-bodied, overtly perfumed wine with precious little acidity to cut through the rich creamy flavours of a green Thai curry. Gewürz’ has such a big personality that it tends to take over everything else that’s happening. The same could be said for any Asian flavours with gewürztraminer. The whole notion of matching an enormous range of flavours with one wine is absurd. Asia is a big place with a lot of cultures and a vast range of di erent styles of food, so if one wine was going to fit the bill, it would be dry riesling. Its light body, pretty aromatics and fresh acidity do cut through heat, oil and rich flavours. But food-and-wine-matching is far from a one-size-fits-all idea.

The concept of sticking with the tried and true doesn’t hold anymore in a world of tandoori chicken pizza and vegan ‘meat’. The best matches are one-part flavour and mostly about your own tastes. Personal preference does play a role here because if beef isn’t your thing, then cabernet sauvignon with roast beef and Yorkshire pud is hardly going to cut the mustard. But if prawns and paella rock your world, it’s highly likely that a big hearty rioja or syrah will tick the box.

The most delicious wine and food match ever for me was posh fish ’n chips (very fresh gurnard, amazing light tempura batter) with a salty, briny, deliciously dry manzanilla sherry. Incredible.

Then again, you can always stick with what you know and like and forget about partnering food and wine but where would be the fun in that?

Wine Notes

en-nz

2023-05-04T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-05-04T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://good.pressreader.com/article/282608857136621

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