Category: Media

BAY RADIO SUNDAY BRUNCH WINE RECOMMENDATION

Ham and Leek Cannelloni:
 
Leeks like a touch of sweetness when bedding down (don’t we all?!) with a wine. Red wines will seem too tannic, so it should be a white wine – provided that we can find one that likes (and vice versa) the thinly sliced ham.
 
Well hey, I’ve not just got one, but two super white wines that will match this dish rather well! First, but only alphabetically as I wouldn’t like to place one above the other, you could go for Bodegas Parcent’s ‘Auro’. It’s a 50/50 blend of Chardonnay and Moscatel and has some residual sweetness in amongst the tropical fruit aromas.
 
Or you could pair this dish with Bodegas Vicente Gandía’s ‘Miracle’ which also has 50% Chardonnay in the blend but this time co-habiting with Sauvignon Blanc. Again there is a touch of sweetness, perhaps a little less so that the above, but I’m sure this, too, will be a winner!
 
Salud!

BAY RADIO SUNDAY BRUNCH WINE RECOMMENDATIONS

Garlic Cream Mushrooms in Filo Pastry Basket

A super sounding dish that wants a white wine to accompany it. Mushrooms strip a red wine of its fruit, ditto garlic. Chardonnay is sometimes made by leaving the fermented wine on its lees (tiny particles of fruit flesh and dead yeast for a period of time). These lees are then regularly stirred, perhaps twice a day, and this adds a certain creaminess to the finished product. Bingo – the cream has a partner too!

I’ve gone for Enriqiue Mendoza’s Chardonnay, a wine that undergoes this process and, although it is fermented and kept on its lees in stainless steel rather than the traditional oak, it nevertheless has that creamy presence, perhaps more crème fraîche in this case.

Rosemary Rack of Lamb:

A dish that loves to be partnered with Tempranillo – often Rioja is the wine of choice but let’s step off the beaten path, heading north but not as far. There are some super VdlT (Vino de la Tierra) Castille Leon wines and Tresantos, from the Cuenca area, is one of them.

100% Tempranillo from old low-yielding vines is aged in oak, 90% French, for a full 18 months, bottled and then reposes in the cellar for a further year. When the cork is pulled vanilla leaps out, then as the wine is poured the red and dark red fruits join the party. There’s even a whiff of montain herbs, so the Rosemar feels at home too!

PS This red is one of the wines I’ll be presenting at a free wine tasting at Restaurante Asador Salamandra (Meeting Point Andrago, by Algas bar), Moraira, on Thursday 21st October, starting at 19:30 hrs. Why not come along and try them all? Please call 629 388 159.

Salud!

Bay Radio’s Sunday Brunch Wine Recommendation!

Presenters Noelle and Bob enjoying the fruits of their labours!

White Fish and Smoked Bacon
 
I made a similar dish myself over the summer, though I certainly wouldn’t dream of bragging about my culinary skills (largely as I don’t possess any!). However the wine match was a success.
 
I love the contrasting flavours of fish and bacon and the fact that each benefits from the other. You perhaps know that the very best aroma in the world is your neighbour’s bacon frying away on the campsite – when you haven’t got any!
 
Fish we would generally partner with white wine, meat, well in general most would be happy with red – so what here? A rosado as a compromise? We could but there’s a better match. For me smoke means oak – i.e. any smoked food, which I love (in this case the bacon) is very happy to accompany an oaked wine. And, since this is a fish dish let’s look for an oaked white wine.
 
I’d look no further than and Chardonnay – it’s a super match!
  
Salud!
 
Colin 

Bay Radio’s Sunday Brunch On-Air Wine Tasting!

Presenters Noelle & Bob enjoy the recommended wines- but which will they choose to take home?
Caribbean Grilled Chicken.
 
Regular listeners and readers of the website will notice that I’m often banging on about the fruit content of the wines I recommend. It’s a crucial part of our enjoyment of wine anyway, but with certain dishes it’s essential.
 
We need bags of fruit in a wine to accompany this dish as a partner for the orange juice and as a foil for the ginger, soy, honey and pepper. However the parts as a whole also need wines with some body too. 
 
For our on-air tastings we usually have two wines and here we have a white and a red wine, both of which should do nicely and therefore keep the red wine and white camps happy!
 
I recently received some wines from a bodega near Málaga, Bodegas Descalzos Viejas, and it’s two of their wines that I’ve chosen for the Caribbean Chicken dish. Their white is a fruity Chardonnay which will blend well with the sweetness of the honey and the orange juice. It’s also had a short time in oak, giving it the body to accompany the chicken and savoury finish to the dish.
 
Their red 2007 is made from the fruity varieties Syrah and Merlot accompanied by the full-bodied Garnacha. It too has enjoyed a short time in oak and should therefore add value to the recipe.
 
Salud! 
PS They chose the red!