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BAY RADIO’S SUNDAY BRUNCH WINE RECOMMENDATION!

Lancashire Hotpot
 
I lived in Southport, Lancashire, when I was a boy (Local Government re-organisation meant it became Merseyside at a later date, much to the chagrin of the locals) so I’m very familiar with this dish!
 
It’s a meaty stew-style dish with loads of full-flavoured juices emanating from the lamb and kidneys and it needs a wine robust enough to stand up to such full-on tastes and aromas but one that can also add to the whole experience.
 
It has to be red wine and as it’s Lamb based I’d go for a Rioja Crianza or perhaps a slightly fuller Ribera del Duero. That should to the trick!
 
Salud!

BAY RADIO’S SUNDAY BRUNCH WINE!

Duck à l’Orange:
 
Although French sounding this is more of an English way of serving Duck. Succulent duck breasts with a rich, quite sweet orange sauce – super. But, not so easy to pair with wine as the savoury nature of the fowl is changed somewhat by the sweetness of the honey and sugar as well as that of the fresh orange juice, which also has a touch of acidity too!
 

Oops, an empty glass - this will never do on Bay Radio's On-Air Wine Tasting!

A white wine will be best with this I think. However red wine lovers may like to try a red wine made by the carbonic maceration method, as is Beaujolais (which would be a good match, were we in France). So look for a Tempranillo or Monastrell grape variety made by this method (it will be written on the label).

 
A better match, I think, will be a white wine with some residual sugar – so an off-dry wine will be lovely. Torres does such a wine, but from the Valencia region you might like to look for a ‘dry’ Moscatel – these wines do have some sweetness but nothing like the full-on sweetness of the dessert wines made from the same grape.
 
An alternative would be to use a dry wine made with Moscatel but with another variety in the blend too – perhaps Chardonnay, or Sauvignon.
 
Salud!

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!