www.bayradio.fm – Page 6 – Colin Harkness on Wine

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!

Bay Radio’s Sunday Brunch Programme – Wine Recommendation!

Minty Lamb.

Something of a Spanglish dish this one – lamb, garlic and herbs very Spanish; mint jelly, oh so British! In Spain, think lamb – think Rioja, and you can’t go too far wrong. However the mint jelly can be a problem as it tends to strip wine of its fruitiness.

Therefore rather than a super Rioja Gran Reserva which, without the mint,

Oh Dear, Presenter Noelle's glass is empty!

would be wonderful I’d go for a quality ‘roble’ Rioja – i.e. a young very fruity Rioja with only a little time in wood; or Bodegas Luis Alegre’s oh so fruity new Parcela No. 5 wine would be excellent.

Finally, those who like me, often prefer Ribera del Duero wines to La Rioja, may like to try one of their better juicy, fruit-laden offerings which will have sufficient fruit content to be able to lose a little because of the mint and yet still have plenty to spare for this succulent herb infused lamb.

Salud!

Bay Radio’s Sunday Brunch Wine Recommendation!

Strange Bacon Boccy!

Strange is right, but I’d like to try it! And with this eclectic concoction I’d go for a rosado, the more so if the salsa used is the Greek Yoghurt and Apple one that Noelle enjoyed.

Rosado wines so often have that lovely fruit appeal. The wine needs to be dry but with bags of fruit to go along with the melon and pineapple. However it must also have some body to match the bacon.

A wine made from black grapes, but where the juice has been left for a short time with the skins will have some of the attributes of red wine to match the bacon but also the fruit necessary for this ‘unusual’ dish!

Enjoy!