Weekly Wine: Tastebud Terrors And Wine Heroes

We've gone all flavourtastic in our recipes on Domestic Sluttery this week: from Hazel's scrumptious goats cheese, sundried tomato and basil muffins, to the comforting but super-tasty butternut squash and chilli dip that Elizabeth created.

Dishes like that our my favourite kind for eating but my least favourite kind for wine-matching, and they mostly leave me crying in the corner taking swigs from the nearest bottle I can find, praying for a wine hero.

Some food is just plain kryptonite to wine. While we're making a movie-esque comparison (because, frankly, why not?) certain foods (like spinach, tomatoes, egg, orange, and all manner of pungent spices) like to twirl their silly moustaches and laugh at the wine they've just tied to the train tracks. They need a super-wine to fly in and save the day.

I think you can see where I'm going with this, so if you're planning a weekend of flavour explosions then bear these wine heroes in mind:


Tomatoes - ZAP!

Yes, your acidity is over-powering, and the pungency of your sundried friends leave most whites quaking in their boots, but you didn't count on Sannio Greco storming in to show you who's boss did you? Made by some brilliant Italians, who know a thing or two about tomatoes, this wine has a flavour full enough to laugh in the face of your power, and turn you into a sweet and delicate match. It's £7.50 a bottle from The Wine Society.

Spinach - SPLAT!

Spinach might look all innocent and healthy but it has plans. Evil plans. Plans to make all wine taste metallic and yukky. It would have gotten away with it too, if it hadn't been for that pesky Dancing Coyote Petite Syrah. The deep, dark flavours with chocolatey hints make this a powerful match for those gruesome greens. It's £12.49 a bottle from Marks and Spencer.

Eggs - BLAM!

They creep up on you in quiches. The meddle in your mayonnaise. And they make wines fall flat on their faces. Who ya gonna call? GERMAN RIESLING! Like this Dr. L Mosel variety from Majestic. Dr. L (who couldn't sound more like a Bond villain if it tried, but I promise that isn't why I chose it) has the right amount of richness and delicate off-dry aromatics to crack the egg-based dishes in your life.

Asian Spices - KAPOW!

Oh, the irony. My favourite foods in the world are always my wine-nemesis. So many asian spices are delicate, aromatic and gently mouth-filling, but they sure have it in for my beverage of choice - it's just too hard for most wines to keep up with that level of delicacy. This is a wine enemy with many different forms, so without sounding too general I would say send in The Gewurztraminer for anything aromatic (like Cono Sur from Waitrose for £7.11 a bottle), and hit the gently simmering fiery dishes with something a little sweet (like Vouvray Demi-Sec from drinkfinder for £7.99).

Who are your wine heroes? Tell us all about them in the comments or swoop over to Facebook and Twitter.

Image taken from Brett Jordan's photostream under the Creative Commons License.

A Wine Romance: Matchmaking Food To Wine

Matching the perfect wine to your meal is a scary, scary task (even if you have the cool tea towels Sian showed us yesterday). Not because you're not savvy enough, though, but because it's mission impossible: there is no perfect wine. So you can take a deep breath and put your feet up.

Yeah, there are guidelines you can follow, but your own tastes are as important as what the experts say, and just because a wine is a textbook match it does not mean you'll be head over heels with it. What I mean is: just because George Clooney ticks all the boxes, doesn't mean you wouldn't sometimes rather go on a date with Russell Kane. Just me? Oh. Anyway, you get my drift.

Basically: relax. Remember what you like. And if you want to learn the sciencey stuff, just try and remember the word balance:

Body

Big, beefy food needs big, beefy wine. Aussie Shiraz, hearty Rhones etc. Carmenere from Chile is a favourite of mine in these cases, such as the Tesco Finest offering from £5.99.

More delicate dishes will get lost unless you find a similarly sensitive bottle of vino: creamy chicken just needs a simple, creamy Chardonnay, not all the gooseberry fireworks of a Sauvignon.

Acidity

Sometimes you need to match acidity, such as dishes full of things like vinegar, tomatoes or lemon juice. Low acidity wines would feel flat with these foods, and the same goes for red as well as white: for instance, I'd serve food with tart, tomatoey sauce with a young Italian red like Mondelli Montepulciano d'Abruzzo for £9.99 in Sainsburys.

On the other hand, it's lovely to use acidity to 'cut through' certain foods: for instance, in the case of oily smoked fish. You'd happily squeeze a lemon over food like that, and serving a crisp Loire sauvignon (like this Touraine Sauvignon from Selfridges for £8.99) can be tastebud heaven in exactly the same way.

Texture

This is one of my favourite matches. Fatty foods, like duck or pork, love a fatty wine. Grapes like viognier and Alsace Pinot Gris can step up to the plate. The Yali Reserva Viognier is a delicious example of this, for £6.79 from Majestic if you buy two bottles.

Herbs and spices

The more aromatic your dish, the more pungent the wine. Chinese food is my bezza, so I always have a Gewurztraminer nearby, such as Zarcillo Gewurztraminer from The Wine Society at £6.25. Similarly, if your flavours are on the subtle side, try and find an elegant wine to match.

Sweet Opposites

Lastly, if your food is going to either be a salty or spicy feast, think about how opposites attract: like a honey-glaze on salty pork, or sticking fruit in your curry, a sweet wine can be just what you need. Maybe something like this versatile Vouvray Demi-Sec from Yapp Brothers for £10.95.

Do you have a food and wine matching conundrum? What are your failsafes? Tell us about it in the comments, or on our Twitter and Facebook pages.

Photo by Oiram Ziul