A match made in heaven
Food and wine matching is a serious business. And I'm not talking for high-end restaurants only - pubs are also getting in on the act.
I'm sure you've had customers who have asked you to recommend a wine to go with their roast lamb lunch, or one that will complement the apple pie they've just ordered.
OK, so it takes some wine know-how to
confidently justify your match but winging it with a big dollop of enthusiasm can work too - as I found out at The Big French Wines Match.
The competition is in its fifth year and aims to find the best food and wine matching experience in a restaurant and pub. And this year's winners were no less competent. The chair of the judging panel of the pub/wine bar category, pub and restaurant operator Jason Danciger says: "The pub dinosaurs have
finally woken up and a wine revolution has taken place across the country."
I was a judge too and the competition was tough, with three challenging dishes from chef Richard Corrigan, and 30 different French wines from which to find a match. While last year's winner, at the Walpole Arms in Norwich, chatted comfortably about the pub's pairings, the first prize this year went to the Thomas Cubitt manager Ryan Moses and sous chef Dan Lenton, aged 23 and 25 respectively. Their matches were well-argued but their
knowledge of French wines won us over.
But before I get on to their well-deserved win, I must mention fellow finalist, the George Inn, in Sittingbourne, Kent. Owner Marie Annand and assistant head chef Mary Howe admit they don't know much about wine but that didn't stop them entering the competition and making it to the final where they discussed their chosen matches with gusto.
Powerful elements in the dish
The dishes: to start, a carpaccio of Scottish langoustine with salad of apple, fennel and pomegranate juice, followed by roast
monkfish tail, Jabugo ham, dandelion and olive oil mash, finishing with a fig tart, pain d'epice ice cream and a tobacco syrup.
"The complexity of the starter stumped us so we decided to focus on the two most
powerful elements in the dish - the fennel and the apple - so we immediately discarded the more citrussy whites," explains Annand. They chose the Corbières in the end (L'Excellence de L'Ancien Comté, from Mont Tauch) because of its apple fruit, which was delicate enough to work with the shellfish.
Wine complements the flavours
"The sorrel dressing on the main course completely surprised us as it was a lot sweeter than expected," admits Howe. "If the ham hadn't been there we would have gone with the Pouilly Fumé but it just didn't work, so we went with the Pinot Noir, which seemed to complement all the flavours without
overpowering anything." In fact, the Givry from Parize, was the panel's favourite pairing in the trial run a few weeks before.
In the end, the Thomas Cubitt boys pulled it off. It turns out Moses had studied wine-making in Australia and switched sides when he discovered he preferred selling wine
in the vineyard's restaurant. Then he took
a job as a sommelier at a restaurant in Melbourne before coming to London last year to manage the newly opened and refurbished Thomas Cubitt.
It's a freehouse, so Moses has free reign on the 90-bin wine list (he wants to take it to 500 wines), juggling eight different suppliers including Jeroboams, Liberty, and Fields, Morris & Verdin. There's a 30/70 split between new and old world and 14 wines by the glass.
His winning match? With the starter, Moses and Lenton chose a dry Loire Chenin Blanc from Domaine de la Taille aux Loups: "The zinging acidity of the wine cut through the oiliness of the dish," they declare. While
with the main they also chose the Givry as
"it stood up to the sweetness of the dish". Finally, with the fig tart they went for the Maury, from Domaine des Schistes. "It's the perfect partner for figs - and even stood up to the spicy ginger element of the ice cream," adds Lenton. Nice one.
