Sometimes a wine and food match is so harmonious it makes you wonder which part of the combination came first. When I sip a cool and grassy sancerre with a creamy, slightly gamey chavignol goat’s cheese, the flavours and textures interweave in such a complementary way, it’s hard to believe the match was simply stumbled upon. It’s easier to imagine that, after years of experimentation in some rickety shack in the Loire Valley, a gifted farmer came up with this style of sauvignon blanc purely to match it with the local cheese, or vice-versa.
Of course, there’s no single mad organoleptic genius behind any pairing – and no history book to answer the chicken-or-egg problem of which half of the combination came first. That this match works so well does, however, have rather a lot to do with the dish and the wine developing in tandem in the same region. It’s not for nothing that the most useful piece of pairing advice is the adage: what grows together, goes together.
This is less restrictive than it might first seem. It’s not saying you have to have beef bourguignon every time you open a bottle of burgundy, or reach for the muscadet every time you have moules marinières. It’s more a useful starting point to know that the Burgundians have long proved that rich wine-based meaty stews go very well with their pinot noir – and that the restaurateurs of Nantes have worked out that razor sharp, yeasty whites are right for shellfish.
Where the whole local thing does start to feel parochial is when you look for wines to go with dishes from cultures with little or no vinous influence. That’s particularly true of Asian cusines: there’s no time-honoured custom compelling you to have cabernet with curry or kimchi; no centuries-old tradition of pairing syrah with sashimi.
But it’s also true of many of the more interesting cuisines to have developed in Europe in the past couple of decades. The dishes created by Spanish-inspired molecular gastronomers and the foraged austerity of the new Nordic movement are so different from what’s gone before that you’re not going to get much joy looking for wine-matching ideas in Larousse or Elizabeth David.
Which is not to say that classic matches for these cuisines aren’t emerging. It’s not just fashion that prompts the sommeliers of Scandi new-wave restaurants to list trendy natural wines and small producers from the Jura in eastern France. These are wines that forgo obvious fruit for more subtle, savoury and unusual flavours that suit offbeat ingredients. And both Heston Blumenthal and Ferran Adrià have picked out the umami qualities of sherry as versatile partners for their surrealist creations.
On a more everyday level, I’ve found Greek assyrtiko and dry Aussie riesling are dry whites with a tang that chime with Peruvian ceviche; the crystal-clear softness of Savoie’s whites has the requisite delicate subtlety for sushi; many older riojas and chiantis have a soy savouriness that works with Chinese meat and mushroom dishes; and gewürztraminer’s gingery spice and oiliness has a kinship with south-east Asian spicing.
Nothing local about any of those combinations. But right now, in the newly insular Britain, a little gastronomic cosmopolitanism is not only fun and delicious, it almost feels like an act of resistance.
Six wines for matching
Marks & Spencer Saint Mont, France 2014 (£8.50, M&S)
A blend of local varieties gros manseng, petit courbu and arufiac from Gascon, south-west France, this exuberantly tropical-fruited, grapefruit-tangy white makes a superb partner for a mild, coconut milk-based Keralan fish curry.
Taste the Difference Awatere Riesling, New Zealand 2015 (£8, Sainsbury’s)
With just a suggestion of chilli-neutralising sweetness, and a subtle floral dimension to go with the exotic fruit and scintillating lime, this Kiwi riesling has just the right balance of delicacy and vim to go with Vietnamese salads.
Château Ksara Réserve du Couvent, Bekaa Valley, Lebanon 2013 (from £11.20, corkingwines.co.uk; etonvintners.com; theatreofwine.com)
Lebanon is a rare Middle Eastern country with a thriving modern wine industry, and the sweetly spiced fresh bramble jam, herbs and dried dark fruit of this Rhône-like red is a natural partner for aromatic lamb dishes both from Lebanon and Persia.
STAR BUY: Gaia Wild Ferment Assyrtiko, Santorini, Greece 2015 (from £18.95, slurp.co.uk; nywines.co.uk; etonvintners.com; uncorked.co.uk)
One of the retailers of this stunning Greek dry white compares it to chablis – and there’s no doubt that its mineral complexity is of top white burgundy quality, while the characteristic lemon zing of the assyrtiko grape also makes it a good pick for ceviche.
Pheasant’s Tears Rkatsiteli, Kakheti, Georgia 2013 (from £15.95, slurp.co.uk; ottolenghi.co.uk)
It’s no surprise to find this wonderful example of clay amphora-aged Georgian orange wine on the list at Ottolenghi: with its array of spice, nuts and subtle honeyed notes it would work brilliantly with modern Middle Eastern food.
Domaine Stéphane Tissot Arbois Savagnin, Jura France 2011 (£31, bbr.com)
A handful of elderberry leaves and barley may not be enough to recreate the austere beauty of a dish from Noma . But this remarkably complex mix of deep salty-savouriness and thrilling acidity from eastern France would lift even the most cack-handed, garden-foraged attempt.
