bestbuys Tips
What To Drink With What?
At the warehouse we often get asked what wine we would 
drink with certain foods. Quite simply there are no hard and fast rules – not even white with fish – but here are a few that certainly work well.
Scallops are the classic partner for sauvignon blanc and if you are lucky enough to be invited to a winery launch of their new vintage savvy this is invariably what you will be served. However, New Zealand’s leading grape variety also works really well with hoki and snapper and more intriguingly with blue cheese! It’s also great on its own as an aperitif before dinner. Currently my favourite savvies are Julicher 2010 and Dashwood 2011.
If you are having thai food or something equally spicy then Gewurztraminer works really well. Although not really considered trendy at this time quite a lot of gewurz is grown in New Zealand with some top glass wines being made. Classically gewurz tastes of turkish delight and lychees and tends to have quite an oily texture. Try the Kaimira Gewurztraminer 2008 on the www.bestwine.co.nz site – you won’t be disappointed.
Chardonnay is a grape variety that works particularly well with food and especially creamy dishes. Thus pasta, moules marinieres and cauliflower cheese are on the menu when I open a bottle of oaky chardonnay – the more golden the better. I find that it must be an oaked chardonnay to get the full flavour marriage and thus I avoid anything described as unoaked. My chardonnay of choice is from Stopbanks in Hawke’s Bay.
In the UK, from where I came, lamb and pinot noir are considered as perfect partners. There is something about the fat in the lamb and the ripe, juicy, red berry flavours in the pinot noir that just works. In fact the Poms often like to have redcurrant jelly with their lamb rather than the more normal mint sauce. Try the Wairau Hills Pinot Noir – it’s sensational.
If you must drink an Aussie Shiraz – and actually many of them are delicious, especially those from the Barossa Valley – then pepper is the order of the day. Shiraz or Syrah as we call it in New Zealand classically displays aromas and flavours of white pepper with smokey undertones. Stews and casseroles are best in this situation.
And last of all steak. Most Kiwi’s love a good slab of meat grilled on the barbecue. To my mind you need a strong, bold wine to stand up to beef. Ideal is something that has Cabernet Sauvignon in it. This grape tends to give the wine structure and substance. Often it is blended with either or all of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Malbec to create what is known as a Bordeaux Style wine. This means that you wine should be close to a claret produced by a French Chateau – and often they are.
Well there you have it – a whirlwind tour of what to drink with various foods. Give something a try and tell us what you think.
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