Looking for wine to match meal, is it even important?

wannabecraig

I'm having some people over to mine for dinner on Sat. I usually do this once a month or so, but I've never really bothered trying to match wine with the meal. I usually just got what I liked or knew they liked or drank whatever they brought.

I'd like to try match the wine to the meal this time and I don't know how.
Are there any pointers? I can give menu is necessary.

Lucena

wannabecraig wrote: »

I'm having some people over to mine for dinner on Sat. I usually do this once a month or so, but I've never really bothered trying to match wine with the meal. I usually just got what I liked or knew they liked or drank whatever they brought.

I'd like to try match the wine to the meal this time and I don't know how.
Are there any pointers? I can give menu is necessary.

Not being funny, but yeah, if you want us to match wine to food, you should tell us what the food is.;)

wannabecraig

Starter is pigeon with poached quail egg and pickled carrot and cucumber.
It's a fairly sharp dish, loads of heavy flavours.

Main is slow cooked and pressed Pork belly , butternut squash mash, brazed and sweetened red cabbage, pickled cauliflower and eggplant
served with pork and garlic ju. I think that's quite hearty but not very sharp flavour wise despite what it sound like.

Prob wont do derert as I don't eat it and we'll prob just have a selection of cheese of something easy I guess.

Porb looking for one btl to drink with start and two with main.

Can I come for dinner? I'm starving reading that

wannabecraig

A/S/L?

Seriously, any hints at all to get started. I think maybe something stronger with starter and lighter with main>?

squonk

I want to come for dinner too. That's several classes up from my usual fare when I call round to friend's houses, or they call to mine!

Not great with wine but on reading, for the starter I'd love to try that with a nice fruity Montepulciano d'Abruzzo perhaps. It might counteract the acidity and I wouldn't be gong with something very tanin heavy.

I'd probably go Merlot for the main, but that's based on my liking Merlot.

wannabecraig

So like with the starter and heavier with the main?
Can you get Montepulciano d'Abruzzo anywhere or is it difficult to get?

tks btw

My mate shipped me a btl of this, this is lightish too right?
http://www.drinkstore.ie/DELTA-VINEYARDS-PINOT-NOIR-5060053960503/

Slaphead07

I'd humbly suggest an Alsace Riesling with the starter and a medium bodied Bordeaux with the main. Have that NZ pinot noir chilled with the cheese.

wannabecraig

Tks Sh,

Which is usually out with this crew... Maybe I can offer them no choice, as I quite like Riesling.

squonk

You can get the Montep in any good wine shop. Prob late now though.

wannabecraig

Guy in wine shop (Drinkstore on Manor Street) said Pinot Noir was a good to have with the starter because it was a 'gamey' wine.
Anybody concur?

Also, decent wine shop in or about town? Looking to pick up to Booze tomorrow.

BeerNut

wannabecraig wrote: »

Also, decent wine shop in or about town?

Wines on the Green, Dawson Street or Corkscrew, Chatham Street.

Slaphead07

wannabecraig wrote: »

Guy in wine shop (Drinkstore on Manor Street) said Pinot Noir was a good to have with the starter because it was a 'gamey' wine.
Anybody concur?

Yes but... "pickled carrot and cucumber. It's a fairly sharp dish" changes that. An Alsace Riesling will go with the pigeon and the pickled veg.

Heroditas

Slaphead07 wrote: »

Yes but... "pickled carrot and cucumber. It's a fairly sharp dish" changes that. An Alsace Riesling will go with the pigeon and the pickled veg.

Yeah I definitely agree with you.
I wouldn't put Pinot Noir with that starter, an Alsace Riesling or maybe even a Chablis would do the trick.

wannabecraig

tks guys, maybe there is merit to trying both? The pickled veg is actually home pickled, not intensely sour and only a tiny part of the dish. But I'm defo gonna try white with the opener.

Slaphead07

let us know how you get on

wannabecraig

My guests brought the wine so I had no part in the choosing but for a suggestion on the colour for each course.

We had white with the starter (let me know if you wanna see pics for the laugh). It was Podere Macinatico, but not sure what type of grape.
The wine itself was ok but prob a little sweet, I think it would have been better if it was sharper.

With the main we had two lovely reds. ÁN/2 from Mallorca. Apparently in the vineyard they plant Orange & Lemon trees among the vines to give the grapes an extra citricy flavour, I really liked this one. We also had a Nocedal Rioja Reserva 2001, this was awesome too.

I had some Châteauneuf-du-Pape here, so we had that next, again was quite nice. There was more after that but I dont really remember that much.

Slaphead07

wannabecraig wrote: »

It was Podere Macinatico, but not sure what type of grape.
The wine itself was ok but prob a little sweet, I think it would have been better if it was sharper.

The grape would be Vernaccia, it's a wine from San Gimignano in Tuscany and should be quite dry. Aldi do a poor example of it but the best versions are very good.

That Reserva looks like a nice drop too!

wannabecraig

YEah, its says Vernaccia de San Gimignano on the btl, was ok, but I'm not mad about white, will get into it more.

Excuse my ignorance but is sweet the opposite of dry?

Slaphead07

wannabecraig wrote: »

Excuse my ignorance but is sweet the opposite of dry?

more or less. People often say 'fruity' when they mean sweet but a wine can be fruity and dry. eg Chenin Blanc or a Rhone white.

wannabecraig

OK, well funny you should say but that's exactly what I meant. I dont eat sugar and cant handle sweet things (hence no desert last night) and this wine wasn't setting alarm bells for me on that, but it was fruity. So yeah, that was it, tks.

CelticRambler

wannabecraig wrote: »

My guests brought the wine so I had no part in the choosing but for a suggestion on the colour for each course...

Too late now, but for future reference and considering the careful thought you put into this, no wine brought by a guest is ever suitable for the meal they're going to eat. To get the best out of a wine, it should be well matched to the food (which you tried to do!) and "prepared" several hours beforehand. Even if it doesn't need to be left to breathe, it should at least be rested and brought to the right temperature. A bottle brought by a guest will probably have had a rough couple of hours before getting to your table.

So impress your next guests by taking their bottle, treating it with reverence and saying something like "This is great, I'll do something really special to go with it the next time you come." and put it away in the cellar. Mind you, if your guests are not in the habit of taking their wine seriously, they might still get the hump.

Slaphead07

CelticRambler wrote: »

Too late now, but for future reference and considering the careful thought you put into this, no wine brought by a guest is ever suitable for the meal they're going to eat.

Well said. Absolutely agree 100%. A 'gift' wine should be received with good grace and then put away. If you're doing the food and wine for an evening don't be distracted from that.

wannabecraig

CelticRambler wrote: »

So impress your next guests by taking their bottle, treating it with reverence and saying something like "This is great, I'll do something really special to go with it the next time you come." and put it away in the cellar. Mind you, if your guests are not in the habit of taking their wine seriously, they might still get the hump.

I would be killed if that happened, really. I think I'd prefer to buy a few bottles and drink the ones I've chosen with the starter/meal and then hit theirs after.

Also, as we switched wines I washed the glasses and got the piss taken out of me. I thought it was fairly ok to do this and not pretentious at all.