Great combinations are the stuff of legend, the one element enhancing the other. Think of literature\u2019s great lovers Anthony & Cleopatra or Romeo & Juliet. Then there\u2019s Broadway darlings Rodgers and Hammerstein and that famed dance duo of Hollywood\u2019s heyday Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. And landmark real world power couples like Barack and Michelle Obama. A duo can be a potent doubling of qualities. So it is in life and so it is with one of life\u2019s joys, the pairing of food and wine.<\/p>\n
In restaurants, at least, in the better ones, wine recommendations are usually made by a professional sommelier, someone who knows both the wine list and menu intimately. A trained and knowledgeable wine steward can turn what would have been a good dish on its own, into a great foodie experience, a veritable symphony of flavours, with the simple addition of a complementary wine.<\/p>\n
Conversely, you \u201ccan ruin a great meal with a bad wine pairing!\u201d states wine expert Gosia Young of Gosh! Wine Marketing. \u201cJust like a great chef considers every element of their dish, so a great winemaker does the same when crafting their wine. Some delicate wines are destined for light, nuanced dishes while other, bigger wines can stand up to bolder, heartier fare. The intentions need to match up.\u201d<\/p>\n
The trick is knowing what type of wine pairs best with certain types of food. The very simple rule of thumb dictates that light, more delicately flavoured food works better with lighter wines like white wine, ros\u00e9 or a light red such as a Pinot Noir. Likewise, heavier foods like red meat go wonderfully well with full-bodied red wines. This is because red wine has a higher tannin content than white wine and the astringency of the tannins helps cut through the fat in the meat, acting as a palate cleanser. The fattier the meat – like Sirloin or Rib Eye – the bolder you can go with the wine choice.<\/p>\n
Yet it\u2019s not simply a matter of red versus white, but which red to go with once you\u2019ve established that white wine may not be the preferred route. This is because each grape cultivar has a distinct personality, taste and aroma that is evident in the wine it produces, a consideration that becomes more complex in the case of layered, blended wines merging multiple cultivars. Similarly, different cuts of meat (like beef fillet compared to rump steak) and also different types of meat (like pork versus chicken or lamb) have different taste profiles.<\/p>\n
And then, there\u2019s always personal preference. Some wine lovers simply prefer white wine, even with a meat dish. For those who do, a \u201cbridging\u201d wine like the aptly named De Toren D\u00e9licate, which is said to \u201ccombine \u201cred\u2019s seductiveness with the undeniable drinkability of white\u201d, could be the perfect compromise. D\u00e9licate reads like a red and drinks like a white wine, thanks to the deskinned grapes that make up part of this new-style blend.<\/p>\n
Because it is so gentle, D\u00e9licate is best served slightly chilled and is an apt choice for summer sundowners, along with some tapas or charcuterie. At an event at FG Foodlabs in Rotterdam, Holland, D\u00e9licate was paired perfectly with a dry-cured Iberico Ham that had been aged for five years.<\/p>\n
In South Africa, celebrated fine dining chef Luke Dale Roberts included D\u00e9licate on the wine list at his top Cape Town restaurant The Test Kitchen as a pairing option. According to sommelier Wayve Kolevsohn: \u201cThe dish we paired with De Toren D\u00e9licate at The Test Kitchen was called Hunter\u2019s Plate \u2013flash-cured blesbok, springbok parfait, eland marrow and morels.\u201d Dale Roberts\u2019 restaurant is now known as The Test Kitchen Origins and D\u00e9licate continues to feature on the wine list there alongside the reimagined menu.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe right wine can help accentuate dominant flavours when paired with the right dish,\u201d says De Toren\u2019s Cellar Master, Charles Williams. \u201cThere is no doubt that wine has many characteristics. It\u2019s also important to note that each varietal of grape yields certain olfactory and taste sensations. Ultimately, understanding what traits each varietal of grape typically exhibits will help one better fit the appropriate wine to certain dishes. With lighter dishes such as a summer salad or Spanish tapas, I would recommend pairing a lighter styled wine like the De Toren D\u00e9licate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Served slightly chilled it\u2019s also a good antidote to the often sweltering December weather. Add this light and lovely wine to your picnic basket this summer or pair it with a charcuterie platter on a deck somewhere!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Great combinations are the stuff of legend, the one element enhancing the other. Think of literature\u2019s great lovers Anthony & Cleopatra or Romeo & Juliet. Then there\u2019s Broadway darlings Rodgers and Hammerstein and that famed dance duo of Hollywood\u2019s heyday Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. And landmark real world power Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2362,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[374,373,372,375],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africansafarisint.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2361"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africansafarisint.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africansafarisint.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africansafarisint.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africansafarisint.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2361"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.africansafarisint.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2361\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2363,"href":"https:\/\/www.africansafarisint.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2361\/revisions\/2363"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africansafarisint.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africansafarisint.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africansafarisint.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africansafarisint.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}