The perfect wine pairing for your Valentine’s cooking

11/02/2019

If you’re planning a romantic evening for your loved one that involves some home-cooked food and plenty of candles, it’s important to have the perfect wine pairing to enhance your evening. We caught up with Ali Christian, wine specialist at Bedales wines, to get his expert recommendations based on some of our favourite easy (but super tasty) recipes. All of the wine suggestions are available to purchase and take away from Bedales Spitalfields, located on Market Street. Over to you, Ali…

Is there anything better than oozy melted cheese? If your better half agrees wholeheartedly with that, how about knocking up some chicken stuffed with spinach and goats cheese, served with roasted asparagus.

Domaine Potinet-Ampeau, Bourgogne Aligoté 2009, Burgundy, France.

Aligoté has always played second fiddle to Chardonnay in Burgundy but this aged example has all the length and complexity of its more famous counterpart and, despite its advanced years, still retains some of that trademark acidity which would match perfectly with a tangy goat’s cheese and serve to cut through the richness of the roast chicken.

A juicy rib-eye steak, cooked to perfection and paired with chunky chips, grilled mushrooms and a classic peppercorn sauce – your fail-safe, easy win in the kitchen.

Teso La Monja, Victorino, 2009, Toro, Spain

Named after Spain’s most prestigious bull-breeding farm, this is a real bruiser of a wine. Immaculately structured with firm tannin, uplifting freshness and brooding dark plum and damson fruit, it’s the perfect match for a chargrilled steak. Its savoury notes of sweet pipe tobacco and smoky leather serving to complement and enhance the smoky, umami characteristics of the meat.

Because the spaghetti scene in Lady and the Tramp is the most romantic of all time, how about rustling up a creamy Parmesan linguine with king prawns?

Tenute Dettori, Renosu Bianco Dettori 2016, Sardinia, Italy

This Vermentino/ Moscato di Sennori blend offers a fresh seaside salinity that would pair perfectly with some fresh, garlicky pan-fried prawns. But it also offers a fuller mouthfeel with a long savoury finish which would also work with creamier style sauces.

Bedales at Spitalfields Market carries over 400 lines of wine and their super knowledgeable team are always on hand to help with recommendations so if you’ve already planned your Valentine’s menu, pop in store where they’ll be able to suggest a perfect match.