A Beginner's Guide to 5 Food and Wine Pairings

If you're anything like me, your love of food started early. My parents were never the type to do any type of meal planning, but there was never a shortage of creative cooking in our household. My father liked to experiment with the limited ingredients he could get his hands on in rural Newfoundland and Labrador where we lived, in the center of a cold island on the North-East coast of Canada. My mother made us pancakes and blueberry sauce, fried tomatoes with our breakfast, and considered toast with tea to be a cure for anything that ails you. What passed for a fancy meal or an adventurous ingredient when I was young may seem laughable to me now, but at the time I accepted fruit and yogurt in a wine glass, topped with chocolate shavings, as the very definition of gourmet.

While you'd probably still struggle to find fresh herbs in any of the grocery stores, at one time you could buy a garbage bag full of snow crab from local fishermen for ten dollars a bag. At the time, Cod fisherman considered lobsters and crab to be pests for getting caught in their fishing nets.

I often wish that I could travel back in time to re-live just one of those days; smell the summer sea air through the windows of our family car, drive to the small town of Leading Tickles to have a boil-up on the beach, and see my father once more, rushing to cut open crab legs fast enough to ensure we wouldn't run out.

The Love Story

My fascination with wine came much later, after I moved away from the rural community I grew up in at the age of 18 to attend university. I didn't know it at the time, but this move would serve as the introduction to my full-fledged love affair with food and wine.

I worked as a waitress to support myself during university, which is where I met Evan, my partner of eight years (and personal chef /sommelier). I was studying Philosophy and Bioethics, while Evan had already gotten a Culinary Arts degree and was now completing a Diploma in Architectural Engineering Technology. The story of how we got together is not unique - he was a chef and I was a waitress - but our journey since then has been anything but typical.

We first moved from St. John's, Newfoundland to Toronto, Ontario, which is when our love of wine really took root; we had always had an interest in wine and were excited at the prospect of learning more about it. As a result, we decided to enroll in the first three levels of WSET wine courses together as a hobby, completing them in just over a year.

During this time, Evan was working at an electrical design firm and was regretting his choice to give up cooking for a living. We both worked two jobs and barely saw one another, which meant that setting aside time to taste wine and learn together was something we savored.

By the end of our second year in Toronto, we knew it was time to plan a change. We had been together more than five years, during which we had shared and discussed our hopes and dreams for the future at length. We both wanted to live somewhere warmer, somewhere with vineyards to explore, somewhere with beaches and palm trees. We had travelled to Southern France together and had fallen in love with the way of life in Nice, but the job prospects for two Canadians who couldn't speak French would be limited. Where in the world could we go that would check all our boxes, but also speak English?

Australia, mate!

This brings us to the present day in Australia, where we regularly tour wine regions, arrange private tastings, and soak in the sun whenever we can.

Evan now works as a sommelier, but his amazing talents as a chef and vast knowledge of wine get their fair share of usage at home. Now you too can reap the benefits of my life spent with a chef-turned-sommelier!

5 Food and Wine Pairings to Impress Your Friends

1. Asparagus, Goat Cheese, Chili, and Tarragon Tart with an Oaked Sauvignon Blanc

The Asparagus Tart

It is not often that Evan and I use recipes for inspiration, but when I glimpsed this Asparagus, Goat Cheese, and Tarragon Tart recipe in the New York Times, I knew we had to try it.

The ingredients are simple and the cooking time is short. What more can you ask for? By the time you're ready for your second glass, the food is ready to be enjoyed!

The Wine

The first thing you should know is that this wine is special. As their website describes, Lady A was first made by Peter Althaus as a love letter to his beloved wife, Ruth, in 1996. The story goes that Ruth loved French-style Sauvignon Blanc, but she didn't think it could grow well at Domaine A in Tasmania. Peter grew it in secret for a decade, aged it in French oak, and then ten years later presented it to Ruth along with the words “I told you so". Rumor has it that Ruth wept upon trying Lady A for the first time, and I can see why.

This particular wine is fermented in French oak barriques, matured on fine lees for twelve months, and stored in cellar until ready for release. It has amazing texture, smoky and spicy flavors, and lingers on the palate for eons.

2. Kingfish Sashimi with Green Tomato, Chili, Cilantro, and Seasoned Coconut Milk with Grosset Springvale Riesling

The Kingfish Sashimi

The tricky thing about living with a chef is that they don't usually use recipes, so the instructions for making each delicious dish they create exists solely in their head.

Together, Evan and I have tried to guess approximate measurements, but both agree that the most important piece of the puzzle is that it's made with a big glass of wine in hand.

Ingredients:

1. Fresh sushi-grade Kingfish
2. 165 ml can of Coconut Milk
3. Cilantro (or Coriander, if you're Aussie)
4. Green Tomato
5. Thai Chili or Birds Eye Chili
6. Lime
7. Lemongrass
8. Ginger
9. Kaffir Lime Leaf

Instructions:

1. Shake and pour the contents of the can of coconut milk into a blender with: juice of one lime, lime zest, lemongrass, ginger, chili, and kaffir lime leaf. Blend and strain into a container, place in the fridge.
2. Thinly slice Kingfish with a very sharp knife. This is the hardest part of this dish, because it's important to do a good job of cutting the fish so the texture is enjoyable (a video on how to cut fish for sashimi can be found below).
3. Slice green tomatoes into thin small pieces, removing the juice and seeds
4. Cut up cilantro and chili into small pieces for garnish
5. Lay out kingfish on large plate, placing other finely chopped ingredients on top
6. Pour seasoned coconut milk onto plate with kingfish and serve with chopsticks

The Wine

Riesling is a wonderful grape that doesn't always get the appreciation it deserves. It can range from lusciously sweet to completely dry with racing acidity, which makes it incredibly food friendly. If you're having spicy food, picking a Riesling with residual sugar is an excellent choice because the sugar decreases the perception of alcohol on the palate.

The Grosset Springvale Riesling is a dry expression, which we chose despite the fact that our dish had Thai chilies - it is surprising how much a spicy element can change your perception of sweetness in wine.

3. Cured Trout with Dill, Orange, Boursin Cheese, and Crostini with an Aged Chardonnay

The Cured Trout

This dish is light and refreshing, the perfect start to a heavier meal. It requires a bit of foresight, since the first step is to cure the trout overnight.

From there it's a simple matter of combining it with segmented oranges and dill. Serve with Boursin Herb and Garlic Cheese for spreading, along with crostini, for the perfect appetizer to impress.

The Wine

The Hoddles Creek 1er Yarra Valley Chardonnay is sourced from the Top Paddock vineyard and is only made in years when the fruit is deemed suitable for this label. The 2013 vintage was a warmer year in the Yarra Valley, which showed characters of melon and struck match.

This is my kind of Chardonnay (though Evan would ask me which Chardonnay isn't my type). Full texture and body with integrated oak and balanced acidity, this wine is a winner.

4. Roasted Bone Marrow, Crostini, and Watercress Salad with Pinot Noir

The Roasted Bone Marrow

Instructions for Marrow Bones:

1. Soak marrow bone in salted water overnight, draining and refilling occasionally
2. Preheat oven to 450°F (230°C)
3. Dry the marrow bone with paper towel and place on baking tray
4. Add salt to the area of the split bone with marrow visible
5. Place in a preheated oven for 15-25 minutes, or until the marrow has puffed slightly and the middle is hot. There should be no resistance when trying to break the marrow into pieces.

Spoon the roasted marrow onto homemade crostini to enjoy with a great crunch. Eating the marrow together with a bright and fresh watercress salad serves to bring acidity to the dish, along with an optional apricot or berry jam to spread.

The Wine

Pinot Noir is a wonderful grape that can be difficult to grow. Since it is generally light in body with a good amount of acid, it often makes a great food wine. In this case, the acidity and bright cherry flavors in the Burgundian Pinot Noir serves as an invigorating splash on the palate between decadent and fatty bites of roasted marrow.

The Louis Latour Cote de Nuits-Villages is a Pinot Noir made from the villages of Premeaux-Prissey, Comblanchien and Corgoloin just south of Nuits-Saint-Georges. There are flavors of black cherries, blackberry, and baking spice. This wine is a great go-to for such a classically French dish.

5. Oxtail Stew, Mashed Potato, Roast Garlic Carrots, and Carrot Puree with Aged Cabernet Sauvignon

The Oxtail Stew

This meal was special not only because it was absolutely delicious (which it was), but also because Evan picked out this birth year bottle of Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon to share on my birthday. Although my birthday was spent in quarantine, this meal was everything I could have asked for... and then some.

Evan introduced me to oxtail several years ago, which I had never tried. Braising it slowly in the oven integrates all the gamey flavors and fats into the stew, which makes for a full flavor meal. Perfect for a cold winter's night with a big and bold bottle of red.

The Wine

If a big and bold red is what you're looking for, look no further than a Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon blend with some age. This wine was exceptional in every way. Evan and I sniffed and swirled this wine until the very last drop. Normally bottles of wine disappear quite quickly in our household, but this particular one lasted for ages - it was a truly contemplative wine.

A majority of wine picked up from a store is consumed within the first few hours of purchase, while wines of good quality are often meant to age. I understand the concept of wanting the instant gratification of drinking the wine you buy, and not everyone has the space to store a case.

My advice is to research wine auction sites in your area; wine auctions are a great place to find aged bottles that someone else has stored for decades, often allowing you to purchase them in their prime drinking window.

That brings us to the end of my list of food and wine pairings to impress your friends. Evan and I have had each one of these pairings together and can attest to the fact that they taste better when you share them with someone you love. Bon Appetit!

- Meghan