Vine & Dine

You may have seen the vine & dine offer we have been featuring on our website recently, if so then you’ll know that we’re looking for our customers’ favourite food and wine pairings, and that we ran the same offer last year, with tens of thousands of responses.

After going through each entry with a fine tooth comb, we selected our 3 favourite pairings, so why not give them a go?

1. Stewed apples and pear with cinnamon, honey and bitter chocolate – served with Negrette

This interesting dessert combination was a clear winner for us as it takes a little known French grape that offers hints of bitter fruit and a heavily perfumed nose and matches it to a feast of food flavours. The thought of this mix of sweet, bitter and spiced ingredients had our mouths watering and we felt that this adventurous and challenging dish would be the perfect end to any dinner party.

Negrette is a dark red wine grape which is grown in the Toulouse region of South West France and Cyprus. It ages moderately well, but is also suitable to be drunk young.

2. Rabbit in mustard sauce – served with Viognier

A classic of the French countryside, this dish carries a kick of heat along with the milder flavour of rabbit. To cut through this, our customers thought pairing with a dry white wine from the Viognier grape would be an excellent choice. If you are looking for an alternative to a traditional Sunday lunch, then look no further!

Viognier is a white wine grape which is the only permitted grape in the Rhone Valley region of France. Similar to Chardonnay, Viognier has the potential to produce full-bodied wines with a lush, soft character.

3. Pasta and truffles – served with Gewürztraminer

This recipe is great, because it is so uncomplicated, with simple flavours complementing each other perfectly. Pungent black truffles and savoury parmesan would sit well with a semi-dry Gewürztraminer wine from Alsace to create a versatile dish, which could either work as a starter, a light bite or a delicious and substantial lunch.

Gewürztraminer is a white wine grape which works best in cooler climates. Gewürztraminer grapes are usually high in sugar and produce off-dry white wines. The Gewürztraminer grape is grown across Europe, from France and Germany to Slovenia and the Czech Republic.