FOOD and WINE

Choosing wine for food, and vice - versa, can be a difficult task. It all depends on your starting point: there are conventional matches for overseas classics such as caviar (Champagne), fresh foie gras (Sauternes, Riesling or Rose) and new season Italian white truffles (any medium-bodied red). Here the food flavour is all important, the wine merely incidental.

At the other extreme come fifty year old classic red wines: Grange, or Grand Cru Burgundy or, First Growth Bordeaux, or a Maurice O’Shea Mount Pleasant Shiraz. Here the food is, or should be, merely a low-key foil, but at the same time must be of high quality.

In the Australian context not enough attention is emphasized to the time of year, which - particularly in the southern states - is or should be a major determinant in the choice of both food and wine. Below are some suggestions bon appetit!.

SPRING PERIOD

• SPARKLING 

Oysters, cold crustacea, tapas, any cold hors d’oeuvres

• YOUNG RIESLING 

Cold salads, sashimi

• GEWURZTRAMINER 

Asian

• YOUNG SEMILLON 

Antipasto, vegetable terrine

• PINOT GRIS, COLOMBARD 

Crab cakes, whitebait

• VERDELHO, CHENIN BLANC 

Cold smoked chicken, gravlax

• CHAMPAGNE

Appetizers, Caviar, Fresh Seafood, Asian Food, Avocado, Antipasti, and Everything else!

• MATURE CHARDONNAY 

Grilled chicken, chicken pasta, turkey, pheasant

• ROSE 

Caesar salad, trout mousse

• YOUNG PINOT NOIR 

Seared kangaroo fillet, grilled quail

• MERLOT 

Pastrami, warm smoked chicken

• YOUNG MEDIUM-BODIED CABERNET SAUVIGNON 

Rack of baby lamb

• LIGHT- TO MEDIUM-BODIED COOL CLIMATE SHIRAZ

Rare eye fillet of beef

• YOUNG BOTRYTISED WINES

Fresh fruits, cake,

SUMMER PERIOD 

• CHILLED FINO

Cold consommé

• 2-3-YEAR-OLD SEMILLON

Gazpacho

• 2-3-YEAR-OLD RIESLING

Seared tuna

• YOUNG BARREL-FERMENTED SEMILLON SAUVIGNON BLANC

Seafood or Vegetable tempura

• YOUNG OFF-DRY RIESLING

Prosciutto & melon/pear

• COOL-CLIMATE CHARDONNAY

Abalone, lobster, Chinese-style prawns

• 10-YEAR-OLD SEMILLON OR RIESLING

Braised pork neck

• MATURE CHARDONNAY

Smoked eel, smoked roe

• OFF-DRY ROSE

Chilled fresh fruit, Capriccio, Lamb with mint sauce, Lemon Chicken,

• YOUNG LIGHT-BODIED PINOT NOIR

Grilled salmon

• AGED PINOT NOIR (5+ YEARS) 

Coq au vin, wild duck

• YOUNG GRENACHE/SANGIOVESE

Osso bucco

• MATURE CHARDONNAY (5+ YEARS) 

Braised rabbit

• HUNTER VALLEY SHIRAZ (5-10 years) 

Beef spare ribs

• MERLOT

Saltimbocca, roast pheasant

• MEDIUM-BODIED CABERNET SAUVIGNON (5 YEARS) 

Barbecued butterfly leg of lamb

• ALL WINES

Parmigiana

AUTUMN PERIOD

• AMONTILLADO

Warm consommé

• BARREL-FERMENTED MATURE WHITES

Smoked roe, bouillabaisse

• COMPLEX MATURE CHARDONNAY

Sweetbreads, brains

• FULLY AGED RIESLING

Chargrilled eggplant, stuffed capsicum

• AGED MARSANNE

Seafood risotto, Lebanese

• SOUTHERN VICTORIAN PINOT NOIR

Peking duck

• AGED PINOT NOIR

Grilled calf’s liver, roast kid, lamb or pig’s kidneys

• MATURE MARGARET RIVER CABERNET MERLOT

Lamb fillet, roast leg of lamb with garlic and herbs

• COOL CLIMATE MERLOT

Lamb loin chops

• MATURE GRENACHE/RHONE BLENDS

Moroccan lamb

• RICH, FULL-BODIED HEATHCOTE SHIRAZ

Beef casserole

• YOUNG MUSCAT

Plum pudding

WINTER PERIOD

• DRY OLOROSO SHERRY

Full-flavoured hors d'oeuvres

• SPARKLING BURGUNDY

Borscht

• VIOGNIER

Pea and ham soup

• AGED (10+ YEARS) SEMILLON

Vichyssoise (hot)

• SAUVIGNON BLANC

Coquilles St Jacques, pan-fried scallops

• MATURE CHARDONNAY

Quiche Lorraine

• CHARDONNAY (10+ YEARS) 

Cassoulet

• MATURE SEMILLON SAUVIGNON BLANC

Seafood pasta

• YOUNG TASMANIAN PINOT NOIR

Squab, duck breast

• MATURE PINOT NOIR

Mushroom ragout, ravioli

• MATURE MERLOT

Pot au feu

• 10-YEAR-OLD HEATHCOTE SHIRAZ

Char-grilled rump steak

• 15–20-YEAR-OLD FULL-BODIED BAROSSA SHIRAZ

Venison, Kangaroo fillet

• COONAWARRA CABERNET SAUVIGNON

Braised lamb shanks/shoulder

• MUSCAT (OLD) 

Chocolate-based desserts

TOKAY (OLD)
Crème brûlée

• VINTAGE PORT

Dried fruits, salty cheese