Tonight's wine and food matching quest - what to drink with Saltimbocca?

Alison's cooking (Saltimbocca was the first meal she cooked for me!) and usually prefers Pork tenderloins to the more traditional veal. I think it is as much to do with food ethics, which has been featured a lot (and rightly so) in recent weeks on British TV, as flavour. Actually, I think I prefer the flavour of the Pork to the Veal. For those of you who fancy having a go and don't have a recipe, here's a good one from Delia (the pic is from her web site too).

Whichever meat you go for, the tricky bits of this food and wine combination are a) the Marsala used in the cooking an b) do you drink white or red wine with Pork. Taking the points in reverse order, I've never been one for 'wine conventions' - I've drunk red wine successfully with oily fish, and had a big white wine with lamb and it worked well. So, it is just a question of flavours really. The main ones in this dish are Marsala, Sage and the prosciutto.

Later today I'll post what we decided on to drink. Meanwhile, if you have any suggestions...

9.30pm, update on wines...

Seghesio Arneis 2006: Originally, when thinking of wines that would go with this dish I thought of a big, full-flavoured Italian white - maybe even a Tuscan Chardonnay. Felsina Chardonnay or Isole e Olena Chardonnay would have been great - if only we hadn't temporarily sold in the sale! So, in the end, I settled for Italian grape variety Arneis, but grown in the warmer climate of California. Arneis is one of Italy's oldest and most distinctive varietals, and this is Californian version is made by Seghesio in the Russian River Valley. Not a cheap wine @ £15.79 (although has 10% off in our current sale), but is certainly flavour packed. Reminds me somewhat of a Viognier - peachy, stone-fruit flavours, ripe and juicy. Worked very nicely with the sweetness in the marsala.

De Morgenzon Chenin Blanc 2005: Made by Sultan of Chenin, Mr. Teddy Hall, this is a wine that certainly swings! Produced from 35 year old low-yielding bush vines a mere 10 kms from the sea, this is wine with richness, but balanced by the Chenin's natural freshness and acidity. Touches of spice on the nose from the French oak, and a complex honeyed finish. Teddy Hall says it is the best wine he has ever made - high praise indeed. How did it go with the Saltimbocca? Pretty well actually? There was a lovely marriage of flavours between the Sage and prosciutto and the honeyed character of the wine. The touch of spice from the oak worked well with the Marsala - all in all a big wine that didn't overwhelm the food, but complemented it it pretty nicely. Of the two white wines it was a clear winner.

However, in the end, I decided to spoil us (well, it is Saturday night!)... in the interests of fair play, a red wine should have a chance too...

Martinborough 'Te Tera' Pinot Noir 2006: Having something of a New Zealand Pinot 'thing' at Surf4Wine at the moment - I will blog about the new wines in next few days - there are quite a few :) Anyway, I couldn't resist trying my favourite foodie red grape out with this dish. 'Te Tera' is young vines too young to go into the Marinborough Pinot Noir. Boy, what a lovely combo of smoky, slightly fleshy Pinot ripe red fruits (cassis?). Worked fabulously with `Sage, and the ripe fruit worked pretty well with the sauce too.

Early start in the office today, then a dash to catch train to London to taste 2006 Burgundies from Jean-Claude Boisset and Jaffelin.

I was interested to read Jamie Goode's Blog yesterday about Burgundy 2006 and cheese - today's tasting was at the Cinnamon Club near Westminster Abbey and lunch paired white and red Burgundy with modern Indian cooking. This might have seemed a bizarre idea at first, but I have had some very successful pairings of good Indian food with wine, particularly big reds without too much tannin. So, I was almost as eager to see how the food/wine pairings worked out as to taste the latest vintages from two of our favourite producers.

The Burgundy 2006's on show, some 37 wines, showed good style - typical of what I have come to expect from Jean-Claude Boisset winemaker Grégory Patriat. Grégory is on record as saying 'As a rule, I like atypical wines which fly in the face of tradition and conventional wisdom. My Pommard Premier Cru wines have a rather feminine, lacy character, while the Savigny is rather rustic, with ripe, tightly-packed tannins. That's the way the terroir gave them to us, so let's not try and change the style ! Although it's true that I have a preference for fruity, rounded wines, I also like them to be able to last over time.' We were lucky enough to welcome Grégory to Oxford twice in the last two years to showcase latest vintages, and so we have got to know his style well and it is good taste the wines of a new vintage to see how he has worked with what nature gave him.

Those with infinitely more knowledge of Burgundy than me have often written that Burgundy is as much, if not more, about the producer as the vintage. Find a good producer and stick to him. Burgundy can be a nightmare with a myriad of producers, villages and vineyards. So finding a good producer that can produce the best a vintage can each year is a must and that is what we have done, I think, in working with Jean-Claude Boisset. Jaffelin is part of the Boisset group (which is huge and J-C Boisset is only one small part) and we brought a couple of their wines on board last year - so I was looking forward to tasting a greater range today. At Surf4Wine we do not pretend to be Burgundy specialists or experts, but I do love good Burgundy, so wanted to have some benchmark wines on our list - we have, in my opinion, found those with Boisset, and also, now, Jaffelin.

I'll blog about some of the individual wines in another post, but what about the wine and Indian food? Well, it kinda worked. There was a lovely lightly spiced Salmon starter that worked very well with the St. Aubin 'Sur Gamay' 2006 - this was largely because the Salmon wasn't too spicy and the St. Aubin was rich with a touch of spice, working well on that best of food and wine pairing notions - partner like with like. Sometimes extremes or opposites work but the other, lighter white Burgundy (I even forget which other white wine they choose, so unfriendly was the combination!) was overwhelmed by even the mildest spice.

The main course was Squab Pigeon , which was a tad too hot for me (I love Indian food, but not too hot. I like the spice flavors and combinations, but not too much heat from the Chilli). This needed a 'big wine to work with it rather than be blown away. The Gevrey Chambertin I brought in from the tasting room worked pretty well with touches of spice and some rich, ripe cherry flavours to match up to the richness of the food.

All in all, a fascinating wine tasting, and some more than interesting food and wine combinations that if just seen on paper might well have not been believed. All goes to prove that the proof is in the eating (drinking!).

See our full range of Jean-Claude Boisset wines.