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Liquid Refreshment
It would be irresponsible for InterWined to say that Spanish wines have not come a long way. The advent of the so-called ‘high expression’ wine styles – more fruity aggression, less oak — in the early 2000s modernised the way we view, and drink, Spanish wines.
But now the country, or at least the consumers of […]
Each Friday, InterWined.com pairs one great wine with one great meal and publishes the results along with the recipe in a little feature it likes to call ‘Blow the Bank’.
This week, ‘Blow the Bank’ brings you two of InterWined’s favourite pizzas.
Pizza with Parma Ham, Basil, and Red Onion
Feta & Butternut Squash Pizza with Ricotta and Pine Nuts
The 2006 ‘Taste the Difference’ Primitivo del Salento, from Italy and available exclusively to Sainsbury’s for approximately £5, is made by Cantina Due Palme, an Italian co-operative from Apulia known for their award- winning Primitivo. So, it doesn’t disappoint. In fact, it slightly astounds. For £5, this is one of the best wines that I’ve had in months; it’s also great for pairing with all manner of foods.
This wine is rich and flavourful, with a complexion that’s something of a cross between black cherries and dried blood. Thankfully, you can only taste the cherries. But even if wine could taste like blood, this wine would pull it off brilliantly. There’s such a good balance to it.
It’s also the perfect mix of spicy and sweet to match both pizzas. The sweetness really marries well with the squash and adds a little bit of a zip to the mellower flavour of the baked feta. Likewise, the sweetness helps counter any saltiness from the Parma ham, while the fresh basil, red onions, and ample cranks of cracked pepper help compliment the spice. A perfect threesome: 9.1.
InterWined’s Own Recipes in Full
Pizza with Parma Ham, Basil, and Red Onion & Feta & Butternut Squash Pizza with Ricotta and Pine Nuts
Click on the post to view and download the recipe
The 2004 Maccari ‘Templaris’ Merlot was picked up, on a whim, from an independent grocer in North London, called Woody’s, for £7. Woody’s also has a kebab shop next door, so how dedicated can they be to wine? Well, they do alright. The Templaris Merlot is kind of a rare find. As a wine, not […]
A big hand for Sean for coming up with some great pairings for wines and American dishes. However, I still can’t seem to come to terms with seeing the words ‘prawn’ and ‘po-boy’ in the same sentence. InterWined reckons that it’s time to offer its own advice for picking an excellent American wine.
Finding decent American […]
At a recent lunch with colleagues in London’s financial fun zone, Canary Wharf, InterWined.com decided to put a single varietal bottle of Bonarda to the test. The way we saw it, Argentina’s popular wine should pair well with a sampling of Argentina’s popular steaks.
So we settled in to a table at Gaucho Grill, an Argentina-themed […]
Watch the Olympic torch make its way around the world, and one is filled with images that just don’t go together. The journey of the flame is proving more of a divider, not a uniter. Blue-suited Chinese paramilitary, without any seeming executive powers, roughing up interlopers that are oddly obsessed with extinguishing the fire. The […]
The 2006 Donna Fugata Sedara Nero d’Avola should cost around £7. And it’s everywhere. Maybe not the Sedara, but any Donna Fugata red is likely to be decent and well-priced. The wine is a pleasant violet colour, but not as deep as you may think. Most notable is the heavy blackberry and cherry presence that seems to dominate this wine, year in, year out. It’s light and delicious body equals plenty of good fun. There is also a touch of vanilla, and, inexplicably, rotating hints of pine pulp. Unusual, since the wine is aged in cement tanks…how’s that for thinking? 8.5 points
Each Friday and sometimes Saturday, InterWined.com pairs one great wine with one great meal and publishes the results along with the recipe in a little feature it likes to call ‘Blow the Bank’.
This week, ‘Blow the Bank’ introduces InterWined’s All American, a month-long celebration of some of American cuisine’s greatest dishes from classic comfort foods to the unsung greats of American soulfood.
First up is All American Meatloaf with Crème Fraîche Mashed Potatoes.
Whether its origins rest, as some varyingly contend, with the mogul invaders of China, Italian meatball-makers, German Hamburgers, British shepherd’s pie-bakers, or the recipe books of eager home-meat-grinder salesmen, there can be little doubt that the humble meatloaf is 100% American and 100% classic.
Just as its histories are numerous, its variations and varieties are both countless and unpredictable. So, while some recipes call for the inclusion of pineapples or scotch eggs — ingredients that would be anathema in others, still others quibble over the significance of using barbeque sauce or ketchup or Bolognese in the name of authenticity and correctness. In the end, like so much confort food, it all comes down to what you like and what you think is right.
Indeed, there is little doubt that many chefs (and many of their mothers) will find InterWined’s All American Meatloaf far from correct. For one, it includes a couple of rather unorthodox ingredients, such as cubed pancetta and stale sourdough bread. For another, it’s topped with streaks of bacon.
And, because one classic deserves another, paired with InterWined’s All American Meatloaf is the 2005 Château Amarande (13.5%) Grand Vin de Bordeaux. A mix of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2005 Amarande has the familiar nose of a classic claret — a bit of eart, spice, and forest. On the tongue, it’s surprisingly soft, rich in fruit, and mildly tannic with a touch of pepper that marries brilliantly with the both the crusty edges of the meatloaf and its slightly fatty, chewy middle (thanks in no small part to the cubes of pancetta). At 13.5%, the wine is a tad too high in alcohol and, therefore, attention-seeking to be a perfect wine to serve with food; but it high-alcohol wines are all the rage these days and this one proves a superb match for the meaty ground beef, fatty pancetta, and crispy bacon all the same: 9.4.
InterWined’s Own Recipe in Full
All American Meatloaf with Crème Fraîche Mashed Potatoes
Click on the post to view and download the recipe
Welcome to Health News Tuesday, where InterWined.com brings you the latest in health tips for everyday living. Today we have…nothing.
But that’s not to say we don’t have anything… It’s just against ethics to release the information today. And if I tell you, then the people who told me are going to be, like, “We told […]
The run up to the 2008 Olympics is Beijing is marred by protests. The issues surrounding the news images have a particularly deep impact on me, as a one-time student of the language, history and follower of the religions of the region.
The central authority of China is often described by scholars as an iron fist […]
The search continues for the great Italian wine.
The bad news is today that search has yet to end.
The 2003 San Giorgio Boscaini Carlo Amarone della Valpolicella Classic (DOC): From the Veneto region of North East Italy, where Verona is the capital, Amarone della Valpolicella is produced from a small percentage of grapes grown in the […]
Each Friday, InterWined.com pairs one great wine with one great meal and publishes the results along with the recipe in a little feature it likes to call ‘Blow the Bank’.
This week is a busy one for the world religions, from Baha’i to Zoroastrianism and nearly every other alphabetically in between.
So, today, ‘Blow the Bank’ brings the world a little closer together with InterWined’s Own Rosemary Rack of Lamb with Dolcelatta Polenta.
Not only does Easter, Purim, and Mawlid an-nabi fall within the third week of March this year, but so too does the Vernal Equinox and a host of New Years and religious Spring festivals. And while there is no single food that could satisfy the observers of all of these holidays, there’s certainly one that comes pretty close — at least close enough to bring together Christianity, Judaism, and Islam — which on the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq is surely no bad thing.
What is this miracle foodstuff, you ask? Well, thank Abraham; it’s the humble little lamb, of course, that delectable little animal so prevalent in Judeo-Christian symbolism and essential to Islam’s Eid Al-Adha celebration.
And interfaith reconciliation aside, it’s also arguably the perfect companion to the totally haraam and non-kosher Pinor Noir. The 2005 Hautes-Côtes de Beaune Clos Bortier (12.5%) from Caroline Lestime and Domaine Jean-Noël Gagnard, currently available in store only from Oddbins, makes for simply a great match to InterWined’s Own Rosemary Rack of Lamb with Dolcelatta Polenta — if only for the goyim.
There’s a great deal of subtly the 2005 Clos Bortier, with a touch of cherry on the nose and tannin in the aftertaste. The tannin in the wine marries very well with lamb, while its limited potency prevents it from clashing with the creaminess of the dolcelatta.
Click on the post to view and download the recipe
Wine number five from InterWined’s tour of Italian wines is the 2003 Feotto dello Jato ‘Rosso di Turi’ Monreale Merlot.
A plump little Sicilian number with surges of sugar plum. Sweet little California raisins here and there as well. This wine dances with black currant. Not very Italian, but still quite fun and bright. Many Sicilian […]
This time around, InterWined are going only about ten miles away from last week’s Italian wine Barolo. That’s right we are going a bit closer to the sea with Barbaresco — the Nebbiolo-based wine that is often lighter and easier to drink than Barolo.
In this case, 2001 Cuscina Surio is a great example. It’s more […]
The star so far on InterWined’s trip around Italian wine is without doubt the 2003 Barolo San Biagio.
Classed as a Piemont wine (from Piedmont, NorthWest Italy), this wine is made from the Nebbiolo grape. I recommend visiting Barolo San Biagio, only because the winery’s tasting note is so different from mine; a testament to […]
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