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 […]

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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 […]

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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’.

Two weeks ago, I told the story of the aspiring journalist keen on the details of InterWined’s copyright and how much credit she would have to give to use the wine reviews and recommendations that appear on the site in her publication. Now, InterWined.com could dismiss her comments as ones made under the influence of several glasses wine (which they were), but they raise a very interesting question.

In the age of hyperlinks and trackbacks, embeds and torrents, when is it stealing?

So far so Carrie Bradshaw…right?

The question is an especially poignant one for food writers.

As regular readers of this feature will know, it was the attempt to answer this very question that ultimately prevented ‘Blow the Bank’ from sharing the recipe for Slow-Cooked Sweet & Sour Lamb from Greg and Lucy Malouf’s Saha cookbook without the authors’ permission, but allowed it to publish so many recipes from some the Web’s best food blogs.

The question isn’t just one of credit and permission; it’s also one of degree. Numerous food blogs and cookbooks include recipes adapted from ones found elsewhere. But whose to say how much of an adaptation must take place until it becomes your own. Does simply changing raisins to sultanas count? How about 100g to 150g or turning a loaf made with sweet potato and spinach into a muffin made with sweet potato and apple?

And what about, following one recipe, such as the basic omelette recipe in James Peterson’s Cooking to make another, like InterWined’s Own Creamy Lancashire Omelette with Spinach & Prosciutto?

Omelettes can prove tricky to prepare, but Peterson’s multiple recipes are incredibly informative, helpful, and visually easy-to-follow. The key to success is a well-buttered pan. The key to a great pairing (perhaps one of InterWined’s best) is good quality dessert wine.

That’s right — dessert wine. Regardless of its name, it needn’t be confined to desserts and puddings. In fact, paired with InterWined’s Own Creamy Lancashire Omelette with Spinach & Prosciutto, the 2005 Maculan Dindarello (12%) from Oddbins for £8.49 is close to perfection, its sweetness finding an excellent balance in the flavour of the egg and butter and saltiness of the prosciutto.

As described by the wineseller at Oddbins, the Dindarello, made of 100% Muscato by one of the Veneto regions most respected winemakers, also has a strong smell of nutmeg on the nose. There’s some honey on the palate, but not as much as some other dessert wines and only a little hint of fruit. Mostly, it’s the smell of nutmeg that wins your attention: 9.0 with InterWined’s omelette (8.8 with bakery-bought black current cheesecake).

InterWined’s Own Recipe in Full

Creamy Lancashire Omelette with Spinach & Prosciutto

Click on the post to view and download the recipe

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Santa Margarita Prosecco: Sparkling wine produced in the Veneto, Italy, outside Venice. Brilliant, simple and crisp, a perfect start. Nice, easy bubbles, but a bit pricey, probably would retail for £10, a lot for Prosecco: 8.4.

Margues de Monistrol, 2004, Cava: Sparking wine from Penedes, around Barcelona. Slightly lemony, with a hint of green olive, a bit acidic, but a bargain at £8 retail: 8.4.

Most preferred: the supermarket Champagne! Tesco Premier Cru at about £15 a bottle. This is a sparkling wine engineered in a laboratory to best fit the British notion of what Champagne should taste like. Almonds and Italian-style biscuit. A smooth oakiness, with plenty of bubbles. Also, a little too sweet. This makes people, Brits in particular, think they are savouring something more then they really are…it works though, wining the 2005 Wine International award for Best non-vintage Champagne, beating out some French contenders that sell their wines for much, much more. Would score higher if not so predictable: 8.5.

The tasting for the Islington Conservative Party was meant to be the best ever, and it was. Sparkling wine tasting: What could go wrong? Well, having less than 20 people showing up…at any rate, it was a blast. Yours truly is working the speaking circuit like a Clinton. Large, in-charge and, usually, full of crap.

Just kidding.

The night was tinged by politics of course, but what do we really care about? No, let’s talk about something that benefits us. (May have just lost that contract.)

Santa Margarita Prosecco: Sparkling wine produced in the Veneto, Italy, outside Venice. Brilliant, simple and crisp, a perfect start. Nice, easy bubbles, but a bit pricey, probably would retail for £10, a lot for Prosecco: 8.4.

Marques de Monistrol, 2004, Cava: Sparking wine from Penedes, around Barcelona. Slightly lemony, with a hint of green olive, a bit acidic, but a bargain at £8 retail: 8.4.

Most preferred: the supermarket Champagne! Tesco Premier Cru at about £15 a bottle. This is a sparkling wine engineered in a laboratory to best fit the British notion of what Champagne should taste like. Almonds and Italian-style biscuit. A smooth oakiness, with plenty of bubbles. Also, a little too sweet. This makes people, Brits in particular, think they are savouring something more then they really are…it works though, wining the 2005 Wine International award for Best non-vintage Champagne, beating out some French contenders that sell their wines for much, much more. Would score higher if not so predictable: 8.5.

During a ‘meeting’ last night, enjoyed the 2004 Cape Mentelle Cabernet Merlot from Margaret River, Australia. My esteemed colleague called it ’spicy.’ But spicy is really only an OK descriptor, for this wine is better than that. It’s not aromatic spices, cardamom, fenugreek, etc. More like very slight cinnamon or clove. Perfect balance, mouth-feel, earthy expression. Almost took the ouch out of the four-time mark-up at the wine bar: 9.0 (£24).

La Baume 2005 Merlot, South of France, £5.50, has a tasting note on the front label: Dark Cherry and Spicy(!), Fruit Characters, soft and round. A wonderful idea, if completely untrue. Actually it is vile, tense and terse. No balance and burns the throat. Smells like Teen Spirit: 7.6.

Now the 2004 Palandri Estate Cabernet Merlot, West Australia, Reserve, £8…that’s much better: Black olive, blackberry, oak and dill. Smooth in alcohol but bright in feeling. Dark colour. Inky texture. Great for the price; and, you know, for having one glass too many as its hangover after-burps will go well with your morning coffee: 8.7.

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