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- Written by Nicholas Breeze Nicholas Breeze
- Published: 07 February 2019 07 February 2019
People born in the Year of the Pig are noted to be generally lazy but able to focus on work. If generally lazy means chowing down on some tasty sweet chilli, garlic and noodle dishes, washed down with glasses of ice-cold rosé then I shall be investigating rebirthing options!
Midweek Celebrations
Being a Tuesday evening it was never going to be a late one. The Calvet Crémant de Bordeaux Brut 2015, Bordeaux combines decent quality with value for money (£9.50 from Ocado). With pleasing flavours of apple, citrus and a hint of toastiness, paired with a bowl of prawn crackers, the combination adds a little bounce to the evening.
Crémant as an everyday bubbly
Crémant is the lower-pressure bubbly that is produced all over France. Over the years, I have bought fantastic crémant at the cellar door in Burgundy and the Loire, and, in 2017 visited Bordeaux specifically to taste a wide range of these sparklers. It is always liberating to taste the level of quality being produced at prices that put bubbly into the everyday drinking category.
The pink partner prospers
I am not suggesting entering into any enduring partnerships with pigs, intelligent creatures that they are, however, rosé can be the perfect partner for the enormous range of flavours that Chinese food offers.
This Château Bel Air Perponcher Reserve Rosé 2017, Bordeaux, worked deliciously well served nicely chilled. This pale pink wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc, with grapes picked early so that it doesn’t get too fat and saccharin tasting (my least favourite trait in some poorer quality rosé wines). Instead, this fresh lip-smacking wine just allows the strawberry character to come through and meld with richness of mixed vegetable, sweet chilli, and garlic sauce stir fry, served with sticky rice.
Chinese New Year resolutions?
If the wines of Bordeaux and Chinese cuisine have one thing in common, it is the incredible range of flavours that emanate from each region. As we nudge towards Spring, the only resolution I can think of is to explore the combinations of both their flavours and share them widely. I urge you to do the same!
Have a great Year of the Pig, Oink, Oink!
Calvet Crémant de Bordeaux Brut 2015, Bordeaux £9.50 from Ocado
Château Bel Air Perponcher Reserve Rosé 2017, Bordeaux £9.50 from The Wine Society
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