Well, would you? That old cliché about drinking “red wine with meat and white
wine with fish” seems to have been around since Moses was a boy. There was a
time when most red wines were more full-bodied than whites, but this is no
longer always true.
A fruit-packed white Californian for example, can have more weight than a light
red such as an Italian Merlot. It has become trendy to serve red wine with fish,
but I think a fish meal needs to be quite assertive to stand up to a red wine -
even a light-bodied one. Some red wines produce odd metallic tastes with fish.
At a rather up-market dinner I went to last year, they trundled out bottles of
red for the fish course, but I think they were pushing their luck, for it simply
didn’t work. At least, not for me. For one thing, it just looked odd.
Cellar at The Campagnola winery
The whole palaver of wine and food pairing has created a huge industry of its
own and you could fill truckloads of books and magazines on the subject. Of
course, it’s all a bit subjective and boils down partly to personal preference
and common sense. If in doubt, play it safe. For robust food select a robust
wine; for light food, light wines. But there has been enough written on this
subject and I don’t propose to add any more. (You just have - Ed.)
Here are two wines that work well with food; both from the Campagnola winery, a
family-managed company founded in 1886 by Carlo Campagnola. The winery is in the
modest village of Valgatara in the province of Verona - the centre of the
Classic Valpolicella zone.
Della Casa Bianco 2010 (white), Italy (Friendship, Bt. 345)
This wine would work well with a lot of Thai dishes provided that they are not
to fiery. Spicy curries for example, tend to make this kind of wine taste
astringent. But it would be great with light chicken or fish dishes.
“Why?” I hear you ask. Well, there’s a bright, dry tangy mouth-feel with a dash
of refreshing acidity so it could make a pleasing contrast with chicken or fish
in a creamy sauce. White fish often improves with a bit of acidity, hence the
practice of serving it with a slice of lemon. This straw-coloured wine has
lovely aromas of sweet fresh pineapple and peaches with an attractive minty
aroma in the distance. It’s light-bodied, plenty of fruit on the palate and
pleasing dry citrusy finish too. The wine has a light 11.5% alcohol content and
apart from the food possibilities, it would make a delightfully refreshing
apéritif.
Della Casa Rosso 2010 (red), Italy (Friendship, Bt. 345)
This is a rich warm red, with a pleasing oily appearance in the glass. There’s
an attractive fruity aroma - jammy, herby and brambly with hints of spice and
pepper in the background. The taste comes as quite a surprise for the wine is
quite sharp and lively, with a dash of acidity but very little tannin. The
finish is fairly short, dry with a slight hint of citrus. I think the Della Casa
Bianco is actually a better product, but if you are having pizza or pasta, this
homely wine should work very well.
I know pizza isn’t exactly haute cuisine, but it’s always been a favourite of
mine. One of the very best I ever tasted was not in Italy (where they can
sometimes be disappointing) but in an Italian restaurant in Bali, of all places.
Of course, pizza started out as peasant food. It was sold on the streets of
Naples in the sixteenth century and was probably around for a good many years
before that. Traditionally, pizza has always remained a simple dish, although it
can be surprisingly difficult to find really authentic ones, especially around
here.
To my mind, simple food needs simple wine and for pizza, an ordinary cheap
Chianti of Valpolicella is just the thing. Anything grander would just feel
wrong. It would be like drinking Château Margaux with a bag of chips. But no
doubt there are people rich enough and eccentric enough to try just that.
Anyway, this lively red would be just the thing for pizza. But not with the fish
fingers, thank you very much.
