Food and Wine Pairing - Cheeky Cooks

Matching food and wine can be a daunting process, but there are a few simple rules to keep in mind when trying to figure out what exactly goes well with whatever it is you are going to cook. We have teamed up with the delectable food site Cheeky Cooks. Like Empty these Cheeky Cooks have a passion for all things tasty, so here we have it, a few simple rules and some cheeky suggestions;

Chile's Serious Side: Torres Cordillera 2005

I had made note of the Carinena or 'Carignan' varietal at the Wines of Chile tasting organised by Jean Smullen, in which the two stand out reds for me were this very grape. I described them to Rob as Chile's answer to Zinfandel, because of their bright fruits and crisp acidity. Of the two that were tasted the Cordillera from Miquel Torres was the more perplexing. My conclusion was that it needed more time in the bottle.

Chateau Beau Rivage 2006

Sometimes there is a wine that bucks the trend and in this case it is the trend of me being catastrophically disappointed with Bordeaux. This is not because I am a new world-o-phile, but merely because of poor quality wines for ridiculous prices at all levels. I abhor to start a review in the negative, but I feel this wine requires some context simply because it blew me away ... more than once.

Coyam 2010

'The New World' is a funny old term, deriving from Imperialistic categorization of the colonised and a general bolstering of Western Superiority.  As you may gather there is a long and complicated history here, but I would rather leave this for a more comprehensive article on 'old' and 'new' worlds. Let us in this smaller context take one of the leading organic producers without the loaded terms we would normally associate with the two tiers of wine making.

Conde De Valdemar Crianza 2007

Conde De Valdemar Crianza has long been a favourite of mine for many reasons. The has always been of exceptional quality, even in ropey vintages, such as 2006. When it returned to my local I wept with joy. Well, not really that would be a bit odd. I did however, purchase a bottle.