Find your perfect wine pairing at Brasserie Abode
If you're a wine drinker do you try to pair a bottle (or bottles!) with Christmas dinner at home? Struggling to find what wine should go with which course? Recently, Brasserie Abode on Bath Street held a wine pairing night, one of a series of regular events, to help you pick the best wine for each course this Xmas.
We joined a gaggle of eager learners for a five-course menu and paired wine flight. Anna, our guide, navigated us through five wines with notes on how to taste and appreciate each one and the thinking behind why it should work with the paired dish.
Our first course was smoked salmon with capers. What would you pair?
A grape variety that I'd never even heard of, of course!
Colomba Bianca Grillo Vitese - this was a crisp, clean and fresh wine with good acidity to match the salmon and capers. Fruity with hints of apple and melon. Easy to drink on its own or with food.
Course 2 was beetroot and goats cheese salad.
Chateau Lestrille Capmartin - Bordeaux Blanc 2015 - a buttery and oaky white. Matured in oak barrels, which you can certainly taste. This wine paired well with stronger tasting ingredients such as goats cheese but I would probably have expected something a bit more acidic for pairing with beetroot.
Course 3 was roast turkey, chestnut sage stuffing, sprouts, roasted roots and all the trimmings! So, what would you pair with this?
Chateau Lestrille Capmartin, Bordeaux Superieur 2012 - an oaky and smokey wine which gives some life to boring old turkey. Strong tannins but also fruity on the nose. It worked really well with the gravy, stuffing and gave the turkey, which can be dry, some oomph!
Dessert time, whether it's cheese or something sweet - this is one area that I'm not really comfortable picking something.
But here there was a catch, there was a cheese course and a petit pot au chocolat pudding but a single wine to pair with each...
I tend to go for the same thing all the time since finding it years ago and getting stuck in a rut. Anna picked a Californian dessert wine called Quady Batch 88 Starboard 2011.
Christmas in a glass! Rich dried fruit, liquorice and blackberries, smooth and sweet but also dry tasting wine. This wine paired well with both the cheese plate and the chocolate dessert and it was very pleasant to drink.
Many thanks to Anna and everyone at Brasserie Abode for the opportunity to attend the Wine Pairing Event.
More details
Brasserie Abode Glasgow
129 Bath Street
Glasgow
G2 2SZ
Disclaimer: Mrs Foodie received a complimentary wine tasting but Fred sez she wasn't bribed she was just imbibed (har har!)
