Love a Happy Ending Lifestyle Magazine August 2013 | Page 7

Wine and Fish Dishes
As with meat dishes, different fish dishes benefit from different densities of wine and
although you can err on the side of caution and only ever serve a dry white wine with fish,
this won’t always be the best choice. For simply cooked fish dishes, go for a dry Pinot
Grigio or Chenin Blanc, but if you are serving fish cooked in a rich sauce, you can afford to
go for a more robust wine: try a Chardonnay with oak flavours or a Pinot Gris. For fish lightly
fried in batter, a sparkling wine is the perfect choice.

Wine and Cheese
The stronger the cheese, the
more robust the wine you
can choose. So if you have a
passion for mature cheddar
or stilton, open a bottle of
aged Bordeaux (or any red
wine with a heavy, complex
flavour) because these are
the type of strong wines that
can hold their own with an
equally
strong
flavoured
cheese.

Wine and Dessert
Instead of serving coffee with
your dessert course, do as
the Italians do and choose a
dessert wine instead. There are
no hard and fast rules for pairing desserts and wines, but in general, the lighter the dessert,
the lighter the wine you should serve. Rich chocolate desserts go well with red wines –
Shiraz or Grenaches – or you can opt for a rich Port instead. For light buttery pastry
desserts, try a white Riesling or a sweet sparkling wine. If in doubt, you can’t go wrong
with a glass or two of good quality champagne or port.
Carlo Pandian is an Italian expat living in London
interested in wine and gardening. He loves to share his
wine tips with the community of LLM and is looking to
hear more about your favourite ways to pair up food with
wine!
Brought to you by: Carlo Pandian
Twitter: @CarloPandian