Nigel Lelew on Wine

Mid Sussex Citizen Star Wine Buy 1999 Winter Hill Reserve Shiraz Waitrose £4.99 The latest vintage wine with the latest vintage lamb....sounds like an ideal match! I was at a Waitrose press tasting recently and one of the things I was looking out for was a wine to recommend today. There was certainly no restriction in choice...well over 160 wines to select from, so here is my number one to go with succulent lamb. In the glass it has a hugely deep, dark purpley colour, because of its youth. Take a glug and taste its spicey red fruit comes through, but with a softness that won't overpower the food....a marriage made in heaven!

Let's kick off with a couple of basic rules about matching food with wine. The first is that ... well, there aren't any rules, or at least there shouldn't be. So forget red with meat and white with fish and poultry. In fact a slightly chilled red Burgundy, or Californian Pinot Noir can go down really well with salmon. At this point some wine buffs will be turning in their graves....not a problem, what really is important is that you like the wine you drink with certain foods.

The second rule guideline is that the strength of flavour in the food should match the body of the wine, which is closely related to the alcoholic strength of the wine. Its no good having a rich beef casserole and serving a light red from the Loire, the food will drown the wine.

Another good rule of thumb that seems to work for reds is to imagine how chewy the food is, and then match increasing tannins in the wine with increased 'chewy-ness'. So a big juicy steak will take a full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon with all its full compliment of tannin, while a pasta dish will go better with a Valpolicella or a Beaujolais maybe.

So the big question is what to serve with new season's lamb. Traditionally a Burgundy is wheeled out on these occasions. Don't get me wrong, it can be fabulous, but there are a few other possibilities. Bearing in mind that lamb is most frequently served with mint sauce, and that can ruin the taste of a wine, my preference is for something a little bigger, but still without a huge amount of tannin. So I have plumped for a Shiraz or Syrah with a fair amount of body but no really huge harsh tannins.

If you have any comments or questions please e-mail me at nigel@vinrouge.co.uk