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Wine Match with Fish Pie
I’ve recently added a new dish to my (slightly limited) repertoire – fish pie, and it’s become a firm favourite. I’ve been using a bit a mish-mash of the following two recipes here and here with some very tasty results. So what to match with this indulgent comfort food? My first choice is Domaine Maratray Dubreuil Pernand Vergelesses at £22 – if you are going to be indulgent, go big or go home. This is also happens to be my favourite wine in the shop. It is a big, round, rich Chardonnay, with notes of smoky roast chicken, cheese and herbs. The weighty acts as an excellent complement to the mash and creamy sauce, and the smoked fish, parsley and fennel notes...
Read MoreScents and Sensibility
Back in February, a regular at Comely Bank proposed that I conduct a blind beer tasting.* I was very excited about the idea but then faced the problem of formatting. What exactly should be the challenge here: Should I be presenting six similar styles and let them judge their favourite without the influence of brand and brewer? Should I only feature one brewer and have them pick out which beer is which? Should I present two different brewers and set it up as a blind contest between the two? The number of possibilities was daunting! But even though I wasn’t sure how I’d do it, I knew that I would have a lot of fun at this tasting — primarily because I...
Read MoreThat’s the Spirit
Yesterday morning, my flatmate and I were eating breakfast while watching Top Gear. During an advert break I happened to look down at one of the many whisky books that I had strewn across the coffee table in preparation for that afternoon’s tasting; prompting me to ask: ‘Chris, name the first whisky that pops into your head!’ ‘Bunnahabhain!’ he replied with gusto. His answer was unsurprising. I had bought a bottle of their 12 year expression blind and absolutely loved it. Consequentially, when I brought him and some other friends along to a whisky festival a few months later I told them that they had to taste this whisky and it managed to...
Read MoreBeer and Cheese Tasting
When you’re as involved in beer as I am it’s very easy to forget things. Things like the fact that 99% of the earth’s population doesn’t give a hoot about ‘proteolytic enzymes’, that £5 is a lot to spend on a beer described as ‘sour’ and that any beer (or wine or whisky for that matter) is just a drink, whatever fancy words and flavours myself or anyone else will attribute to it. Randy Mosher, an authority on beer tasting and beer and food pairing, makes a valid point when he states that beer is really just organically processed grass. Cheese happens to be as well. And maybe that’s why the two seem to go together so...
Read MoreBlind Tasting: New World v Old World
Title: Blind Tasting: New World v Old WorldLocation: 43 Dalry RoadDescription: Can you tell the difference / interested in finding out more? Whether you’re a wine pro or amateur,it really doesn’t matter. Join us for some friendly fun as we present you with six concealed wines of which there are two versions of three different varieties. The game is to guess which is Old World and which is New. You may well be surprised! Start Time: 20:00Date: 2014/04/29
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