Everyday dishes and the most traditional cooking: our food and wine pairing suggestions. Thoughts on the most familiar flavours and a few wines from our Selection.
Today we are launching a new blog series devoted mainly to food and food and wine pairing. To many different kinds of cooking, in fact.
We will try to cover different cuisines, different dishes, different cultural influences and different uses of spices and ingredients, to reflect the varied food and wine world that makes up the Italian HoReCa scene, above all the restaurant trade. The wines we pair will be those of the Wine Terroir Selection, demonstrating the versatility of these wines and the wide choice offered by our Catalogue, which can easily be matched to any type of cuisine – be it traditional, international or fusion.
The pairings we have chosen to open the series belong to what are known as "traditional Italian dishes", or everyday Italian dishes.
Traditional Italian cooking: where Horeca meets wine
This is home-style cooking, within everyone's reach, which can be recreated at home (and is very often inspired by home cooking in the first place). It is a style widely found across Italian restaurants, from mid-range trattorias to the more gourmet bistros that start from traditional dishes to create innovative reinterpretations. It is also very common in hospitality and the hotel sector, and is often reflected in the staple dishes served by wine shops and wine bars with a kitchen.
In this style of cooking, wine is widely used as a pairing, above all as an "accompaniment" to the flavours. It should also be a wine that can accompany the pleasures of the table every day – in everyday life, precisely: wine, then, should be seen as an indispensable companion to the food and wine experience. Paired with the right wine, even the simplest traditional Italian dish can be elevated, turning every meal into a little “treat” for the diner.
Pizza Margherita with tomato and mozzarella: pairing with Champagne
For a classic Pizza Margherita, that is "tomato and mozzarella", we choose bubbles. Tradition says beer (often a classic lager) goes with pizza, but sparkling wine is a more rounded option to accompany the pizza's various flavours.
Champagne Corentin Breton Brut Tradition
We have chosen Champagne Corentin Breton Brut Tradition, a Champagne made from 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay, aged on the lees for a minimum of 36 months, with a Brut dosage of 6 g/l, from the Côte des Bar in the Aube département.
This is a Champagne led by Pinot Noir, a variety that gives the wine the ability to "stand up to" a double-proved dough such as pizza. At the same time, Champagne Pinot Noir helps to cut through the richness of the mozzarella, which becomes heavier to digest once cooked. The Chardonnay from Champagne, with its natural acidity, goes “hand in hand” (pairing by similarity) with the acidity of the tomato rather than clashing with it, which could leave an unpleasant sensation on the palate. Finally, the touch of perlage from the bubbles helps to cleanse the palate, leaving it ready for the next bite!
Vegetarian risotto: pairing with white Bordeaux
By vegetarian risotto we mean a range of risottos in which everything that accompanies the rice (in the stock, during cooking and/or as a topping) is strictly plant-based. Typical vegetarian risottos in traditional Italian cooking feature vegetables such as pumpkin, courgettes, beetroot and asparagus.
JCP Maltus Bordeaux Blanc Pezat
To pair with a traditional-style vegetarian risotto, we choose the Bordeaux Blanc Pezat from JCP Maltus, a still white wine from the Bordeaux area made from 80% Sauvignon Blanc and 20% Muscadelle.
Sauvignon Blanc, particularly in this area, produces a structured, full-bodied wine that pairs beautifully with a dish as simple yet complex as risotto.
In risotto we find the starch of the rice, the richness of the butter, the savouriness and umami (one of the trickiest flavours when it comes to wine pairing) of the Parmigiano and, last but not least, the dominant vegetable ingredient. This is where the aromatic character of Muscadelle comes into play. The aromatics contributed by Muscadelle, blended with Sauvignon Blanc, are in fact perfect for enhancing the organoleptic profile of the vegetables at the heart of the risotto, thanks to their floral and subtly tropical notes.
Seafood risotto: pairing with Burgundy Chardonnay
Now let us move on to seafood risotto, where the fish can actually take many forms. We might be talking about white fish, whose flesh is leaner (such as cod or sole), or oily fish, whose flesh tends to be fattier (such as salmon or swordfish). A further category, very popular in fish restaurants and in the typical recipes of coastal towns, is shellfish risotto (with molluscs and crustaceans).
Domaine Vincent Bachelet, Bourgogne Blanc Chardonnay
To pair with a traditional fish-based risotto we choose a versatile option, the Bourgogne Blanc from Domaine Vincent Bachelet. This is a white Burgundy from the Chassagne-Montrachet area in the Côte de Beaune, made from 100% Chardonnay.
In this pairing, the acidity typical of Chardonnay in Burgundy helps to temper the richness of the risotto. At the same time, the judicious use of ageing in French oak barriques (5% new wood, the rest second- and third-fill) gives the wine the body and structure to stand up to the starchiness of the risotto and the savouriness common to all kinds of fish, while enhancing all the flavours and aromas of the fish used.
And you, dear restaurateur friends, how would you pair your dishes with the wines of the Wine Terroir Selection? We would love to know, and we invite you to send us your pairings and photos: we will be delighted to share them!
Wine Terroir Srls imports and distributes French and international wines exclusively for the Horeca trade in Italy.
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