Unearthed® new range and wine match

New products unearthed®: free range spinach omelette, garlic kings prawns, semi smoked dried tomatoes, tarte flamblee

Last week I was back at Four to Eight for a food and wine event by the lovely people from Unearthed , showcasing their New Limited Edition products. Delicious smoked semi-dried tomatoes to succulent cooking Chorizo with Manchego and plump olives marinated in Sipsmith Gin, Olives with Chipotle and Manchego; Citrus Nocellara Olives mix and very tasty unearthed® Italian Chargrilled Artichokes with Lemon, Mint and Chilli; foodie discoverers Unearthed® have taken the best parts of the Mediterranean and blended them with some of the latest flavours and techniques to create unique and unusual range of antipasti treats for 2015. Unearthed® products are very high quality using always authentic ingredients and the expertise of great regional producers.

New products unearthed®: delectable olives, beautiful harlequin mix, chipotle and manchego, Sipsmith gin – just the right amount of gin, refreshing citrus Italian artichoke and concentrated flavoured semi smoked dried tomatoes – to die for!

Food and wine matching is certainly one of the conundrums of the modern way of gastronomic enjoyment. Customers are becoming incredibly interested in pairing and savouring new wines and drawing their conclusions to likes and dislikes.
Looking at why certain food and wines don’t complement each other can help increase the  understanding of good gastronomic pairings. A bad match can seriously ruin a meal enjoyment, but a good match can improve the experience.  The new range of Unearthed’s nibbles with perfect wine paring  and mis-match examples were an eye opener.  All  the wines from Four to Eight were very good quality.

One of the pairings of the evening Goose Rillettes: match with Domaine jena-Marc & Thomas Bouley,Clos de la Cave, Bourgogne, France 2009, a tasty Pinot noir. A classic example of regional food matching with regional wine.

Cooking Spanish hot and very spicy mini chorizo laced with creamy manchego. It was paired with Full bodied  Birgit Eichinger, Gruner Veltliner Lamm, from Austria. The sweet  smoke spice and fruity honey mellow flavours, and long finish paired well with the chorizo, the soppressata and the  salami (not in the picture)

 

Smoked Semi-dries tomatoes, one of my favourites treats of this range. Dehydrated and smoked over oak chippings in Arundel, West Sussex. This  acidic antipasto marries a Mediterranean ingredient with traditional British smoking techniques. The wine match was Grosset, Riesling Alea, Clare Valley 2013 a smart, balanced Riesling that hugged the acidity of the concentrated tomatoes with lime notes has a silky texture and soft cleansing acidity that is dry and zingy. Perfect pairing.

pictures above ©Jeanne Horak-Druiff

Here are a few wine matching guidelines from the event by Four to Eight sommelier Patrick Niddrie-Webb:

The Do’s
1. Do match the wine to the most dominant flavour in the food.
A light wine paired with heavy dishes will be drowned out. A light Chablis with a roast beef dinner has an obvious imbalance. But consider that same Chablis with a delicate seafood dish.
2. Do match the weight of the wine to the richness of the dish.
Whilst it’s easy to appreciate the initial freshness and cleanliness that a light wine can bring to a heavy dish, think about whether you really get all of the flavour, or does it fade quickly as it is enveloped by the dense flavours of the food?
3. Do pair acidic foods with a wine that has at least the same level of acidity.
Tomatoes are high in acidity, and so any tomato-based dish needs a wine to combat this otherwise the flavour will be drowned. Acidity complements acidity, and interestingly combining the two mellows
the overall taste.
4. Do make sure that food with sweetness is matched with a wine with at least equal sugar content.
Did you know that wedding cake and champagne is a widely used, yet bad match. The light, citrus, acidic combination of the Champagne just doesn’t work with the heavy and sweet-spiced fruit of the wedding cake.
5. Do match food and wine by region.
What grows together goes together. While not compulsory; it’s always a pleasure to drink food and wine that has been produced together in the same region. And often these combinations are intrinsically designed to complement one another. Pouilly-Fume and French goat’s cheese; nothing else needs to be said!
The Don’ts
1. Don’t pair full bodied, rich wines with delicate foods.
For example, a delicate white fish with a heavy red simply won’t work.
2. Don’t pair oily or salty foods with high tannin wines.
Oiliness & salt need acidity to freshen the palate because the tannin clashes quite violently with both of these.
3. Don’t pair hot and spicy foods with high alcohol, high tannin or oaked wines.
Tannin and oak do not agree with spice. Just a warning, we will experience this combination later tonight.
4. Don’t pair fried foods with low acid wines.
Think about fried fish with a zesty Sauvignon Blanc, and then consider it with a malolactic, oaked chardonnay.
5. Don’t forget it’s all about personal taste, and there are no ‘rules.
Whilst this contradicts all of the above, it is important to drink what you want to drink. Personal tastes and preferences dictate what makes the best match for you, regardless of what technically goes best.
If you really don’t like oaked Chardonnay, there is unlikely to be a combination, no matter how good, that allows you to enjoy that wine, you should always be careful to avoid a really bad match, but don’t just go for the best match if it will ultimately cause you less enjoyment. 

Unearthed® is available to buy from Waitrose and Ocado on limited edition items are on promotion of 2 for £5 until 12th May 2015.

More info and gorgeous images head to Cooksister Blog

Disclosure: I was a guest at the wine and food event. All opinions are mine.
Photography : the two photographs at the top are mine and the middle ones from Unearthed and the last two from Jeanne aka Cooksister. Unfortunately, my card was corrupted and I lost all my own pictures from the event.

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