In our series of food and wine matching blogs, this time we’re focusing on what to match with Grenache. A little bit savoury/spicy + delicious fruit, grenache is such a great wine to pair with food!
Food and wine matching for Grenache
This is an interesting conversation to have, because grenache can be made in so many styles. It can be made as a Rosé, as a light or medium-bodied wine or as a heavier, richer wine.
So the first question you will need to answer is what style of wine is the grenache I’m pairing with? Once you know that, you can set about planning your meal or food pairing!
Grenache Food Pairing
Typically the spice in grenache sees it matching superbly with roasted meats and vegetables, stews and recipes with Asian flavours. Think roast turkey with lots of root vegetables or pork belly. And slow-cooked stews and braises in the winter can be a great pairing.
Another great choice would be this slow-cooked Pork Ragu recipe from local Barossa restaurant Casa Carboni. Chef Matteo hails from Italy, and his pasta recipes are just amazing. You can substitute the pork for lamb, beef or duck if you prefer.
The spice in the wine can also lend itself to a dish with a hint of sweetness – not dessert sweet – but something like Moroccan couscous with sultanas and almonds.
If you’ve got a lighter style of grenache you may find cured meats, salmon or a smokey barbecue the way to go. For a quick mid-week meal pairing, try this Asian Crab Omelette.
Old Vine Grenache food pairings
Jules suggests that great food pairings for our Small Victories Old Vine Grenache include rich salads like a roasted cherry tomato, feta and chickpea couscous salad or a panzanella salad like this recipe.
Matt Dunne, one of Sydney’s finest sommeliers, suggests pairing our grenache with pork cutlets with a spicy Asian slaw. He also suggests fish tacos + jalapenos and recommends chilling the wine a bit before enjoying this food match. Here’s a recipe from the New York Times to try – fish tacos recipe.
Another great match that we love is a glass of grenache with a banh mi. Simple and delicious. We’ve got our favourite local places to grab a banh mi, but if you’re making them at home check out this pork banh mi recipe or this vegan tofu banh mi recipe.
Your cheese match can be a deliciously stinky blue cheese if you’re into that kind of thing (like Jess from our team). Or for a meal pairing look at baking some pumpkin and blue cheese tarts.
SHARE YOUR FOOD PAIRINGS!
We hope you’ve found some inspiration with the food and wine matching suggestions we’ve shared to pair with our Small Victories Old Vine Grenache.
If you create a great food and wine match, we’d love you to share it with us – tag us @smallvictorieswineco and #celebrateyoursmallvictoriestoday on Instagram or Facebook.
