This week I made a garlicky prawn dish with a rich sauce that had a little wine, lots of cream and plenty of Parmesan. I served it on a bed of mixed veggies (basically a fridge clear out – half a bulb of fennel, one leek, a quarter of a cauliflower) sweated in butter.
The richness of the dish and the creamy sauce needed something more weighty that we might normally choose. An oak fermented and aged Chenin Blanc from South Africa was the answer.
A practically perfect match to the dish, the rich creamy vanilla notes of the Chenin married superbly with the rich creaminess of the sauce. The unctuous texture matched by the weight of the wine.
Ken Forrester is one of the top winemakers in South Africa so we were delighted to find his old vine Chenin Blanc in the local Super U.
Hand harvested then tank and barrel fermented, it had notes of apricot and vanilla, honey and flowers. A Stellenbosch wine that cost 7,50 euros. A bargain at that price.
So, think rich creamy bolder wines with rich creamy sauces. Match the weight of the dish with the weight of the wine.
