How to pair wine with food
Wine expert Henry Jeffreys provides tasting notes on our exclusive BBC Good Food Wine Club cases. Read about flavour profiles and ideas for pairing with food.
The BBC Good Food Wine Club offers discounts on exclusively curated cases of wine, chosen by wine experts and the BBC Good Food team, for you to subscribe to or buy as a gift. Our specialist, Henry Jeffreys, provides professional tasting notes on each wine to help you match them with your favourite bbcgoodfood.com recipes. We've also rounded up the best wine racks for safely storing your bottle collection. Want to know more? Visit our guide to the BBC Good Food Wine Club.
Sign up to the BBC Good Food Wine Club today.
Tips for choosing the best wine for your meal
Read Henry's quick and easy guides to matching wine with classic dishes:
How to match wine with pork
How to match wine with chicken
How to match wine with pasta
Wine and food matching: a simple infographic guide
What to eat with red wine
Cabernet Franc
Serve with... Lancashire hotpot
Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon’s little brother, loves lamb. It can make quite light wines but in the south of France it puts on a bit of muscle and relishes as tussle with one of England’s greatest dishes, the Lancashire hotpot. Rich, melty lamb with perfumed meaty wine, what could be better?
Cabernet Sauvignon/ Primitivo
Serve with... melanzane alla parmigiana
A famous southern Italian dish with a delicious red from the same part of Italy. Why do they work so well? Well, big reds loves parmesan, the cheese makes the wine taste smoother. A Cabernet Sauvignon/Primitivo has a stature not to be overcome by the richness of the dish.
Cabernet/ Shiraz
Serve with... beef & vegetable casserole
Sometimes with the simplest food, it’s worth having a wine that’s a bit special. Let the wine take centre stage while the food play a supporting role. Which is just what happens here: this no-nonsense beef dish accentuates the fruit, softens the tannins and lets this complex red really shine.
What to eat with white wine
Palomino blanco
Serve with... Spanish rice & prawn one-pot
Palomino white wine is made from the same grape as sherry and like a good pale dry sherry, it’s great with tapas especially grilled prawns, chorizo and charred green peppers. So this recipe is perfect because it contains all the elements that sing with this grape, all in one dish.
Vermentino/ Roussanne
Serve with... roasted tomato, basil & parmesan quiche
Tomatoes can be tricky beasts with their high acidity and sugar levels. Combine this with eggs, pastry and parmesan, and you have a dish that needs a wine like this southern French blend. With its full body and zingy acidity, it both complements and cut through the richness of this dish.
Falanghina
Serve with... Thai green chicken curry
Southern Italian wine with south east Asian dish sounds like a recipe for a dog’s dinner but this combination is actually the cat’s pyjamas. Falanghina, a grape native to Campania, has a spicy quality that complements curried flavours and has the fruit not to get washed away by the heat.
How do I sign up to BBC Good Food Wine Club?
To subscribe, visit bbcgoodfoodwineclub.com to choose one of the three cases, create an account and place your order. You’ll then receive your first case within three working days.
Order online or call 03300 242 855.
Terms and conditions
Introductory offer – new customers (18 years or over) only. One case per household. No further discounts applicable. Free delivery (usually £7.99). Offer ends Delivery within three working days (except Northern Ireland and the Scottish Highlands). YOUR FUTURE CASES: Every four, eight or 12 weeks, you will be notified of the next wine plan selection, which you will automatically receive unless you request otherwise. You will be charged the appropriate sum for each delivery. Unless otherwise stated, all wines contain sulphites. Visit bbcgoodfoodwineclub.com for full terms and conditions. Laithwaite’s Wine is part of Direct Wines Ltd. Registered in England and Wales. Registered Number 1095091. One Waterside Drive, Arlington Business Park, Theale, Berkshire RG7 4SW.
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