We’ve only got pies for you

1st March 2020

When it comes to pairing food with wine, it’s important to look at the key ingredients and flavours within the meal. The main goal of a great pairing is for the qualities in both the wine and the food to complement and highlight each other. Alternatively, another approach can be to create more of a contrast – for example one element of the wine such as the acidity cutting through a particularly rich element of a meal.

So with British Pie week coming up, what better way to add to your pie of choice than with a well-paired glass of wine. Although not as traditional a pairing as wine and cheese or champagne and oysters, a well-suited glass of wine, whether your pie is meat, fish, or veg, will help take it to the next level!

My *piefect* pub

When it comes to heavier meats, a bold glass of red is the traditional pairing. If you’re eating a steak and kidney pie, the same sorts of rules will apply. You need a wine which will stand up to the intensity of the ingredients and you’ll ideally be looking towards a more full-bodied, richer style such as the Finca La Colonia Coleccion Malbec, the robustness of which will stand up nicely.

If you’re having a Shepherd’s pie, the Conde Valdemar Rioja Reserva with ripe black fruit notes and lovely richness on the finish would be excellent. This wine has a nice balance of fruit and oak which gives it some subtle spicy notes as well.

Moving towards poultry, a chicken pie gives you a bit more flexibility with the sorts of wine you could pair. If the pie has a richer sauce, perhaps tomato based, a lighter red wine such as the fruit-forward Tormaresca Primitivo, will work nicely. If the pie has a cheesier base, you could move towards a white wine such as the Thornhill Chardonnay, which is crisp and refreshing with red apple, melon and citrus flavours and a lingering finish.

A fish pie will also have some degree of flexibility depending on the sorts of seafood contained. A simple and elegant Chablis such as the Domaines Brocard, which is structured and crisp, will not overpower the delicate flavours of the fish. Another good choice would be the M de Minuty Rose, which is the perfect summer rose for pairing with seafood although it would be important to consider the weightiness of the pie in order to not overpower this delicate wine.

For those going plant-based, it’s important to look at what particular vegetables are being used. If it leans towards root vegetables such as sweet potato or earthy vegetables such as mushrooms, the La La Land Pinot Noir – which is a very versatile food wine, could work nicely due to the savoury within the wine. It’s silky texture and medium-body means that despite being a red wine, it would not overpower the vegetables.

We’ve only got *pies* for you

We’ve only got pies for you