A somewhat random theme of aprons and pork sausages; the aprons in honour of those who always seem to be midway through cooking dinner and are always wearing their pinny during Thursday Night Club, and pork sausages? Well that's anyone’s guess!
First up we are poshing up the porkies with a seriously good looking cassoulet (bacon, sausage, duck confit, pork belly… hungry yet?!) and an equally good looking bottle of Suertes del Marqués ‘7 Fuentes’ 2018 from Valle de la Orotava, Tenerife. Harvested from gnarly old Negra Mole vines on the volcanic soil of this Spanish island. The grape is most often found in Madeira and produces a pale but very interesting wine, a bit like an exotic Pinot Noir or a Narello Mascalese without the tannin. A hint of sulphur on the nose swiftly blows of leaving loads of pure fruit, a lovely acidity and a moreish chewy palate. Decantalo £13
Ok, so he forgot to tell chef that it needed to be pork sausages on the menu so he is enjoying the Domaine de la Rectorie 'Cuvee Leon Parcé' 2013, Banyuls, a southern French fortified Grenache based red sweet wine (which happens to have the same name as his house), and is currently going remarkably well with a bakewell tart. Chocolatey, ripe cherry, silky and plush. 500 ml bottle and a punchy 16.5% abv, but a delicious treat. Currently out of stock at the Wine Society
The humble sausage needs an excellent wine to raise its self-esteem so he decided it was time to grab a bottle of grand cru classe Bordeaux.. but in his haste he grabbed the wrong bottle! Instead of high end we’ve gone with excellent value! The Animus 2017, Douro, Portugal is delicious, rich and velvety with a mouth full of sweet ripe plums. Full bodied, smooth and unpretentious. Aldi £5.49
Sausages are not really her cup of tea, so instead she has made saltimbocca, pork wrapped with sage and prosciutto. The recipe demands marsala (don’t we all) but she couldn’t find any cooking marsala, instead she 'had' to buy the Florio Vecchioflorio 2012 Marsala Superiore Secco from Italy, a delicious wine, rich and intense with lots of dried fruit. The pork better have enjoyed it as it wasn’t a cheap bottle! She paired it with the Canetto Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2015, Tuscany, Italy. It is lovely and savoury, the dark fruit a great pairing with the salty prosciutto. An Italian dish and an Italian wine, what’s not to love?! Canetto £20 Salusbury Wine Store, Florio Marsala £22
They bought the pork sausages but in the excitement of moving house, forgot to cook them! They had opened a bottle of Produttori del Barbaresco Paje Riserva 2008, Piedmont, Italy, possibly a celebration of the new house rather than of pork sausages?! On the nose there is a hint of volatile acidity, like old spice aftershave. It is quite developed already, showing lots of secondary characteristics, mellow, soft and rounded. This softened structure means it is great without food and is working perfectly with their mood. Approximately 30 euro, cellar door 9 years ago.
Proving himself to be the king of well sourced sausages he had a combo on the go, Lincolnshire and chilli. He paired them with the Domaine La Rouviole Minervois la Livinière 2017 Minervois, France. This is their top cuvee and is a blend of Syrah and Grenache. Usually he tends more towards the Rhone rather than the Languedoc, but this is a really amazing wine, showing wild forest fruit with spice, leather and smooth tannins with a fresh acidity that goes well with the sausages. It will continue to improve with age. VinoRameca £22.50 (but tastes £32.50)
Some serious research went into the next pairing. A little consultation with our friend google and it was suggested that Chenin Blanc, Pinot Grigio and Grenache are good wines to pair with sausages (source on google undisclosed!) so they opted for the latter. The Honoro Vera Grarnacha 2018, Aragon, Spain. Fruity, broad and velvety with a long dry finish, delicious. Perfect with Bratwurst and sweet German mustard. Decantalo £8
Chicken wrapped in bacon is his tenuous link to a sausage, again having forgotten to inform the chef of his vinous requirements. This he has paired with the absolutely beautiful Jean Foillard Morgon 2018, Beaujolais, France. This is just such a beautiful wine, organic, natural and grown on schist and granite, it is imbued with an incredible freshness despite the warm vintage. Cherry, liquorice, dark fruit, juicy, seductive with a hint of sappy, leafiness on the finish. Excellent value for money for such a delicious wine. Marlo Wine £26.99
Intellego Wines ‘Kedungu Red Blend’ 2019, Swartland, South Africa. Sausages were all but forgotten with the lovely story of the wine. Named after a beach in Bali where the winemaker found the best surf. This blend of Syrah Mouvedre and Cinsault is the distillation of the energy of that experience into this wine; fruity, spicy, herbaceous, saline and utterly smashable! Little Wine £17
The best sausages are those done on the BBQ, I particularly like herby sausages with lots of seasoning in them. So the perfect wine has to be a Northern Rhone Syrah, fresh and elegant enough for lunch time drinking, with a profile of briar fruit and black pepper to enhance the food. The Ferraton Syrah 2018, Collines Rhodaniennes, France is exactly that. Supple, elegant, silken tannins and a lovely mineral driven palate underscoring the dark fruit, wild herbs and black pepper with a hint of dark chocolate. Taken from grapes surrounding Cornas and St Joseph it is a ‘country’ wine and offers up a real flavour of St Joseph for a fraction of the price. The Wine Society £12.50
