Not even the tragedy of the tsunami in December 2004 can calm the current trend for Thai cuisine. Indeed it may even inspire and strengthen further exploration of all things Thai. As more restaurants offer Thai dishes and supermarkets plug into the Thai ready-meal sector, it’s time to explore the best wine accompaniments to this unique and vinously challenging yet palate-awakening style of cuisine.

Without an historical wine culture where food and wine have evolved intertwined, Thai food offers several challenges for the discerning gastronome. It’s all about the food, about complementing and contrasting flavours, spices and aromas. Curries, the Thai Sunday roast equivalent, are made with fragrant seasonings – fresh lemon grass, chillies, kaffir leaves, coriander, galangal, and Thai basil, often with sweet, rich, coconut milk. Salty shrimp paste is a regular feature, providing a sense of earthiness and pungency.

With all these contrasting, complementary, confident flavours, where many dishes may be served concurrently instead of a single main course with side dishes, it is almost the ambience of the cuisine to which wine needs to appeal – appealing to the theme and mood of the meal rather than with one or two dishes.

Head chef Matthew Albert, at one-Michelin-star restaurant Nahm, in London’s Belgravia, explained some of the intricacies and complexities of Thai food. “Thailand is split into the north, the mid plains, and south, and all are very different. Coconut-based curries, both red and green are more from the southern or mid plains. The north is more rustic, more raw, more pungent.

“Curry does challenge a wine. The main flavours in Thai food are heat, sour, bitter, salty and sweet.  Each dish is a different combination, and you can get all the flavours in a more complex curry. Mostly though, they are hot and sour, or sweet and salty, or hot, sweet and salty.”

“Curry does challenge a wine”

Wines need to have an intensity and pungency to match that of the cuisine, but this does not mean a heavy weight and full body. Paul Guiney, Nahm’s assistant restaurant manager and assistant sommelier explained: “There are such a varied number of textures and flavours to a Thai meal. Sweetness works with those flavours and stands up to the spicy notes of food. The classic wine matches aren’t there, but the German and Alsatien staples of riesling and gewurztraminer marry well with both Asian and Thai food.”

Albert said one of the dishes he enjoys cooking is “geng krua, a red smoky fish curry, with grilled game bird or beef: it is rich, smoky, quite oily.” Guiney outlined the wine-pairing process: “it has smokiness from the grill and game, and is quite rich. I’d be looking at something a bit richer, for example a Scharzhofberger kabinett from Egon Müller, which has a fine spritziness, [and the dish] doesn’t compromise the fine acid structure or minerality of the riesling. A Grand Cru Kitterlé gewürztraminer from Domaines Schlumberger is rich and classic, with floral notes, honeysuckle and a touch of apricot. And it doesn’t have an overwhelming perfume”.

geng krua, a red smoky fish curry, with grilled game bird or beef: it is rich, smoky, and quite oily.

Check out this restaurant in London for a great example

Red wines do have a hard time with Thai cuisine.  Reds can be challenging with fish anyway, which is a common feature of Thai cooking, but add the spiciness and intensity of Thai flavours and the task is greater.  The main thing is to avoid tannin, so pinot noir is the obvious choice, even chilled slightly to accentuate the freshness of the wine’s fruit.  If not Burgundy, then New Zealand’s Central Otagan pinot noir with a couple of years’ maturity could be a good bet as the tannins soften with some ageing, and focused fruit is invariably top of the agenda for most producers.  Guiney said the “lower level of tannin and high fruit level suit the food styles better, [otherwise] there may be too many things fighting for attention on the palate.”

For similar reasons German pinot noir would do well, as Iris Ellman, proprietor of specialist German importer The Wine Barn explained, “when it’s gently spicy, with lemon grass.” She added that “it is quite tricky to combine food with lots of chilli with red wine, as it can enhance spice rather than complement it”, so sommeliers need to try individual wines to gauge their suitability.

Back to white wines, Ellman suggested scheurebe can stand up to spicy food, “having the fruitiness of riesling and the spiciness of silvaner.”  On this basis, England’s very own bacchus is worth a punt, as are the richer, more intense styles of Austrian riesling and grüner veltliner, maybe a smaragd from the Wachau, or a later harvested for richness, florally dry, wine from other parts of Lower Austria.

In the trust that Indian relief comes to summer this year, what is it exactly that makes good barbecue wine?

Barbecue and meat could almost be one word, they’re so synonymous. Sausages, chicken drumsticks and spicy wings, beef steak and pork chops, burgers.  Everything meaty imaginable.  However, even on the meat front, it’s the sauces and marinades that will influence your choice of wines. These often have a tomato or soy sauce base, so there are herbier or spicier flavours;  sweet and sour, sweet and spicy, smoky and sweet. Curried, Cajun and Caribbean rubs. The bottom line is big flavours. And there’s no getting away from the fact that big chunks of red meat beg for big chunky red wines with plenty of sweet fruit to complement those sauces and rubs.

But it’s not that simple. Delicate fish partly-steamed, partly-barbecued in foil, with a little basil, lemon, lemongrass, or white wine demand something without overt tannins and not so weighty. The tradition of white wine with fishy things is no bad one, but here something weightier rather than zestier works well, so more full-bodied and a little less acidity than sauvignon blanc for example.

Red with fish can work well too, and the thing to avoid is tannin, which makes fish taste metallic.  Pinot noir is the classic grape variety for fish, and it suits a brief chill-zone in the fridge. Cooling down reds a little accentuates the fruit and the acidity and makes any excesses of alcohol a little less noticeable, which is a good thing for the wine, but maybe not for anyone keeping tabs on their alcohol intake. Chilling down any red too much can exaggerate the tannins, and make the acidity edgy, rather than fresh, so just take the temperature down to 15/16°C from 18°/19°C. 

Regardless of what goes on the barbie, an attractive element of smokiness is part of the game. Indeed aromatic wood chips can be added to hot coals specifically to impart gentle smokiness to the food. That’s a whole another world though – matching your wood chips with your barbecue foods – oak wood for beef, apple wood for chicken and fish, maybe.  Smokiness is fine for red wines, a touch of oak during winemaking usually adds an aromatic smoky note to the wine anyway. For whites though, the idea to bulk up the body of the wine is still the one to follow.

Barbecue – reds
M&S:  Domino de Plata cabernet sauvignon 2006, £7.49, Argentina. Smooth, succulent, sweet fruit.
Majestic:  Tinto da Anfora 2006, Portugal, Save 20% on Portuguese wines – £4,99  Juicy red berries; great quaffing, but watch the alcohol.
Majestic: Pirie Estate Pinot noir 2005, Tasmania. £14.99 each when you buy two bottles (chilled a little)

Barbecue – whites
Stone, Vine and Sun: Domaine du Grand Arc, Corbières Blanc, Veillée d’Equinoxe, 2007 France, £7.50. good weight with fresh-baked apples and dried honey notes.
Waitrose: La Monacesa Verdicchio di Matelica 2006, Italy. £8.39. Proper verdicchio with real character and weight, rich and smooth.

One of the latest trends has become to speak about chocolate in wine terms: variety of cocoa bean, origin of bean, how it is grown, climate, soil, terroir, and quality differentials with all of these. Sara Jayne Stanes, director of the Academy of Culinary Arts, and chairman of the Academy of Chocolate said: “There are three major varieties of bean, with nearly 300 hybrids. Cocoa beans are full of tannins, fruits, spices, herbs, grassy, woody and smoky flavours.”  

For serious, fine, dark chocolate, Jo Stewart, chocolate buyer at Harrods said: “The trend is single estate chocolate, and some of the dark, bitter chocolates go well with wine. Peruvian chocolate tastes different from other parts of South America. It is bitter, but erring on the side of fruity, and it’s the fruitiness that goes with wine.”  

Savoury dishes

Bernd Flemming

Chocolate in savoury dishes is less challenging than sweet dishes, as it should not make the dish sweet. Bernd Flemming, who gained his Michelin star at the Restaurant Français in Frankfurt and now runs a food development consultancy said: “The cocoa has a special flavour. We always think chocolate is something to do with sweetness but cocoa is a spice like vanilla, or chilli. We use it as a spice, for example in the Mexican mole dish.  And like a spice, used in the quantities of a spice or condiment, chocolate balances the taste between the sweet ingredients and spicy ingredients. It doesn’t really change the texture.” 

At a recent wine and chocolate evening, Anne Tupker MW, of Bouquet Wines, paired a 2002 St Joseph with Roe deer with Diva chocolate sauce. She said: “The slight gaminess of the syrah plus the richness and acidity of the wine went well with the venison and with the richness of the sauce.” She added “the richness chocolate gives to the sauce calls for a wine that is fruity, concentrated and with some good acid bite but fairly light, smooth-textured tannin.”

Desserts and petits fours

For sweet dishes, the sweetness has to be at the same level. Tupker said: “A 1977 Graham’s port with with a dark chocolate and praline dessert went down a treat. A five or six puttonyos Tokaji, or a trockenbeerenauslese from Germany or Austria would also work.” 

Sarah-Jane Evans MW, one of the founders of the Academy of Chocolate, reiterated the superior chocolate designation for wine pairing opportunities.  She said “The tastings we do are with bars, not prepared dishes, which makes a difference.  I have found that the fortified wines can work.  If you have something rich and sweet, you need something hefty in alcohol. Young Maury with dark chocolate gives a luscious, lovely, red fruited character, with aromatic fruitiness an extra complement.”

Ripening grenache in Roussillon

Maury, along with Banyuls and Rivesaltes are the sweet, fortified red, vins doux naturels wines of Roussillon in the south of France, made from grenache. The style is either young primary fruit focused, with rasp-, black- and blueberry flavours, which works well with creamy sweet and silky-textured truffles, such as Prestat’s Dark Chocolate Marc de Champagne Truffles, or a more oxidative style, where complex aromas of coffee, chocolate, caramel, walnuts, dried figs and prunes pair well with nuttier desserts and bars of 70%+ cocoa.  

A youthful LBV (late bottled vintage) port such at Taylor’s is a good alternative, with vibrant black cherry, bramble and raspberry fruits to accompany and lift the concentration of the dark chocolate.  Flemming said “I like a chocolate terrine with port wine and figs, and I’d serve a port with it. Cook the figs in port, with a hint of chilli, melted dark chocolate, crème fraiche, eggs and butter. On a biscuit and pistachio base, add the fig and port mixture with layers of chocolate. Warm the remaining port with chocolate to thicken.”

Gearoid Devaney, head sommelier at one-Michelin star London restaurant Tom Aikens said “with [chef] Tom there are always more flavours, for example chocolate fondant with grapefruit. There are always twists in the tail to deal with. I choose wines according to the richness and texture. Tokaji, for example from Istvan Szepsy, works better than French [Sauternes]. I’m using a vins doux naturel Rasteau from Domaine Romero because it has a good bit of acidity, which plays with the sharpness of the grapefruit.” Devaney treats each dessert on its own merit, saying he loves looking at how you can play with the palate.  Italy’s passito wines might feature, or an older Malmsey Madeira from Henriques and Henriques. He said: “you have that heat from the alcohol, but chill it a little, and serve a 15 year old with petit fours.”

Conclusion

The sweet, gamey, concentrated fruit and silky tannins of dry syrah/shiraz was may complement the rich texture of a chocolate-influenced savoury dish, but it seems the fortified wines come into their own for dessert. Red fruits and spiciness are found in both dark chocolate and wine. As sweetness increases, or the chocolate is combined with other complexing flavours, better matches may move away from fortified wines to styles such as passito, Tokaji, or even trockenbeerenauslese, where sweetness, acidity and flavour are concentrated in the grape by sun-drying or very late harvesting.