Match of the week

German spätlese riesling and rare venison

Posted by Fiona Beckett (Google+) on September 2 2013 at 08:06

One of the most interesting things I noticed on my trip to Germany last week was how Germans drink riesling with red meat. I wouldn’t have thought it would work but was utterly convinced by this pairing of super-tender rare venison with an exotic spätlese (late picked) riesling.

The dish was devised by the chef at Zum Krug who obviously has extensive experience of matching food and riesling and was interesting not just for the venison but the way he handled it - topping it with a herby crust and accompanying it with buttery cabbage (in spätburgunder butter), honeyed carrots, which played on the sweetness of the wine, and a delicious potato and walnut terrine which emphasised its nutty notes.

The wine was an off-dry 2006er Oestricher Lenchen Riesling Spätlese from Weingut P.J. Kühn in Oestrich, an impressive producer we had visited the previous day in the Rheingau and was full of exotic fruit flavours.

Just one of those serendipitous wine matches where everything fell perfectly into place.

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