Roast monkfish with girolles and Kalimna cabernet/shiraz

If an Australian cabernet-shiraz is the last wine you’d think of pairing with fish here’s why it worked at a recent lunch that Penfolds hosted at Trivet in London

First of all the fish was monkfish, a meaty fish that can generally stand up to red wine

Secondly it was roasted - a more robust way of cooking fish than poaching or steaming

Thirdly it was accompanied by wine-friendly girolle mushrooms

And fourthly it was accompanied by a very skilfully made red wine sauce (the most impressive thing about the whole meal was the way chef Jonny Lake who used to head up the kitchen at The Fat Duck, crafted the sauces to suit each wine.)

But maybe the most important factor of all was that the wine was 60 years old. Given it wasn’t a massively expensive wine in the first place - we’re not talking Grange - it was still extraordinarily bright. Not with its primary fruit obviously but not in any way over the hill. And it was its lovely mellowness that made it such a good match.

You can buy the most recent vintages for £32.99 a bottle from Majestic or £28.99 on their mix six deal - not bad for a wine that might last 60 years!

For other monkfish matches see The Best Wine Pairings for Monkfish

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