Match of the week

Strawberries and white zinfandel

Posted by Fiona Beckett (Google+) on August 28 2023 at 09:49

I think it’s good to re-examine your prejudices so every so often I go back to wines I don’t much like, white zin being a good example.

I had to taste some as part of research for an article recently and by and large it confirmed my impression that it wasn’t a wine for me. Not with savoury foods in any case but maybe sweet ones would show it off better?

I’d suggested in the past it might go with strawberries and hit on the idea of a perfect snack to pair with it - a riff on scones and cream without having to make the scones.

Ritz crackers, generously spread with Philly or other cream cheese and topped with a couple of slices of strawberry. There's a lovely contrast of salty cracker, smooth creamy cheese and sharp, fruity strawberry. A little freshly ground black pepper if you like, makes it even better IMO.

Serve the white zin (not sure why they don’t call it a rosé these days) well chilled or even over a couple of ice cubes. It’s only around 10% so perfect teatime drinking even if you don’t have a sweet tooth. Berry-topped cheesecakes or Eton mess would would work too.

If you’d like be able to check out all the food and wine pairings on the site you can buy a bundle of credits here to access my premium content.

And/or for regular updates on what and where I’ve been eating, drinking and travelling sign up for my weekly newsletter Eat This, Drink That, Live Well.