Now that 1 October has passed, and pheasant joins the list of game in hunters’ sights, it is a good time to think about what wine works best with game birds.
Tradition dictates that game be served simply, making it a great foil for classic reds such as mature burgundy, bordeaux, barolo or rioja. That approach still holds true: last week, with a partridge, we shared a bottle of the gorgeously silky, supple barolo GD Vajra Le Albe 2010 (£29.19 Brook & Vine, up to £35 at other indies; 14.5% abv), and it was just perfect; Sainsbury’s mellow Taste the Difference Barbaresco 2012 (£10; 14% abv), surprisingly well priced for that normally costly wine, would be a more affordable alternative.
But what if the cooking is more unorthodox? I recently had tandoori grouse at Trishna in Marylebone with a full-bodied Indian/Italian “super-Tuscan” hybrid (the wine in question is way too hard to track down for me to recommend it here) that worked improbably well, and led me to think I should maybe experiment more with red wine and curry. Try a modern Tuscan from the Maremma or Bolgheri, or the Wine Society’s delicious Tuscan drinkalike, Barberani Foresco (14% abv), from Umbria, which at £7.95 is actually cheaper than it was earlier in the year. The society still has a few bottles of the 2013 vintage, which I particularly liked, otherwise you’ll have to go for the 2014.
If you’re cooking game at home, meanwhile, let the other ingredients in the recipe dictate your drink choice. If you’re making pheasant with apples, say, a spätlese German riesling, or even a vintage cider, is probably going to work better than a red wine, whereas if you’re making a blackberry or damson sauce, you could do with the wilder, more exotic flavours you get in a Hungarian red such as Tibor Gal’s version of Bull’s Blood, Titi Egri Bikaver 2012 (£17.50 Oddbins; 14.5% abv), a blend of kekfrankos, kadarka, cabernet franc and syrah.
For game cooked with Middle Eastern spices, though, I’d opt for an on-trend “orange” wine – a white wine that’s made more structured and tannic by leaving the skins in contact with the juice, which gives the wine a deeper than normal colour and a richer, quince-like flavour. Apart from Marks & Spencer’s well-priced Georgian Tbilvino Qvevri (£9; 12% abv), few of these are particularly cheap, but if you fancy treating yourself, try the glorious Andert Rülander 2013 (£19.50 Les Caves de Pyrène), from Austria, to see what all the fuss is about.
