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Wine merchant Gerard Richardson, of Richardson & Sons in Whitehaven
Gerard Richardson, of Richardson & Sons in Whitehaven is West Cumbria's only independent wine merchant. He has carefully selected wines from around the world to make a real meal of the very best Cumbrian fare.
Autumn is the gourmet season for Cumbrian foods with all the rich flavours available – and they warrant hearty, full-flavoured wines to accompany them.
The trick with Autumn is that less is more when it comes to your recipes; concentrate on simpler menus and sauces and allow the basic ingredients to work their magic.
A particular favourite of mine is Autumn lamb which tends to have far more flavour than the Spring variety. I was told a long time ago when I first started in the wine trade that if you can't imagine the wine and food pairing, then cheat and see which wine regions specialise in the type of food you are going to serve. For lamb it has to be Rioja.
Rioja is almost as interesting for its discovery as it is for its flavour. The region produced non-descript wine for hundreds of years until the Phylloxera bug infested and almost destroyed the industry in Bordeaux.
Some of the French wine makers headed south to uninfected pastures, taking with them their favourite practice of oak aging.
They discovered that the local variety in Rioja, Tempranillo, took to oak barrels like a duck to water - and the resultant creamy product has become a legend.
There are several classifications of Rioja but the ones I would recommend are the Crianzas and Reservas with between one and three years oak-aging. The Distincto Vivanco Crianza and the Marques Caceres Crianza, both at £8.99, make stunning partners to Autumn lamb, with their soft, creamy, fudge flavours almost melding into the meat and creating a fabulous fusion of flavours that will drive you wild. The aromas of raspberries, vanilla and a soft leather armchair are just oh so Autumn! The Riojas are best served at kitchen room temperature.
Cumbria is spoilt for choice when it comes to fish, with some fabulous selections from both our rivers and the Irish Sea. At this time of the year, both Sea Bass and Rainbow Trout are popular - and as with lamb, both require only minimal effort for maximum reward. The old fashioned recommendation would be Chablis - but I've often found the steely flavours too hard for the partnership. The Chablis Grape, Chardonnay, however, is perfect. The Berri Estates un-oaked Chardonnay from Australia is almost a pale straw colour, which gives you little idea of the flavours about to be unleashed. Un-oaked Chardonnay used to be considered almost blasphemous by winemakers until the Australians came along. The Berri wine, which is a snip at £6.50, has lovely melon and lemon aromas which leads into a refreshing and almost zesty style of wine. It is best served only lightly chilled and the combination with the clean flavours of the fish is memorable.
You can't sample Cumbrian foods without trying our game - it's like being born Brazilian without a love for football. Seasonal Autumn game includes wood pigeon, duck and partridge, but perhaps the most sought after - and misunderstood - is venison. A good cut of lean venison with its succulent and very tender meat is a marriage made in heaven for Pinot Noir. You could partner it with a good Burgundy if you're comfortable with the producer in that complicated region - but one of the best is the Stonier Pinot Noir from Australia. A deep berry and tobacco aroma with amazingly juicy summer fruits on the palate, and a smooth finish make this just fabulous. It is light enough to complement, rather than overpower the venison - as indeed any good wine-food match should be – but it is also able to cope with a multitude of sauces that cooks often want to use with this most aristocratic of meats, such as blueberries and madeira.
Autumn is the gourmet season for Cumbrian foods with all the rich flavours available – and they warrant hearty, full-flavoured wines to accompany them.
The trick with Autumn is that less is more when it comes to your recipes; concentrate on simpler menus and sauces and allow the basic ingredients to work their magic.
A particular favourite of mine is Autumn lamb which tends to have far more flavour than the Spring variety. I was told a long time ago when I first started in the wine trade that if you can't imagine the wine and food pairing, then cheat and see which wine regions specialise in the type of food you are going to serve. For lamb it has to be Rioja.
Rioja is almost as interesting for its discovery as it is for its flavour. The region produced non-descript wine for hundreds of years until the Phylloxera bug infested and almost destroyed the industry in Bordeaux.
Some of the French wine makers headed south to uninfected pastures, taking with them their favourite practice of oak aging.
They discovered that the local variety in Rioja, Tempranillo, took to oak barrels like a duck to water - and the resultant creamy product has become a legend.
There are several classifications of Rioja but the ones I would recommend are the Crianzas and Reservas with between one and three years oak-aging. The Distincto Vivanco Crianza and the Marques Caceres Crianza, both at £8.99, make stunning partners to Autumn lamb, with their soft, creamy, fudge flavours almost melding into the meat and creating a fabulous fusion of flavours that will drive you wild. The aromas of raspberries, vanilla and a soft leather armchair are just oh so Autumn! The Riojas are best served at kitchen room temperature.
Cumbria is spoilt for choice when it comes to fish, with some fabulous selections from both our rivers and the Irish Sea. At this time of the year, both Sea Bass and Rainbow Trout are popular - and as with lamb, both require only minimal effort for maximum reward. The old fashioned recommendation would be Chablis - but I've often found the steely flavours too hard for the partnership. The Chablis Grape, Chardonnay, however, is perfect. The Berri Estates un-oaked Chardonnay from Australia is almost a pale straw colour, which gives you little idea of the flavours about to be unleashed. Un-oaked Chardonnay used to be considered almost blasphemous by winemakers until the Australians came along. The Berri wine, which is a snip at £6.50, has lovely melon and lemon aromas which leads into a refreshing and almost zesty style of wine. It is best served only lightly chilled and the combination with the clean flavours of the fish is memorable.
You can't sample Cumbrian foods without trying our game - it's like being born Brazilian without a love for football. Seasonal Autumn game includes wood pigeon, duck and partridge, but perhaps the most sought after - and misunderstood - is venison. A good cut of lean venison with its succulent and very tender meat is a marriage made in heaven for Pinot Noir. You could partner it with a good Burgundy if you're comfortable with the producer in that complicated region - but one of the best is the Stonier Pinot Noir from Australia. A deep berry and tobacco aroma with amazingly juicy summer fruits on the palate, and a smooth finish make this just fabulous. It is light enough to complement, rather than overpower the venison - as indeed any good wine-food match should be – but it is also able to cope with a multitude of sauces that cooks often want to use with this most aristocratic of meats, such as blueberries and madeira.
