Does the Perfect Wine Pairing Exist?

Maybe if you go for orange wine. Here's what changed my mind.

Readers with long memories might recall a piece I wrote about wine and food matching in 2022. One of my conclusions was this:

No pairing, whether delivered by glass or bottle, makes any sense if you don’t like the wine. So perhaps the whole concept of food and wine pairing ought to be retired.

My stance over the last few years has been to go with a wine that brings you joy, and screw the rule book. If that means red wine with fish, or sweet wine with steak, so be it. But last year Raul Lansink and Ale[ssandro] Tondini from Restaurant Nazka in Amsterdam changed my mind.

They proposed an orange wine dinner, with every one of six courses from their Peruvian fusion menu paired with a skin fermented delight. I’ve always felt that orange wines are supremely versatile at the dinner table, due to their combination of freshness and structure. So the idea was music to my ears.

Even better, head somm Ale suggested that we sit down a few weeks in advance to test the entire menu in combination with some potential wines. There was no leaving things to chance. We put aside two hours to make it happen, and I arrived with a box full of bottles.

I can tell you that this detailed, even obsessive approach to putting together wine pairings is extremely rare. Most restaurants - even fine dining restaurants - juggle commercial realities when choosing which bottles go into the ‘wine arrangement’ as it’s often called here in the Netherlands.

Whilst the head somm should at least test the match, factors such as the price of the wine, the bottle’s durability over multiple services and the amount the restaurant has in stock are often prioritised over the perfect pairing. Then there is the need to select wines with enough universal appeal to suit all-comers. It’s quite the juggling act.

When we tasted through the menu, Ale and I discovered that almost all of our initial ideas about the pairings were disastrous. Luckily we had 12 bottles on hand. As we iterated towards better combinations, I experienced the significant difference between an acceptable wine/food match and a sensational one.

Ceviche is one of the specialities of Nazka’s chef Koosh (born in India, raised in Peru). This swiftly marinated raw fish delicacy is tricky to pair, because of its high acidity and chilli kick. Who knew that an aromatic orange wine from the Douro would be the perfect match?

Tiago Sampaio’s Uivo Curtido 2023, made from Moscotel Gallego, seems delicate and light bodied - you’d think too wispy to stand up to the zesty punch of the Ceviche. But its floral nose and subtle tannic charge were a match made in heaven. Those textural qualities stopped it clashing with the dish’s citrussy notes, whilst muscat’s fruitiness sat just above the flavours of the fish and the Jerusalem artichoke.

It made me realise that most wine and food pairings are compromises. Either the food or the wine takes centre stage, not both. A match that allows both to shine is rarer than rocking horse shit. We nailed it by systematically trying wine after wine with bite after bite, until we found the combination that made us both stop in our tracks, speechless with its deliciousness.

Here is the complete pairing from last year’s dinner:

Such pairings are made more difficult with the sophisticated, multi-layered dishes you typically find on fine-dining menus. Just one ingredient in the sauce or the garnish can throw the whole thing off.

Thankfully, Koosh’s cooking isn’t over-complicated. Each dish has a strong focus that gave us a better chance of locking down the ideal pairing.

I was even more delighted when Nazka asked if they could repeat the experience this year. So earlier this week, Ale and I once again sat down in the restaurant and put the options through their paces. Again, the experience was surprising and educational.

I don’t want to spill all the beans (the dinner isn’t until 27th November), but this time we have an even more surprising pairing with the Ceviche course. After cycling through half a dozen different wines, we picked the most tannic and full bodied option on the table. It just worked, accentuating the wonderful freshness of the dish and then cleansing the palate nicely in readiness for the next bite.

The lesson? We would never have selected this wine ‘blind’. Nor, I think, would anyone who respected the accepted rules of how wine and food matching is supposed to work.

This year, dessert is paired with an Austrian aromatic orange, whilst Greece, Slovenia and Italy also feature. I’m salivating just thinking about it.

In case you think I’m exaggerating, all I can suggest is that you join us at Nazka on Thursday November 27th. This year, the format is a five course menu with six wines - the first is an aperitif. The entire evening - food, wine, water, coffee - will cost you €130 - in my opinion, a bargain for what’s on offer.

Here is the link to book a table.

Ale and I will be on hand for the whole evening, so you can let us know in person whether you think we did a good job or not.