FREE TO READ: Champagne with a Sausage & Egg McMuffin? Five wine professionals share their go-to fast food pairings.
Advice from sommeliers, buyers and wine directors.
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When pulling this column together, asking my most knowledgable friends for their opinions on KFC and barrel-aged Grüner Veltliner, I got thinking about the broad appeal of the high/low wine pairing. What’s behind its popularity? Why does it inspire the tastebuds of professionals and casual drinkers alike? Obviously, it gives us industry-types the chance to get nerdy with it, to flex the finely tuned muscles on our palate and come up with some clever pairings for the challenging flavours processed food can present.
But for the average person, I think high/low pairings democratises the wine pairing. It dares to suggest that a good wine pairing can be something everyone can try. That it can exist outside of 15-course tasting menus, that it is not just tweezer-assembled micro-plates that deserve a well-chosen glass of something brilliant.
Read on, for five recommendations from five wine industry experts, including wine directors, sommeliers, buyers and writers.
Sausage & Egg McMuffin with Bollinger Rosé
Alexandra Price, Wine Director for Crispin, Bar Crispin and Bistro Freddie
@apricewine
“A rather indulgent birthday morning led to opening a bottle of Bollinger Brut Rosé with our McDonalds breakfast. The high acid perfectly cut through the fatty sausage and crunchy hash brown. Plenty of juicy fruit on the palate meant that it stood up to the somewhat synthetic but undeniably delish flavours/textures.”
Alex Price knows how to celebrate. The greasiness of McDonalds just cries out for something fresh and acidic to cleanse the palate, it’s perhaps for this reason that Bollinger is a Champagne that scores highly among wine professionals. This is a wonderfully deep rosé that’s Pinot Noir-dominant, so it’s definitely more on the opulent side. I’ve found it on Waitrose for £10-off the usual asking price.
Bollinger Rosé Brut NV
(12% ABV, waitrose.com, £47.99)
Pork pie with New Zealand Chardonnay
Freddy Bulmer, Buyer for The Wine Society
@freddythewinebuyer
“I’m a sucker for a pork pie — the immediate gratification it offers, requiring no more prep than unwrapping and sticking on a plate with an addition of mustard, is hard to beat. It is simple, disgusting and fucking great. I love it. Something like Kumeu River’s single-vineyard Matés Chardonnay works so nicely. There’s body in a white like that but an incredible focused acidity too.
The slight salinity in the chardonnay provides the perfect seasoning for the pork, allowing the mustard to punch its way through as obnoxiously as it likes, while the wine sits back elegantly, not fighting for the limelight. After the mustard heatwave passes another sip brings the wine to the fore once again, refreshing the palate and leaving you ready for another bite.
Such a nice wine also elevates the experience of sitting on the sofa in your pants at 8pm on a Thursday evening, with pork pie crumbs down your front. Perhaps not quite how winemaker Michael Brajkovich MW intended it to be consumed…”
I… might have to go out and get a pork pie now? Freddy has a fabulous way with words, and a real gift for bringing fine wines into the everyday. Also, as the New Zealand buyer for The Wine Society, he really knows what he’s talking about when it comes to Kiwi wine. You can get the exact one below, or, if you’d like to try some of Kumeu River’s entry cuvées at a lower price point, check out the selection here.
Kumeu River ‘Maté's Vineyard’ Chardonnay 2022
(13.5% ABV, honestgrapes.co.uk, £32.50)
Fish and chips and mushy peas with Grüner Veltliner
Merlin Ramos, Head Sommelier and Wine Buyer for HUMO London
@merlinramossomm
“Grüner has a good amount of natural, slowly developed acids that develop with the sugars of a ripe grape, meaning a well-made Grüner will taste balanced and fresh. Fatty, delicious fish and chips need a nice refreshing glass to cut through the grease and the deep-fried guilt, plus clean your palate. Mushy peas sweet and alkaline from the dash of vinegar which further balance the acid.
I’d recommend Ebner-Ebenauer: not only are Marion and Manfred a true power couple, they are one of Austria’s most forward-thinking wineries, looking at traditional varieties (like Grüner) from a traditional perspective. Anyone who's tried Schnitzel from Austria knows that the food isn't shy — you need wines with a straight up smashable nature. Everything is organic. The wines that make Alte Reben are minimum 50 years old, older vines have low yields, but the grapes that are produced are concentrated with flavour.”
I met the team behind Ebner-Ebenauer at this year’s Austria trade tasting, and we seriously impressed with their wines, so it’s a big thumbs up for Merlin on this one. Grüner has a bit of a reputation for making simple, lightly spiced wines in the UK (my friend Sophie Wyburd swears by her Grüner) but this producer prove there’s so much potential in the grape. This cuvée ramps up the aromatics to 11, with a far more obvious spice and fleshy stone fruit.
Ebner-Ebenauer ‘Alte Reben’ Grüner Veltliner 2020
(12.5% ABV, robersonwine.com, £35.00)
Champagne with fried chicken
Queena Wong, Champagne Collector and Founder of Curious Vines
@queenadwong
“This is proper childhood stuff, reminds me of family moments I had as a child, so I’m definitely a KFC gal (although I wouldn’t say no to Clove Club’s buttermilk fried chicken with pine salt).
When selecting an appropriate Champagne, I find that the old vintages are too sweet, as Champagne gain sweetness with age. I’d choose a cool vintage where the sweetness is tempered nicely. I think the Bollinger R.D. 08 is a good choice: it has the weight to handle the grease and density of fried chicken. But I'm fickle - I change my mind every week as I'm spoilt for choice!”
I knew I was going to get something fabulous from Queena, and she did not disappoint. Most vintage Champagnes are disgorged (a process where the lees/yeast is expelled from the bottle post-fermentation) after three years of lees-ageing, which is the required minimum time for a vintage Champagne. But the R.D. has only been ‘recently disgorged’ before its 2023 release, meaning there’s around 15 years of lees-ageing under its belt, way above what’s required. This is a high/low pairing capable of reaching stratospheric heights. I found it ‘cheapest’ at Majestic.
Bollinger R.D. 2008
(12% ABV, majestic.co.uk, £310.00)
Riesling with instant noodles
For me, for a personal favourite.
@hannahcrosb
“It’s been too long since I stated an opinion! So I’ll close out this newsletter with a personal favourite of mine. German Riesling with a touch of residual sugar, and a hot and spicy instant noodle. I featured this wine from Dr. Loosen one one of my Sunday Brunch appearances. It’s marked as Kabinett (the driest Riesling classification) but there’s still a touch of residual sugar and oodles of fruit to counteract the heat of the noodles. My noodles of choice? I’m not fussy, but if the cardboard pot ain’t red or black, I ain’t eating ‘em.”
What she said.
Dr Loosen Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Kabinett
(8% ABV, waitrose.com, £15.99)
Love this little read. My last birthday in lockdown I celebrated it KFC with a bottle on Moët, because why bloody not. But the instant noodles with a good riesling, I’m intrigued.