London Love Wine

Cast aside any preconceptions you may already have about wine and meat. They go amazingly well together. Wait, hang on, we all knew that. What you may not have known, however, is the extent to which they can be matched and the degree of finesse that is involved.

Fortunately for you, Ashika Matthews and the wonderful London Love Wine (details at the end of the article) are more than up to the job. Picking out a selection of amazing wines from a variety of European appellations and then matching them, on this occasion, with beautiful, beautiful meats from Cannon & Cannon of Borough Market.

Set in a private room off to the side of a bar in the heart of the City of London, a wide array of glasses greeted our eyes in the dimly lit room, along with a menu laying out the pairings of wines and meat. Clearly this evening was going to be something special and I’m really, genuinely pleased to say it was.

Not being a huge drinker, nor knowing a lot about wine, one could be forgiven for thinking that the nature of the evening would be exclusive and/or only for the wine aficionado. Nothing could really be further from the truth. Walked through each wine, meat and pairing, as well as a bit about the history and geography of each, Ashika went out of her way to gain insight into how we were enjoying the evening and to ensure that we all knew what to look for in the food and wine. Some pairings were incredibly delicate and some much more robust and complicated. No matter your palate, there was something to please every taste.

The wines ranged from the opening and, quite frankly, intriguing Brachetto sparkling red wine through to a stunning Viognier wine that was so potent as to almost verge into red wine territory, all carefully selected by SWIG. The meats, from a fantastically delicate wild mushroom and truffle saucisson to a fiercely spicy ‘Nduja, all of which were produced within the UK and provided by Cannon & Cannon. A personal highlight was the Wild Scottish red deer chilli chorizo, which really melted in the mouth and delivered mouth-watering flavours. Small wonder it is Cannon & Cannon’s best seller by some distance.

London Love Wine have more events coming up, each themed around a region or country and I will be rather envious of anyone who attends!

They can be found online here and on Twitter.

Reporter: Peter Churchill

Follow Peter on Twitter here!