The best food matches for English wines from bacchus to sparkling rosé
Within a few minutes of speaking to Richard Gladwin, it's clear he knows how to run a good table. I called the restaurateur (of Rabbit British Bistro in Chelsea and The Shed in Notting Hill, among others) and scion of the Gladwin clan, who run Nutbourne Vineyards in West Sussex and published An English Vineyard Cookbook in 2024, to chat food with English wine. His enthusiasm is infectious.
Nutbourne makes a retro still wine, a 'field blend' of many grape varieties including pinot blanc, pinot noir, chardonnay and bacchus, plus some of the other German hybrids, such as müller-thurgau and reichensteiner, that were once mainstays of English vineyards. Such wines don't usually feature on my (perpetually updating) mental cravings list, but Gladwin explains how he serves it, and with what.
'The wine is floral: aromatic and gooseberry and elderflower at the beginning, then it stretches into lime, and I put it with spicy chorizo with labneh. The fat of the chorizo and the spice, and the cooling nature of the labneh, marry together with the wine and [it] completely heightens your tastebuds. We offer this at the beginning of the meal in all of our restaurants and I used to guarantee to customers on a first date that if they had it, they would…' I'll have to paraphrase Gladwin somewhat – let's say, make it to a second date.
The wine is called Sussex Reserve (nutbournevineyards.com, £12.80; also available at Bayley & Sage in London). If it sounds tempting, you could also look for similar white blends: The Wine Society has one under its own-label, while Chapel Down makes Flint Dry from several grape varieties, including chardonnay, bacchus and reichensteiner.
I've always felt that the right forkful of food can turn a glass of wine into a feast, and if you're opening a bottle to celebrate English Wine Week (21-29 June), there are a great many other tempting combinations to try.
With a saline style of chardonnay such as his superb Jackson Family Wines Marbury 2023, winemaker Charlie Holland suggests pan-fried scallops, or oysters. 'Maldon oysters just work so well, especially at the moment; they seem to be very plump and meaty.'
For another English chardonnay pairing idea, Gareth Maxwell, whose excellent The Heretics Deluxe Seven Chardonnay 2023 (wearetheheretics.com, £35) has a creamy hint of cashew nuts and lemon curd, points me towards the 'easy ceviche' recipe on the Feasting at Home website, and also recommends the tangy coriander flavour of the avocado sauce on the same site. 'I've made this recipe about three times, it's fantastic,' he says. 'I originally had it with Dauvissat 1er Cru on Christmas Day.' Dauvissat, for the uninitiated, is a cult chablis producer. Now there's a recommendation.
On to sparkling rosé, a style that England does exceptionally well. Chef Simon Rogan – who has just partnered with Wiston Estate to create an own-label one for his restaurant group – says he particularly loves it with the dish of gooseberry tartlet with ChalkStream trout, caper jam and brassica flowers on the menu at his restaurant Aulis in Soho.
Clearly, you're not going to rustle that up at home, but take the trout recommendation and run with it. Think sparkling English rosé with Melissa Hemsley's trout pâté, poached trout or a smoked trout, courgette and watercress roulade (there's a recipe in Cindy-Marie Harvey's gorgeous book Watercress, Willow and Wine).
English sparkling rosé is also superb with many forms of sushi: Chris Frayling-Cork, a man surely born to be a sommelier, of Dinings SW3 restaurant, says, 'We serve the 2019 Gusbourne rosé with our spicy tuna roll [maguro maki with a spicy sesame emulsion].'
Finally, as the English asparagus season traditionally ends on Midsummer's Day, perhaps there is just time to try a classic: bacchus with blanched asparagus. The notes of pink grapefruit, elderflower and grass in the wine are a perfect match. Gladwin has something to say on this. 'With a poached egg, really boring but…' Sometimes the classics are the best? 'Yes. Or a lemon mayonnaise.' Homemade? 'Yes, yes, yes, yes. And some almond flakes.'
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