Actually, the punters who email us are usually far too nice to demand anything.  They're more of your polite request variety and politely request they did.  So we just dropped everything and went searching for answers.

Since Fred Peacock was our 'go to' man on wineshows and the technical jargon used at these types of events, and because he couldn't get out of the warehouse tea room until we let him, we thought he could answer your emails. The fact that this would save us both time and money had absolutely nothing to do with it (no, nothing at all - Ed).

Fred's responses podcast
punters_want_answers.mp3 (5.3mb, 7:50 min)	Fred deals with food and wine matching, hot flushes affecting our fair punter ladies and slams the cellar door owner who put punter Paul in a very difficult position.

We recommend that you listen to the podcast since Fred puts it much better than we can but if you have some technical impediment or moral objection to listening to podcasts then read on.

What food goes with which wine

The first email came from a punter who signed off as 'Me'.  Me explained that they were always at a loss as to what wine should go with what food.  Specifically 'Me' wanted to know what wine they should serve with chicken, fish or lamb. 

Fred responded "generally with fish I like nice crisp Rieslings". However, there are some combinations that work particularly well with specific types of seafood.  He mentioned that his friends always recommend Sauvignon Blanc if you are eating shell fish.  Fred prefers a gwertztraminer with this type of food but a chardonnay can also work well.

For what it's worth we agree with Fred that a white like schonburger will also work well with most seafood.  You can read our thoughts on Schonburger here.

In the case of lamb Fred was brief and to the point "pinot and lamb is beautiful - great combination!". (Nuff said - Ed)

Since chicken can be prepared in a number of ways the answer is a little more complicated.  If you have a creamy chicken dish Fred recommended a white with good acid.  He wasn't so sure about Sauvignon Blanc which may be too flavoursome for this type of chicken dish. We always recommend a sweeter style Riesling with a spicy chicken dish. The contrast between spice and sweet always works as far as we are concerned.  

Then 'Me' went on to ask about BBQs and in particular what wine would you have with burnt sausages.  This appeared to throw Fred completely off his game,  "hmmm burnt sausages - not a gold medal Pinot!".  In fact he got a truly frightening look in his eyes and said not to drink any of the Bream Creek wines with burnt sausages (folks, the similarity with Tony Soprano was scary - Ed).

And then he said ... er ... well .... "a Rosé, yeah maybe a Rosé" (ouch!, still with us producers and lovers of Rosé - Ed). For the record we thought that was harsh, very harsh.  Don't send your shouty emails or comments to us send them to Bream Creek.

High alcohol wines give me hot flushes

The next email was from Jo who, being a lady of a certain age, suffers when drinking high alcohol wines and she was looking for low alcohol alternatives.  By low alcohol she meant wines around 8 - 9%.  As Fred pointed out high alcohol content is normally associated with what he described as "the mainland reds" - "some shiraz wines are up around 15% and this can be unpleasant" (only at first and then it becomes a wonderful blur - Ed).  

So Jo needs to look to the whites. In particular Fred recommended the sweeter style Rieslings as they have unfermented sugar left in the wine. Fermenting results in sugars being converted into alcohol.  So Rieslings like Frogmore Creek FGR or the Darlington TGR would be a good bet.  Fred also plugged his soon to be released VGR. Along this line of thought we have also found varieties like Frontignac are also low alcohol.  

Under no circumstances Jo must you or anyone you know seek out or purchase non-alcoholic wine.  Not only is the stuff an affront to mankind but it encourages the completely wrong sort of people - you know the ones we mean ( I usually remove the rants but I happen to agree this time - Ed).

When good spittoons go bad

Lastly we turn to the unfortunate situation faced by punter Paul.  We felt for this poor man so much we decided to quote from the email in full.

Hey Guys

I have been the victim of an unfortunate set of circumstances and I need your assistance.  Recently I was at a cellar door and being the responsible person I am I wanted to use the spittoon.  Since it was on the counter I delicately lent forward and sent what I thought was a brilliantly directed jet of marginally enjoyable pinot into the spittoon.

This is when things started to go horribly wrong. The jet of liquid ran around the lip of the spittoon and flew onwards and upwards to land onto the cellar door owner's computer.  A bit of it also splashed on to said owner.  In the long and uncomfortable silence that followed all I could think of was Homer Simpson who said " there was some unpleasantness I can never go back".

Well can I go back ? If so when?

Yours in distress

Paul

Fred responded "Paul yes you can go back and I suggest that cellar door owner get the spittoon off the counter and have it at a sensible waist height on the floor!".  He had a lot to say, none of it good, about cellar door owners and staff who don't understand that spit and wine serving do not go together. "Even if you have world class saliva keep it away from the wine".

There you have it Paul you have been absolutely, completely and positively vindicated.  It was not your fault and we say go and unleash your legal team on this poor unsuspecting cellar door owner to see if you can get massive damages for pain and suffering or at least some free wine (because too much litigation is never enough - Ed).

What do you think?  Send us a comment