It’s time to consider wines and main courses. Let’s begin with the Humble Chook, which presents its own particular challenges. The first thing to realise is that it’s easy to change the character of chicken once you cook it. Consider the spatchcock, the coq-au-vin and the creamily-dressed breasts of chicken, plus the wide diversity of other chicken dishes, from curries to terrines. This not so much a problem, but an opportunity. You can be just as creative with the wine you choose, as long as you consider exactly what you’ve just done to the poor bird. Creamy sauces might require a fresh, acidic young white wine to cut through the cream. Casseroles can handle a richer, fuller white, such as a semillon, chardonnay or older riesling; and that elusive coq-au-vin, the king of them all, is just perfect with softer red wines, such as pinot noir or bottle-aged shiraz. Game birds are another question, for they are frequently stronger in flavour, are possibly more fatty, and have more texture. I think that bottle-aged cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir are ideal with roast duck (the pinot and duck a l’orange are quite magical together). Duck is sometimes quite fatty, so the acidity of a fuller-bodied white wine will come in handy. If you’re prepared to deal with those bony little quail you should at least treat yourself to a special bottle of shiraz or cabernet sauvignon.- Veal and pork give you huge flexibility, for they’re in that no-man’s land between red and white meat. Once again think of the preparation of the meat and choose either a fuller-bodied white or a light, young red. You might try a Hunter Valley semillon with some age, or an older verdelho, riesling or marsanne. If you prefer a red, the carbonic maceration (or Beaujolais-like) wines, Australian pinot noirs or lighter shiraz wines are perfectly suitable. With the more traditional red meat cuts of lamb and beef, it’s clear that the best wines comes from the fuller-bodied claret styles, which may mean straight cabernet sauvignon, shiraz, a blend of the two, or else the newer cabernet merlot blends. The stronger and richer the meat, the stronger and richer the wine you need. I have a personal feeling towards the Victorian shiraz styles with lamb, for the ground-pepper characters they often exhibit go nicely with the pepper often used in the preparation of racks and other cuts of lamb. Venison and kangaroo are two red game meats becoming increasingly popular in Australia, although you mightn’t find too much roo on Victorian restaurant lists. It has become a welcome project of mine to scent out kangaroo dishes on Adelaide menus, so after much experience I can actually speak on their merits with unexpected authority. There are two extremes to the taste of kangaroo. It can be exceptionally animal and pungently gamey, or if prepared skilfully can be almost indistinguishable from fine fillet beef. The more gamey the kangaroo, the richer, fuller and spicier the wine should be, or else it runs the risk of being overpowered by the beast itself. Try an old-fashioned Australian red style with loads of ripe fruit and the occasional farmyard smell. However with cuts that taste almost identical to beef, the wine can be more restrained and complex without coming off second best. You may like to taste the meat itself before selecting a wine from the list in a South Australian restaurant, or else ask the waiter for some advice from the chef. To my mind, venison comes in about half-way between the two extremes of kangaroo, and generally requires a fuller, richer red wine. Now for the cheeses. It’s a popular misconception that you only have to introduce any wine with any cheese and you have a marriage made in Heaven. But like the rest of life, it’s not quite that straightforward. Consider these things:- acidity, strength of flavour and fattiness. Creamy, fatty cheeses need reasonably acidic wines to counter their fattiness. Think of fresh steely rhine rieslings and sauvignon blancs. Strong cheeses like Stilton and Gippsland Blue absolutely steamroll delicate white wines. Give the wine a chance, and in this case you could try a fuller red or port. By the same token, an acidic, dry cheese would merely aggravate a bone-dry delicate wine. Give it a fine old claret with roundness and depth of flavour and the story changes. Some combinations of wine and cheese I would suggest you try are:- (a) full-bodied vintage red wine with a full-bodied vintage cheddar, (b) camembert/brie with a dry rhine riesling or a chablis style, (c) a mild, mellow gouda with a soft, full-flavoured pinot noir, (d) the mild, salty taste of fetta with the soft body and dry finish of a Hunter semillon, (e) a mild, nutty edam with a chardonnay, (f) a mature, astringent dry red with a soft chevre, (g) fruit cheese with a late-picked white style and (h) rich, soft blue cheese like Gippsland Blue or Milawa Blue with port or muscat.
