A sommelier shows us how you can still eat fancy while staying home

If you’re whipping up a storm at home, why not indulge
in a food and wine pairing meal.  There
is a particular pleasure when food and drink match up, enhancing the
flavours of the dish.

Meet Emirates’ sommelier, Stephen Towler, senior beverage advisor, who has selected four wines for Her World readers to inspire your own food and wine pairing at home. He’s responsible for equipping the airline’s 23,000 cabin crew members with the knowledge to advise passengers on the beverages they are being served on board.

Interesting nugget: Emirates’ wine cellar, located in
France, is the largest of any airline and currently holds 7.4 million bottles
of fine wine, some of which will only be served in 2037. In 2018, the airline
introduced the Emirates Vintage Collection, a selection of fine wines that have
been stored in the airline's cellar for up to 15 years.

Château
Montrose 2ème Cru Classé Saint-Estèphe, France 2005 or Cru Bourgeois

Recommended
dish: This wine is well served alongside a plate of seared beef tenderloin with
mushrooms jus, colcannon potatoes and buttered green beans onboard Emirates
First Class, but as a #StayHome alternative, I would recommend pairing it with
a simple oven-seared beef tenderloin that takes under an hour to prepare at
home.

Tasting
notes: This wine is made from the thick skinned Cabernet Sauvignon grape. Its
great depth and long finish nicely complement red meats such as beef, so this
pairing should enhance your perception of this characterful and complex Cru
Classé. As these top châteaux are hard to come by, you can try a more easily
accessible Cru Bourgeois from the same appellation – a younger vintage such as
2010 should do the trick!

Grosset
Polish Hill Riesling Clare Valley, Australia 2017

Recommended
dish: Rieslings from Germany typically pair with fragrant, spicy food such as
our Emirates signature dish – prawn machbous – as their aromatics and balancing
sweetness complement and contrast the dish to great effect. You can learn how
to recreate the prawn machbous at home here.

Tasting
notes: While the Australian take on the grape is a somewhat drier and more
full-bodied version, the additional power provides its own foil to the
spiciness of this dish, while the crystalline, lime flavours that are so
typical of Clare Valley Riesling, refresh the palate.

Cloudy
Bay Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough, New Zealand 2019

Recommended
dish: The resulting wine is bursting with passion fruit and citrus flavours,
more than a match for a flavourful chilli recipe, whilst the crisp acidity
inherent to Sauvignon blanc will cleanse the palate of any residual frying oil
from the wok. On board Emirates Business Class, you can enjoy the wine with wok
fried prawns with garlic chilli sauce and steamed rice, so you can aim to
recreate this dish at home and pair the two for a delicious meal. Cloudy Bay is
an icon of the region and Emirates, as an exclusive partner, is proud to be the
only airline in the world that serves this wine onboard.

Tasting
notes: Marlborough Sauvignon is synonymous with expressive aromas and flavours,
due in large part to the rain-shadow effect of the Richmond range. This
mountainous ridge to the West of the region serves as a magnet to rain, leaving
the vines exposed to brilliant sunshine for much of the ripening season, whilst
cool nights lead to extra freshness in the grapes.

Meursault
1er Cru Château de Blagny Louis Latour Burgundy, France 2016

Recommended
dish: This wine is usually served alongside a plate of roasted salmon with puy
lentils and an aromatised sauce onboard Emirates Business Class. As a #StayHome
alternative, I would recommend pairing the wine with any roasted or baked fish
and creamy lentil combination. Slow-cooking methods such as roasting, baking or
stewing concentrate flavours and thus require wines with plenty of character

Tasting
notes: This barrel fermented Chardonnay from Burgundian producer Louis Latour’s
1er cru monopole (exclusively owned) estate, has character in spades, although
there are many other examples of the style that could work with such a dish.
Top Meursault often has a stoniness beneath a nutty, honeyed richness and that
mineral element will complement the earthiness of the lentils.