Photography by Keiko Oikawa
There’s nothing more satisfying than setting off for a walk and stumbling across a hedgerow of ripe blackberries. Who can resist the gorgeous colour of those ripe, bursting berries? I defy anyone to walk past without sampling a few of the choicest morsels plucked from the topmost branches.
By August and September, we are treated to a number of different berries, a few you can forage, but most from your local greengrocer or farmers’ market unless you are particularly green fingered – blackberries, loganberries, redcurrants, table grapes, and a few late raspberries, strawberries and gooseberries. Stock up on nature’s generous supply of multi-vitamins, enjoy them fresh when you can, and freeze, jam or compote what you can’t eat to liven up your puddings in the winter months.
Choosing wine to pair with berries, like all food and wine matching, depends on how you’re planning to present your food. The most obvious is serving berries as a dessert, but they make an excellent garnish and of course a key ingredient in a more complicated dish. Savoury wise, a haunch of venison in a Zinfandel and redcurrant sauce reduction makes for a rich treat, and when served alongside one of the greatest Zin’s in the world (from the acclaimed Ridge Vineyard in California), it’s even tastier.
The most luscious wines you can pair with berries has to be with the Muscat grape variety – described by Pliny the Elder as uva apiana ‘the grape of the bees’ – incredibly attractive in apiaristic terms, thanks to their gorgeous perfume. The one grape variety that actually tastes of grapes, it makes a perfect partner to summer fruits. It is grown all over the world in a variety of guises – from the low alcohol, gently sparkling light ‘Moscato’ of Northern Italy, through to the bone-dry table wines of Alsace to Australia’s unctuous, heavenly-sweet, dark brown liqueur versions. Pick up a bottle of good Moscato and macerate your freshly picked berries in it, then float a generous helping of clotted cream on top– absolutely delicious as the slight pétillant sparkle penetrates the berries and the flavours burst onto your tongue.
If you’ve made some ice cream using your berries, then try pouring some Aussie Rutherglen Muscat or one of the sweet Malaga wines from Spain over it; alternatively the deep rich Pedro Ximenez sherry works well. Don’t forget that there are some good sweet red wines available, too – try a glass of Greek Mavrodaphne of Patras or Italian Reciotto della Valpolicella from Italy – both lovely alongside cakes, pies and sorbets. One of my favourites to drink with fresh fruits, especially strawberries is the citrussy honeyed Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh from south-western France made with local Gascogne grape varieties, giving a lovely bite of fresh acidity.
So, don’t forget to take a bag or a little lidded container when you go out in late summer, so that you can collect whatever you’re lucky enough to come across growing in the hedgeros. As long as you’ve got a dessert wine to hand when you get home, you can easily create a gorgeous impromptu pudding.
