Two important dates appear on the 25th January, centred around celebration and food. Here at Ellis, we like nothing better than enjoying great food, surrounded by our favourite people, and of course, some great wines. Our Training Manager, Scott, has come up with some great pairings for Chinese New Year, and Burn's Night.

Chinese New Year - Saturday 25th January

The Rat is the first of all the zodiac animals and in Chinese culture, rats were seen as a sign of wealth and surplus.

Here at Ellis HQ we thought that we’d pick out some great wines to pair alongside some of our favourite Chinese dishes. 

Sweet and Sour Pork - This is a classic dish that many enjoy and contain two fabulous things that wines love; sweet and sour. Where there is sweet, there must be bitter and where there is sour there must be salt or savouriness. Pair this style of dish with either our Chono Pinot Noir from Chile or for a white delight, go with Pauletts Aged Release Riesling from Australia. Better yet, why not gather round a load of friends and try both.

Crispy Hoisin Duck with Pancakes - We are salivating at the thought of this! As above, there are sweet and sour flavours here that crave certain styles of wines, however, you also have some crispy and quite fatty duck here, so its pretty crucial to have a wine with plenty of zesty bite to it. Time to bring in some beautiful Primitivo from our friends at Cantina Orsogna. This wine has a touch of sweetness to it and that all important freshness in the form of some acidity. The sticky flavours of the hoisin sauce also pair brilliantly with this wine.

Chinese Dumplings -  These are a stalwart really and enjoyed as part of the ‘out with the old’ and ‘in with the new’ philosophy at new year. Gather your friends, family and loved ones on 25th January and celebrate with a glass or two of Passerina, with its easy drinking style and hint of waxy honeysuckle to compliment the ’small bite’ nature of traditional dumplings.

Burn's Night - Saturday 25th January

Our resident Scot has come up with some matches for Scotland’s national dish, Haggis, to celebrate Burn’s Night on 25th January. The first supper was held in memoriam at Burns Cottage by Burns's friends, on 21 July 1801, the fifth anniversary of his death but was later celebrated on the date of his birth. He wrote a poem where he calls for ‘A pint o’ wine,’ which if he had been drinking with gentle folk, would probably have been claret.

Wine and beer would probably be the best match for haggis and neeps but as today’s haggis tends to be a spicy dish it calls for a more subtle matches.  Paulett’s Polish Hill River Shiraz would be perfect with it’s jammy fruit and hint of subtle pepper.  If we are fighting spice with spice, a Rhone style wine blend of Grenache and Syrah such as Domaine des Carabinieres Cote Du Rhone Sans Sulfites would be a great match with its soft tannins. A carignan, Roche de Belanne Vieilles Vignes from vines that are 50 years old with its nose of sweet ripe strawberry and dark cherry and it’s supple ripe fruit flavours would work as a great foil to the earthiness of the accompanying neeps (swede) and tatties (potatoes).

Sláinte.

If you're celebrating, we'd love to hear from you, and if you'd like any more help with pairings for special events, get in touch!