My husband loves cooking and we would always try food wine matching on the weekends. One of our close friends, who enjoyed my husband’s cooking, suggested one day that he will bring along a bottle of 1990 Chateau Gruaud Larose if my husband will prepare the dish to match the wine. The wine was retail at HK$ 1,200, so not a difficult decision to make!
Chateau Gruaud Larose is a 2nd growth Bordeaux Grand Cru. We visited the Chateau this summer during our vacation in Bordeaux. According to the guide from the Chateau, it was founded by a Priest named Gruaud and was inherited by his nephew Larose, hence the name of the Chateau. In the early 1990’s, the Chateau was owned by Alcatel and they spent €10M to renovate the facility. It is now owned by a wealthy French family.
Bordeaux wines are full-bodied, tannic and complex red wines. It will take 7 to 10 years to mature and start to show its complexity. These wines are meant to be kept for many years to enjoy.
When pairing food and wine, there are some basic principles – matching the richness of the food to the body of the wine; and the flavor intensity of food to the flavor intensity of the wine. We should either match or contrast the flavor characteristics of the food and wine to find the perfect match.
The food we served on the evening was rich heavy meat – pate with French bread as starter and slow cooked lamb shank as main dish. The 1990 Chateau Larose was at its peak and ready to drink, so it didn’t need to decant. It was very aromatic, full-bodied, well balanced with floral, black currant, dark chocolate, and vanilla.
There was never a doubt in our minds that the food matched very well with the wine!
Grape Wine Journey 
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