Home dining has advantages

Press, 2 June 1989, Page 25

Home dining has advantages

It is not very often that I perceive my dear wife trying to torture me but if there is one thing I hate it is having to dress up on a cold and wet winter night to go out to dinner.

Apart from the weather being almost inhumane, I am faced with having to buy a bottle of wine to accompany virtually each course. Cabernet sauvignon with pumpkin soup, scallops mornay, pork butterfly steaks and apricot strudel is a

little more than most can handle. Turn it all around and have a nice Palamino dry sherry with the pumpkin soup, a glass of excellent Marlborough Chardonnay with the scallops mornay, a reliable Canterbury pinot noir with the pork butterfly steaks, and a lovely late-picked riesling with the apricot strudel and you are beginning to talk food and wine compatibility.

Unless you have a rather large income it is almost impossible to afford to dine out every night in such luxury, home entertaining and

with

Phillip Pye

dining being a more affordable option. The great thing about dining at home is that you can really choose what you want to eat and drink without having to pay through the nose for it, so to speak. You also have the opportuniity of choosing from what is naturally a far more comprehensive range of both foods and wines in that one’s choice is not limited to a restaurant menu.

One also has the choice of so many things like whether cigarettes are smoked, etc., adding to the choice of atmo-

sphere. The greatest attribute home dining has is that one need not worry about drinking and driving, which certainly puts the idea in the “sensible” department. Getting back to having whatever one likes with what: one can easily open more than one bottle of wine and try a glass of each over a longer period than simply one meal, or maybe try a selection of wines over a week-end, as I did recently with a selection from the Stoneleigh range. The Stoneleigh Vineyard Marlborough Rhine Riesling 1988 is one of those superb full-flav-oured and peachy rieslings with excellent upfront fruit. I found it to be an excellent seafood entree wine and especially palatable with steamed mussels with a little tarragon vinegar sprinkled over them.

The Stoneleigh Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 1988 just reeks of regional characteristics, with its grassy aroma and distinct asparagus flavours. I found it to be

particularly great with a fresh salmon salad and rather interesting with poached tarakihi. Of the Stoneleigh 1988 whites though, it is the Marlborough Chardonnay that in my mind stands out, with its clean, fresh and well-pronounced bouquet and excellent Chardonnay characters. The oak in this wine is not overpowering, which is what I particularly like in Chardonnay. I found the wine absolutely lovely with pork medallions and just brilliant with corned silverside with a mustard sauce. After the excellent cabernet sauvignon that came from Stoneleigh in the 1986 vintage, one wondered if the same quality would be attained a year later; it has been. The 1987 Stoneleigh Marlborough Cabernet Sauvignon in my mind is a better wine than the 1986 vintage. Its distinct blackberry tonings and hints of mint I found just a real joy with a good old-fashioned cottage pie. It is certainly a wine for meats, and a certainty for the cellar for another four or five years.