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Good Pair Days
WEEKLY WINE CHATS EDITION #159
Hey good-pair-days,
Fancy a wine pairing that elevates your casual comfort food favourites? Explore our guide to pairing top-notch wines with your
beloved comfort foods, transforming your cosy nights in into something truly memorable
Also in this week's issue:
* 🎭 March to the beat of your own drum with this rhythmic red
* 🫐 Portugal's most notable grape variety that you’ve never of
* 💝 This is how you can make Mum's day this year
* 🏆 Burglary in Bordeaux!
* 🧀 Savour a flavour symphony of tender chicken, salty prosciutto, and parmesan with this mouthwatering new recipe!
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every bottle comes with a tasting card that includes the winemaker's story, tasting notes, and food pairings. Free shipping
anywhere in Australia when your order 4+ bottles.
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Wine 101
👯♂️ Surprising Matches
Sometimes life just calls for the occasion to open a really nice bottle of wine, yet what’s that?!? You don’t have a Michelin star
chef at your disposal to cook you the perfect, fancy meal for your perfect, fancy bottle of wine. Oh well, good thing that can of
pringles you have in the pantry is a match made in heaven.
Although it’s ok to dress up and be fancy from time to time, you don’t always have to and we have the perfect guide for your next
bottle of wine for when you feel like drinking fancy yet in trackies and a baggy jumper and some ideal comfort food.
Bottle of the Week
VALE D. MARIA RUFO DOURO 2018
🥁 Vale Doña Maria 'Rufo' Touriga Blend 2018
March to the beat of your own drum, or our bottle of the week, the 2018 ‘Rufo’, a juicy blend of Touriga Franca and Touriga
Nacional by organic grower/producer Vale D. Maria (Duoro, Portugal). ‘Rufo’ means red in Latin, but it’s also the sound a drum
makes if you’re Portuguese, hence the drum on the label and the gratuitous drum-themed movie/wine recommendation that follows.
Whiplash is what you’ll get if you’re expecting a full-bodied Touriga, but instead receive a lively nose laden with juicy
raspberry, plum and freshly squished cherries in a midweight and gently grippy red.
The Sound of Metal resonates when you realise this isn’t a heavy-oaked Touriga at all. But a wine that is aged in a combination of
stainless steel and old oak barrels. Subtle oak merely supports the Touriga Franca / Touriga Nacional blend, so full fruit
character on display here.
It finishes like Garth’s unexpected drum solo in Wayne’s World; it’s all fun and fruity until you’re hit with aniseed and baking
spices, earthy, grippy tannins and a superbly long finish. If there’s a stairway to heaven, it’d taste like this.
Grape of the Week
TASTES LIKE PAIRS WITH @ Tou RIGA Blueberry Lavender BBO Pork Beans NACIONAL "too-ree-gah ' . nash she on- aI" Vanilla Blackberry
Sausages Lentils FAMOIISlY FROM FANCY FACT This rich, tannic grape is also blessed with vibrant acidity. This makesit Jii ideal
for fortification, % and results in the wines we know as Port!
🫐 Touriga Nacional
⚡️ TL:DR: Portugal's most notable grape variety that you’ve never heard of!
💬 Pronounced: "too-ree-gah nash-she-on-al”
🌈 Colour: Red
🍇 What is it? Touriga Nacional is Portugal's most famous grape variety; it’s a rich, tannic grape that is also blessed with
vibrant acidity which makes it ideal for making fortified wines, and it often is, resulting in the sweet, high alcohol wines we
know as Port from the region of the Douro Valley. This variety is also grown in Portugal’s Dão region, producing dry, dark and
tannic table wines of extreme concentration with a distinctive floral note in youth.
Touriga Nacional (often shortened to Touriga, but there’s another variety called Touriga Francesa out there, so watch out!) is
generally dominated by dark fruits, often a mix of blueberry and blackberry. It's always floral, in the blue realm of violets or
lavender. It also takes oak well, so will often have a waft of vanilla over the fruit as well as adding to the tannin structure.
📍Place of Origin: Portugal
🌎 Today's Major Countries of Production: Portugal, Spain, South Africa and Australia.
🍕 Pairing Tip: With food, Touriga loves a challenge and can handle most meaty foods. The rich fruit and tannins will handle
proteins and hearty sauces with ease, and the acidity will cut through any fattiness. Our picks would be flame-grilled steak or
lamb on the BBQ - sausages too, and pulses like lentils or beans cooked in a Portuguese/ Spanish stew with a few chunky pieces of
pork belly would be a brilliant match. Avoid too much chilli heat, but otherwise, go nuts!
🤔 Interesting to Note: Touriga has very small berries, which means the skin-to-juice ratio of a Touriga ferment is very high.
This accounts for the high levels of tannin and extract (ie richness and concentration) that the wines are famous for.
Make Mum's Day!
A TASTING QU ATy o @ ?E-f's--: FRUINESS How to Taste e Tea Towe! Cheese Boarq Knife Set
💝 Mother's Day Gift Pack
Mother's Day is right around the corner (14th May), and this year with so much going on, we thought we'd make your job as
favourite child or loving partner easy. If your special mum loves wine and loves cheese (which, let's be honest, is almost a 100%
certainty), then we've got the perfect Mother's Day gift for you!
Wine News
🚨
Police were awakened last week to calls from leading Bordeaux producer Château Pavie reporting a break in! It is understood that
30 cases were stolen.
Recipe of the Week
🧀 Chicken Breast with Parmesan and Prosciutto
Let the salivating begin! This classic sells itself. Tender, juicy chicken, salty prosciutto and parmesan cheese come together for
a taste sensation. We could have gone a number of ways here, a crisp white to clean the palate, or a light or medium-bodied red
will work a treat!
🥂 Pair this recipe with:
Thistledown 'Gorgeous' Grenache Blanc 2022
Post of the Week
📸 @flyawaywithmeofficial
GPD Wine Lovers Facebook Group
Our Facebook member space is up and running so you can connect with other Good Pair Days friends, share favourite bottles, wine
jokes, pairing tips, producers, wine tips and tricks, feedback, fun articles and more. You can find it here!
That's it for this week. Hope you liked it. Let us know if you have any feedback!
Happy wine adventures,
The Good Pair Days team @
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the law to sell or supply alcohol to, or to obtain alcohol on behalf of, a person under the age of 18 years. Liquor licence number
LIQP770016794.
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