WINE+FOOD MATCH

THE DISH

Portuguese Roast Lamb

Visit mindfood.com/portuguese-roast-lamb

THE DROP

This dish is a perfect winter treat. Meaty, fruity and mouth-watering, the stuffing brings spice, power and velvety texture with a mild earthiness. Pears and pumpkin bring another level of sweetness, balanced by the onions, stock and bay leaf. The finished dish requires a wine with an earthy or mineral-centric core, plenty of fresh red berry fruit flavours for contrast, a deep savoury complexity and firm-ish tannins for the meat protein to devour. I’d go with Doctors Flat Pinot Noir 2017 from Central Otago, which has complexity, freshness, vibrant aromas of fruits, spices, mild toasty oak and a stony hard clay mineral, then a dried herb core. It will easily marry up with the earthy flavours in the food, with enough sweetness to challenge the pears and pumpkin. Equally complex on the palate with a core of fruit then textures from firm, vivid tannins accentuated by acidity and alcohol, spices and toasty wood blend in seamlessly. Youthful, charming and delicious. RRP $51.99.