Which wine is best to pair with a burger?

Food in all its forms pairs well with wine – even the most casual. Probably the most critical thing in order to identify a pairing is to identify the dominant characteristic within a dish, whether that’s the sauce, seasoning or the cooking method – don’t be swayed by the main ingredient.

At Heft, we have two service areas: our Michelin-starred restaurant upstairs and the bar area downstairs, where we serve our bar snacks, sausage rolls, pies and our Herdwick and red cabbage stew. So, what happens when someone wants a wine paired with their mozzarella, Stilton, spicy cabbage, leek, walnut and honey sourdough pizza, their Herdwick hogget doner or their sticky beef shin and Roscoff onion pie? Well, naturally, we’ll look to play about with the options.

Let’s take burgers as an example – they always go well with a cola, but if you’re feeling fancy or trying to entertain, there are a couple of belting options for a bottle. The first is a pét nat, that naturally sparkling, slightly savoury and yeasty fizzy number. It has a cider-esque flavour profile, which attracts the beer drinkers, but at the same time it has a fruitiness that pleases the wine aficionados.

Another option is an Oregon Pinot Noir; we have one from Sokol Blosser, a light Pinot with fresh tannins, and its jamminess works well with beef along with the touch of oakiness to go with those chips on the side.

If you’re hosting a barbecue and there are a couple of sausages knocking about, Keep On Punching by Testalonga, a South African Chenin Blanc, is the perfect option. It’s a herby, medium-bodied white, and the dried herb notes work well alongside the apple and peach flavours, especially with its lengthy finish. It’s a banger with a banger.

Kebabs, with their intense spiced and herb-infused sauces and salsas, require something sharp and acidic to soften those intense flavours without overpowering them. Austrian wine Gruner’s notes of bell pepper, white pepper, Granny Smith tartness and herbaceous-ness aids this. If your kebab is spice-heavy with lots of onion and chilli, you’ll probably want something a bit more aromatic; Gewurtz or an off-dry Riesling with its lychee character stand up to and enhance those flavours.

Fish, chips and English fizz is a classic combination too, and a perfect partner is a bottle of Cornwall’s finest, Trevibban Mill. Its Rock rosé is a blend of Meunier, Dornfelder and Seyval Blanc, with its crisp, dry acidity and tart strawberry and raspberry palate slicing through oily fish and vinegar-laden chips perfectly.

Nicola Tickle is co-owner of Heft in Newton in Cartmel, Cumbria

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Photo: Jenny Jones Photography