Mike Bennie serves up the perfect
pairings to bring out the best in the
international cuisines we love to eat.GLOBAL
GLASSES
@mikebennie101 @mikebennie101WE’VE BEEN BLESSED by our migrant
communities in Australia. The Italians,
Chinese and Greeks came early on and
gave us a kaleidoscopic palette to work
with in our kitchens. As other vibrant
populations arrived, we got a swathe of
cuisines from Southeast Asia, notably Thai
and Vietnamese. From the Middle East we
were gifted late-night lamb sandwiches.
Along with the grilled meats, pide and
technicolour dips were exotic spices.
The breadth of this international cuisine
is one of Australia’s great cultural
touchstones. But with it, food and drink
matching is an inexact science. One-size-
fits-all solutions are tricky, but there are a
couple of landmarks to work with if you
want to elevate your dining experience.
Italian food, with its tomato-based
sauces, hearty ragus, casual pastas and
grilled meats, works a treat with light-to-
medium-bodied reds with some tannin.
I am a huge fan of Italian grape varieties
grown in Australia, and ideal with our
Oz-Italian meals are nebbiolo, sangiovese
or the increasingly popular, brightly
flavoured nero d’avola.
It’s tough to apply a broad drinks match
to Southeast Asia, but with a baseline of
chill, ginger and garlic as seasoning, I’m
reaching for icy-cold riesling, semillons or
frisky white blends. Crisp, clean young
whites work a treat in cooling the heat of
spice, or simply refreshing the palate.
Step into Middle Eastern dining circles
and rosé wines go with just about
everything. Meat cooked over coals,
pickled vegetables, tabbouleh and
flatbreads smeared in hearty dips all have a
perfect synergy with dry, spicy rosés.
Then there’s what I call “the beer
cuisines”. It’s no denigration of culture,
but sometimes a dry lager or lightly
hopped ale is the best answer to a regional
style of food that has heartiness, heat from
spice, or exotic flavours. I’m looking
squarely at my Indian takeaway and my
homemade burritos and tacos.MEXICAN – CHRISTOPHE
ET FILS CHABLIS 2016,
$45 (CHABLIS, FRANCE)
Chablis is typically taut,
refreshing, mineral-charged,
and electric with crunchy
acidity and fresh fruitiness.
This producer is one of the
best, and the wine will cool
the palate against the heat
and punch of Mexican
cuisine’s inherent flavours.PERUVIAN – BILLY
BUTTON THE HAPPY
GEWURZTRAMINER
2016, $25 (ALPINE
VALLEYS, VIC) A good
match should take the
spices of Peruvian dishes
into consideration. I like
gewurztraminer in such
situations, and this is one of
Australia’s best. Gently
sweet, clean, spicy and dry.CHINESE – TYRRELL’S
HUNTER VALLEY
SEMILLON 2016, $25
(HUNTER VALLEY, NSW)
Like duck and pinot noir,
Chinese meals and Hunter
semillon seem to be a holy
alliance. The lemony tang
and zestiness of this wine
work a treat with Chinese
seasoning and the varying
textures of Chinese dishes.JAPANESE – MORIKI
SHUZO TAE NO HANA:
YAMAHAI, $82 (MIE,
JAPAN) Few things work as
sublimely with Japanese
cuisine as sleekly textured,
gently lactic, beautifully fine
sake crafted by artisan
brewers. This gem has
some earthiness, some
gentle milky-cocoa flavours
and finishes fresh and cool.INDIAN – TWO BIRDS
PALE, $5 (VICTORIA)
With Indian cuisine, it’s easy
to reach for Kingfisher
Lager, perhaps India’s most
well-known, easy-drinking
beer. I reckon, however, that
you need a bit of extra
character in your drink to
take on the spice, and this
gently fruity, smooth-tasting
pale ale has it in spades.ITALIAN – ADELINA
NEBBIOLO ROSATO
2016, $28 (ADELAIDE
HILLS, SA) This brisk
rosé-style wine, from the
cool upper reaches of the
Adelaide Hills, offers
lashings of cherry, a dusting
of spice, and a cool, crisp
feel. It’ll cover you from
slow-cooked meat dishes
to seafood crudo. Superb.delicious.com.au/drinks
To peruse more of Mike’s
favourite drinks.42 delicious.com.auDRINKS.