Icewine and Haggis!

My thanks to a column by Beppi Crosariol in the The Globe and Mail for suggesting that Icewine would go well with haggis. It sounds like an odd couple but it really works!

Haggis, Neeps and Tatties

At our local Burns Night supper we tried 3 different drinks with our haggis; a whisky, a French Cabernet Franc Bourgueuil and a Canadian Icewine. Although traditional, personally I don’t like to drink whisky with haggis as it is too alcoholic, although it does make nice gravy to pour on top. I was expecting great things of the Cabernet Franc pairing but it didn’t really work either. So finally we brought out the icewine, nicely chilled. Wow! This was a match made in heaven. The sweetness, acidity and fruity flavours of the icewine enhanced the haggis no end whilst the haggis didn’t spoil the flavours of the icewine. Ten out of ten Beppi. Do try this the next time you have haggis and you will be amazed.

So what is icewine? Icewine from Canada or eiswein from Germany is made from grapes that are picked and pressed whilst frozen. This results in amazing concentration of the grape juice as the water captured in the ice does not go into the wine. In a way it is similar to what happens with Noble Rot. Due to the low yields the resulting wine is always expensive.

So what wine did we drink with our haggis? It was a Jackson-Triggs Proprietor’s Reserve 2005 Vidal Icewine from the Niagara Peninsula in Canada. We sourced it from Winedirectco.uk for £16.50 a half bottle. This is actually quite cheap for icewine but an absolutely delicious introduction.

For me it just goes to show that you can be adventurous with wine and food pairings and that it is not always intuitive.  Certainly, it is another example of how sweet wine can match very well with savoury dishes.  For other sweet / savoury pairings go to my recent blog on Bordeaux Sweet White Wines.

If you want a savoury recipe that goes well with Icewine why not try my duck with orange sauce recipe which is very easy to make.

We'll be pack with some other fun food and wine pairings in the next few weeks.