The Modern Somm: Ramekins & Wine Launch Monthly Pairing Boxes
Photo by David Bartus
A sommelier (pronounced suh-mel-yay) is a wine steward, also known as a knowledgeable wine professional with formal training to be able to specialize in all aspects of wine service, wine and food pairings, and wine storage.
The role of a sommelier is to be there to help guests select wine, make sure it is sound, and keep glasses full throughout the meal, a first-class sommelier such as Master Sommelier, for example, or a Concours Mondiale champ, is also expected to be expertly conversant about production methods of wines and spirits.
James and Thea of Ramekins & Wine
Que Ramekins & Wine, popular food caterers and wine pairing service whose immersive events and supper clubs across London are an endless source of learning and fascination for everyone from casual wine drinkers to dedicated oenophiles.
Founders James Patterson and Thea Gardner started the company in 2017, their love for hosting unique food and wine pairing dinners and pop-ups fuelling the entrepreneurial move.
The dynamic duo has two guidelines when creating dishes, saying “they must suit a ramekin, and they must be edible with a teaspoon. We find these constraints lead to pretty little bowls and they force us to be creative."
After raving 5-star reviews, the pair, who this month have partnered with Oxfordshire-based wine merchant Slurp, now prepare monthly boxes for guests to be sampled in the comfort of their own home, accompanied with detailed notes on wines, their regions and the perfect food pairings.
A new box, complete with 6 glass ramekins and 6 glass wine bottles enough for two people, comes with instructions on how to sample each dish with the corresponding wine plus a delightful bag of ribbon-wrapped crostinis.
Each box contains a comprehensive guide to pairing the different wines and food. A Chenin Blanc 2019 hailing from South Africa in the Swartland region is dubbed by Ramekins & Wine as ‘one of the most exciting, modern and innovative regions in the world… no rules, rugged and unkempt, Swartland is the Wild West.’
Paired with the wine are an exquisite curried shallot, celeriac crema and apricot dish. According to James and Thea, the wine enhances the warmth and aromatic side to the rub, whilst the shallot flavour ramps up and intensifies the presence of the wine.
Fostering an inclusive dining space, vegans and vegetarians are welcome, with dishes including whipped Chevre, hickory-smoked beetroot and Arbequina Olive Oil paired with a 2019 Jean Demont Chablis from the northern still wine region in France.
A monthly box is ideal for a date night or if you’re hosting friends or family, a night of fun games and tastings makes for a compelling Saturday night in.
Société caught up with James and Thea for their expert advice on pairings, their culinary trajectory and faux pas to avoid.
How did you both make your first foray into the wine and food pairing industry?
Having worked in the wine industry for years, it always struck us that wine pairing was often a bit of an afterthought - restaurants often use it as a way of getting rid of wines that don't sell. It's a subject area full of generalisations and 'accepted' rules which often don't make much sense. However, once in a while we'd taste a wine with food that made us go 'wow'. So we created Ramekins & Wine to bring the wine front and centre alongside our food - the idea being to make both the wine and food taste profoundly better in each other's company - to create pairings that always have that 'wow' factor.
James, tell us a little bit about your stint on Masterchef?
I was on MasterChef in 2017 and I got to the end of the Semi-final week, sadly just missing out on the final. It was hugely intense, but hugely rewarding, and certainly an experience that I'll remember forever. It's quite a tough process to get onto the show in the first place, so I always feel for people who get knocked out early due to a mistake or because they've tried to do too much - the pressure is massive on the show, the setting daunting with all the cameras and crew, and it's very easy to panic, especially in the invention tests. But there are still dishes I made that people talk about - especially my 'Deconstructed Sauternes' dessert.
Can you tell us what denotes a fantastic wine pairing?
A fantastic wine pairing is where the food and wine change for the better when enjoyed together. It's conceptually similar to squeezing a lemon over your fish, or putting vinegar or ketchup with your chips - we're looking to affect the balance of acid, sweetness and flavour, which gives a perception of increased deliciousness.
What are the qualities to look for when purchasing wine?
For us, we can pair our dishes to any wine, as we'll look at the technical make up of the wine and create a dish made to measure. However, we're still quite picky when choosing the wines as they do need to be top class in any case, with or without food. But there is so much that goes into choosing a wine - who makes it, what region is it from, what year was it produced, what grape is it made from, is the grape what you'd expect from the place, or is it niche/esoteric in style. The most food-friendly wines have high acidity and a little bit of 'residual sugar' - they're not sweet at all, but they have a tiny bit of natural grape sugar remaining in the wine.
Here are some wines we think are exceptional value for money and very food-friendly: With smoked salmon, soured cream, shallot, lemon juice - Chateau Beaumont Blanc Les Perrieres 2019
With skin on roast chicken thighs, anchovy & pistachio pesto - Maycas del Limari Reserva Especial Chardonnay 2018
With char-grilled chorizo, aioli - Definition Rioja Reserva 2016
With dry-aged ribeye, madeira sauce - Glenelley Estate Red Blend 2013
How should we taste wine when sampling your pairings?
We're not overly prescriptive as to how people enjoy our pairings. The one thing you don't need to do is have the wine and food in your mouth at the same time. The best way to play it is to taste the wine first, think about how it tastes then have some food and back to the wine again. You'll soon see how they affect each other tasting them in turn.
What is the biggest faux pas that people tend to make when ordering and drinking wine?
It's not so much a faux pas, but sadly wine is a complex subject and reading a wine list is a little like reading music - you need to know what things mean to understand it, and in the case of wine, make an informed decision. Much like with food, trying new wines and new styles can be fascinating. Accept that the unknown is part of the fun, that way it's easier to justify spending a bit more or sampling something you wouldn't normally.
How do you put together the pairings of every monthly box?
We always start with the wines - either from a wine merchant who we're partnering with, or wines we select ourselves. These normally sit around a theme, which changes each month. Once we're happy with the list, we'll begin creating the dishes to go with each wine, testing them until they're perfect.
How is Ramekins & Wine innovating in the monthly box industry?
We're pretty sure no one does what we do - creating food specifically to pair perfectly with wine. Lots of companies serve cheese or cold meats but in reality, this is worlds away from what we do. We've created our own innovative method of pairing food to wine, and we hero the way they go together. We're very unpretentious about it too, we think wine should be inclusive and relaxed, something that everyone can take an interest in.
Monthly boxes retail at £60pp. We deliver nationwide mainland UK only. Delivery costs £5 per household in London and Home Counties and £12 elsewhere.
This review was written by a freelance journalist and is based solely on their experience with our partner, Ramekins & WIne.
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