The perfect complement

MY FRIEND, RICHA, MAKES GREAT Indian food. But this is only one of the reasons I like the charming lady. She realises that food should complement the wine and not compete with it. Her spreads of spinach, dhal and tandoori chicken are delightfully aromatic but never overwhelming. One of her recent dinner parties started with a magnum of Lanson, an easy choice when she knew her wine loving pals would compete to provide the liquid sustenance for the remainder of the evening.

I felt my humble offering of a 2002 gewurztraminer from Alsace was the perfect choice. That was until the arrival of another guest who had a wine cellar more serious than most of us could aspire to. This friend - 'The Decanter' - came with a Riedel decanter and two bottles of top claret.

After drinking the champagne, we were ushered to the table. The guests greeted the gewurztraminer with interest. It was sightly sweet and packed with ripe tropical fruit flavours, but from their somewhat pensive expressions, I could tell that my fellow diners were more used to the oaky chardonnays or crisp sauvignons from the New World. Once they tasted the gewurztraminer, their doubts about the quality, style and most importantly its suitably to accompany Indian food disappeared immediately. It was a match made in heaven..

Initially I was sceptical that The Decanter's offerings of the premier cru Chateau Pavie 1983 and grand cru Chateau Gruaud-Larose 1989 would be wasted on the food, but both went perfectly with this subtle Indian cuisine.

Another guest had arrived clutching a bottle of the 2000 'Sarget de Larose', coincidentally Gruaud-Larose's second wine, made with grapes considered not up to scratch for the top label. I sipped and marvelled at just how good, this 'lesser' wine of a great chateau was.

The sight of 'Vintage 2000' on a red Bordeaux wine label is almost a guarantee of quality. Whether you opt for an affordable wine or prefer a long lasting cru classe wine worthy of The Decanter, snap up this vintage now.