Perfect Match
It's impossible to precisely describe the taste of black truffles - it's simply too exotic. 'Earthiness' and 'mushroom-like' capture only something of the true perfume and flavour of the fungus. Tasted on their own, the full potential goes unrealised. Neutral and useful carriers such as pasta or risotto are often used to bring out the best of the truffles. Salt is another important ingredient and a basic, simple dish of spaghetti with black truffles calls for parmesan cheese. The best wine with black truffle dishes needs to be round. It should have no contrasting or confronting flavour high notes. Some quality oak and malo-lactic fermentation savouriness will also go a long way.
Leroy Bourgogne Blanc 1997, Cote d'Or, France
This basic, generic white burgundy (a fancy name for chardonnay) is luscious and rich. It has plenty of savoury notes and beautifully precise acidity to work with piping hot spaghetti with parmesan and wafer-thin shaved black truffles. Good olive oil is the other star of this Italian classic. You can't go wrong with black truffles and any Leroy whites. White truffles with Leroy's pinot noir is another great combination.
Available for $360 from Atalya (tel: 2523 1945)
Antinori Cevaro della Sala 2003, Umbria, Italy
This is one of the best hidden gems of Central Italy. The Cevaro della Sala estate sits high and proud on Tuscan hills. This is a blend of chardonnay and the local grechetto, among other weird and little known Italian grapes. The wine is silky and creamy, with plenty of roundness. The wood is a little more overt than ripe, peachy, chardonnay fruit. It was made to age for five to seven years. Watch this Cevaro extend seamlessly with black truffle risotto. The creamy, rich starch and sticky parmesan used to finish the dish will unite the combination into a rich core of flavours.
Available for $418 from Remy (tel: 2845 5995)
Cloudy Bay Chardonnay 2003, Marlborough, New Zealand
For those in the know, Cloudy Bay Chardonnay is the equal of its Sauvignon Blanc stablemate. It's made from grapes grown on prime Marlborough land, picked during a number of trips through the vineyard to ensure a complex cross-spectrum of grape flavours. It has refreshing citrus and exotically tropical fruit - some ripe pineapple and a good dose of flavour-enhancing oak. This is the brightest contrasting limit to pairing with black truffles' earthiness. This is also the wine to serve with carpaccio of Atlantic scallops and shaved black truffles. Use a drop of Japanese mirin to highlight the scallop's freshness and meld the wine's French oak flavours with truffle richness.
Available for $328 from Riche Monde (tel: 2976 1888)
