67 Pall Mall's 'Wine and Food. The Perfect Match'

Upmarket wine club 67 Pall Mall’s new book is more than just swanky bookshelf fodder designed to impress on Zoom calls – its writers hope it becomes as marked and dog-eared as a beloved cookery book.

That’s because Wine and Food. The Perfect Match is a veritable bible for anyone who enjoys good food with good wine. Or vice versa. And you don’t need to be an expert, by any means: a few minutes reading its wine section and you’ll learn the tricks to sounding like a buff, and then what to cook with all the main styles.

An Australian Riesling? Try it with Pad Thai or other fiery Asian flavours. Californian Pinot Noir? Duck cooked with red fruits. South African Chenin Blanc? Something fishy, maybe with some gentle spice.

Or, if you’re approaching it the other way round, there are 100 recipes (many served in the club’s restaurant) each with a list of wines to try alongside. You’ll find yourself leafing back and forth like mad, and are covered whether attempting a lobster Thermidor vol-au-vent or a trusty cheeseburger (both firm favourites with 67 Pall Mall’s members, by the way).

The wine advice comes from the club’s Head of Wine, Ronan Sayburn (a Master Sommelier who has worked with Marcus Wareing, Gordon Ramsay, Clare Smyth, Jason Atherton and more), and his ideas are matched to Head Chef Marcus Verberne’s recipes. These include Scotch eggs with haggis and piccalilli (best with a nicely acidic Grüner Weltliner), beef Wellington (a weighty Château Latour), moules marinières (a “bone-dry” Muscadet), and even a Fawlty-esque Waldorf salad (go for some Kentish Bacchus – the stand-out British grape – by Chapel Down).

You can know lots or know nothing about wine, and still delight in this book.