The best food and wine pairings with aperitif

If a good Cognac isn’t just for Christmas, it isn’t only for after-dinner sipping either. A top-quality VS or VSOP is also an excellent base for a refreshing aperitif or a palate-sharpening cocktail. You can keep it simple with ice and tonic, dial up the flavour with ginger ale – or move into more sophisticated territory by mixing a zesty Sidecar or twisted Manhattan. Hell, if you’re feeling flush, use an XO to create hedonistically rich and decadent Vieux Carré. Whether you’re buying for a love ...

According to lifestyle and happiness guru Gretchen Rubin, you ‘bring your own weather to a picnic’. Ms Rubin, I’d suggest, has never shivered under a tree watching raindrops turn her fish-paste sandwich to mush because the weather forecast was wrong. There are, it’s safe to say, picnics and Picnics. It’s a term that takes in everything from a rubber baguette in a French ‘Aire’ off the Autoroute du Soleil to a four-course spread while listening to opera at Glyndebourne. What’s definitely true is ...

Inside the January 2022 issue of Decanter Magazine: FEATURES: Aperitifs: how to do them well The art of starting it right, with drinks tips from Kate Hawkings Vintage preview: Chablis 2020 Andy Howard MW picks 33 of his top wines from a classic year in the region Producer profile: Château Angélus Jane Anson visits one of St-Emilion’s four finest grand cru classé estates Bordeaux & Burgundy vintages for Christmas Panos Kakaviatos & Charles Curtis MW select the perfect vintages and appe ...