To Start

As you may have noticed, the snacks on the previous pages are fairly rich and full of flavour. Your aperitif needs to hold its own. If the occasion demands fizz then we would suggest a more full-bodied Spanish fizz from cava country or a pinot noir-dominant champagne. For a small group (and to save the futile search for the champagne stopper once you’re heading to the table) you might like a white that will take you through from pre-prandial thirst-quencher to the dining table. This will need guts as well as the finesse needed for that first drink of the day. A white wine from a coastal region, combining robust local grapes and the cooling sea breeze, will provide both necessary characteristics in spades. Good examples are Santorini, Swartland in South Africa and the eastern Languedoc.