Whether it’s Champagne with salt and vinegar chips, or orange wine with takeaway curry, food and wine pairing has jumped off fine dining menus and  into our homes, as more Australians look to elevate their everyday dining.

Online search data shows a growing thirst for information about wine over the past five years, with food pairing the most commonly searched topic.

Lockdown intensified our quest for the perfect food and wine matches at home, and now that we’ve had a taste of culinary synergy, it’s hard to go back to chugging whatever happens to be in the pantry.

“Having more time up our sleeve gave us a great opportunity to do a bit
more research,” says delicious. wine expert and co-owner of P&V
Merchants Mike Bennie.

“This has brought about a recognition of the excitement that comes in the synergy between the thing in the glass and the thing on the plate. While we have great gusto for going out again, the quality expected at home is much higher.”

For many home foodies, this has meant branching out beyond tried and tested favourites, and drinking more interestingly. Mixed cases dominate the drops in demand through Qantas Wine, and according to head buyer Claudia Lill, this
willingness to experiment is perfectly timed.

“Over the last decade, Australian winemakers and growers have been investing in different varieties,” she says. “McLaren Vale is a standout with Mediterranean
varieties such as grenache, vermentino and fiano – wines that we used to import we’re now producing here, and the quality is world-class.”

Experimenting beyond standard pairings can be immensely rewarding,
says Bennie, who expects to see orange (skin-fermented) wines and cold reds flow this summer. “Light and fresh red wine styles drunk cold are great for picnics and barbecues where you’d traditionally have a full-bodied red,” he says. “They’re a couple of pay grades up from rose, and are more suitable to the Aussie lifestyle.”

As Australian consumers choose to pay more for organic meat and produce, organic, biodynamic and natural wines are also gaining favour, Bennie adds: “People are realising that wine is food, and if we’re sourcing from organic farms and high-quality butchers, it marries inherently with drinking culture,” he says.

As we launch SMARTDaily’s delicious. Drinks section, there’s another step towards elevating our home dining, with recipes from the monthly magazine paired with perfect drops.

“We can all expand our food-and-wine matching knowledge further while enjoying a really special experience,” says delicious. editor-in-chief Samantha Jones.

Naming fish and chips with Champagne as her ultimate home combo, Jones expects to see backyard meals taken up a notch as we welcome people back into our homes.

“We spent our lockdown time learning new skills in the kitchen and our ‘home bars’, and we’re keen to show these off over the summer.”

Find your perfect pairing now over at our delicious. Drinks x Qantas Wine hub.