This time last year, I was scaling a slope brittle with Mosel slate, clipping plump bunches of riesling grapes with a pair of secateurs. Eyeballing for defects, plucking off imperfections with the blade, throwing grapes in a box held with my foot against the 40-degree hill. Feeling a connection so direct with a wine I love to drink felt like being there for its birth, like holding a freshly laid egg in my palm.
I was harvesting grapes from Staffelter Hof (a winery so old the year of its inception contains three numerals instead of four), in Germany’s Mosel region, known for its rieslings. It was for a wine made specially for Paradise Soho, a Sri Lankan restaurant by Dom Fernando that endures as one of my favourites in London. He worked with Nic Rizzi and Roman Pawar from importer Modal Wines on his wine lists, and the three saw an opportunity to collaborate with Staffelter Hof on a riesling for the restaurant. The fact that it came from a vineyard called Paradies was further evidence of the project’s kismet.
“It stands up to spice and aromatics: its concentration complements light, coconutty dishes like kiri hodi, while also balancing fiery, chilli-heavy things like stir-fried devilled prawns,” Fernando tells me. He notes the breadth of influences on Sri Lankan cuisine – south Indian, Dutch, Arab, Portuguese, Malay, English – and how this blend of diverse flavours calls for something complex. Paradies is a unique presentation, with the textual quality of ripe pear and an aromatic seam of honeysuckle.
Fernando notes that Sri Lankan food hasn’t typically been considered wine-friendly, an assumption proved wrong with the success of Paradies riesling. “There are countless pairings for European and Mediterranean cuisines, but with Sri Lankan food, we’ve often been constrained by our lack of precedent. Conventional wisdom pairs it with an ice-cold Lion lager or a cocktail. But the modern journey of Sri Lankan food opens up new possibilities to experiment with wine.” He’s proud to be leading the charge. It seems if you want something done properly, it really is worth doing it yourself.
The Drink is a regular column from writer Hannah Crosbie about what she’s drinking in London right now.
