Perhaps this post is a week too late, but fingers crossed we’ll be reigniting the BBQ’s when that highly anticipated heat wave hits Irish shores this summer. Niall’s Romaine Burritos sing summer. They’ve got that fresh, light and refreshing bite to go hand in hand with everything to do with summer BBQ’s, including screaming kids and scrounging dogs.

There’s a good crunch to this snack and a lovely creamy texture from the avocado. Many New World Chardonnay’s show good fruit characteristics, but also have that creamy mouthfeel if the oak has been well integrated during the winemaking process.

A recent addition to our range, the Tabalí Reserva Chardonnay, has that full-bodied palate but as only 20% of the juice has been aged in oak, it’s a very fruity wine, making it a winner with both Chardonnay drinkers and Chardonnay haters.

Heading to France we have another 100% Chardonnay, but this time it’s sparkling. Aureus Crémant de Loire Brut again has that full-bodied, savoury/buttery texture (not unlike Champagne) that will marry beautifully with these Romaine Burritos. The grapes selected for this 2002 sparkler where taken from the same vineyard used for an earlier vintage which won one of only 5 Gold Medals in the Best Chardonnay in the World Competition.

Video courtesy of Look and Taste.

During the winter months, Niall’s soups were a necessity in the Curious Wines warehouse. You either ate soup, or you died a horrible cold death.

OK, slight exaggeration, but at the time there was nothing better, and even now with the warmer weather, these kind of recipes are great for making lunch interesting again. Nice thing is, there’s nothing complicated about making them, you don’t even have to have any real experience in the kitchen before giving it a go (Dad, are you listening?)

I thought I might have a tricky one on my hands when it came to finding a wine match for this. Indeed, it’s not quite as straight forward as matching with a normal meal, but break down the main ingredients and you have something to work on.

I’m not always right, so scold me if you think otherwise, but I believe white wines in general work better with soup. There’s not much green in this recipe, so I’m not thinking dry Sauvignon Blanc. Instead we have pepper and carrot which add a sweetness, and potato, giving it body.

So here it goes - a nice rounded, full-bodied off-dry Gewurztraminer. Try New Zealand or Alsace for good examples. If you prefer red, a light Beaujolais or a Burgundy Pinot Noir are also sure to hit the spot.

Video courtesy of Look and Taste.

You’ll not even notice the meat or the fish are missing, but if you’re health conscious, you might notice the whack of butter that goes in at the end. Use less or omit it if you wish, but for me personally, I’d rather rely on the French Paradox theory, which would tell us not to worry about the butter, as long as you have a nice glass of wine to go with it.

I’m thinking of a wine with a little oak. Something slightly unusual on the Irish market - a Pinot Blanc from New Zealand. The Greenhough Pinot Blanc has been aged in seasoned French oak for 5 months adding a rich, rounded creamy, almost buttery texture, which will go beautifully with that slab of Golden Cow. The delicate fruit flavours and mild spice from this stunning make it one of my favourite choices with or without food.

I also reckon a light South African Pinotage is another good option for vibrant stir fried vegetables. The super popular Long Neck Pinotage is a great value alternative.

Video courtesy of Look and Taste.

I’m quite fussy about chicken. In my experience nearly all of the fast food restaurants, and even many of those who don’t claim to be fast food, don’t bother making chicken burgers using fresh chicken that hasn’t been processed. It’s so easy to tell when you’ve been dooped with the inferior processed substitute made mainly from a skin emulsion.

We are what we eat and the fact is fresh free range chicken is not expensive, so if you’re eating at home eat well. This chicken burger is a piece of cake - well it’s not technically cake, but you know what I mean. Get your bread crumbs, egg and flour separated into three bowls and away you go.

There won’t be that greasiness to worry about from the burger itself and what you’ll have is a great treat made with wholesome ingredients delivering simple, tasty flavours that haven’t been tampered with.

If you’re not in the mood for a cool beer, then a full bodied, buttery Chardonnay will drink beautifully alongside this dish. Langmeil’s GCV Chardonnay is one of my personal favourites. It’s got a wonderful creaminess without the smokiness of a wine that may have been over-oaked. If red is your preference, the Farina Valpolicella is an Italian Stallion with a soft rich character, as opposed to being a big brash fruit-bomb.

Video courtesy of Look and Taste.

Who ever said Turkey was just for Christmas? I tried this recipe out at the start of the week but I couldn’t get my hands on Turkey breast so I used chicken instead. It turned out really well, but there is definitely a distinctive difference in taste between the two, so I’d be eager to try out the old Christmas bird for something a little different - even if it is only the start of Spring.

You’ll probably agree this is quite a versatile dish in terms of wine matching. There are no really big flavours there that will stick out like a sore thumb, so my advice would be to pick a wine that doesn’t stand out like a sore thumb either. A delicate white or a light red.

The Ortonese Malvasia is an ideal partner to poultry and mild cheese. Pinot Noir would be my red choice. Domaine Chateau d’Eau Pinot Noir is a lovely food partner, but lets not forget the amazing quality coming out of New Zealand as well. The Waipara Springs Pinot Noir 2008 is in that more youthful, lighter style that I’m after for this dish, and will more than hold its own when it comes to that rich tomato sauce, as well as everything else.

Video courtesy of Look and Taste.

Forget soup in a tin or out of a packet. Make it like a chef. This is the perfect starter to any meal and one of the most simple soups you could possibly make.

As no stock is used here, the soft, blue veined Cashel Blue cheese adds a rich, creamy texture with all the body and depth of flavour you’ll need. It’s the classic ingredient, which is also super by itself, paired with a nice glass of chilled white wine.

So long as you’re not too heavy handed with the cheese, a light red will match beautifully with this soup, particularly the main ingredient - broccoli. Try the Gamay grape from Beaujolais. It’s a lovely wine to start the night on in any case. There are six villages to choose from, my current favourite being Moillard’s Brouilly.

If you prefer white wine, I would reach for a Sauvignon Blanc. Ginestet’s Bordeaux Classique Blanc springs to mind as a really good, food-friendly, everyday drinking wine.

Capers are used a lot in Italian cuisine. You’ll often see them on pizzas, pasta salads and added to tomato based sauces. It’s also one of the main ingredients in tartar sauce. No matter how or where they are used, they always give a nice distinctive, pickley flavour.

In this pasta dish, they combine well with the fresh parsley to make for a very fragrant, healthy meal - which of course, I’ve thought of a wine match for.

Sauvignon Blanc will handle this recipe beautifully. Pretty much any Sauvignon would do, but if you want to be fussy, go for Loire Valley for that drier, more herbaceous style. The Domaine de Pre Baron Sauvignon Blanc is a very affordable wine that ticks all the right boxes. Despite being from the Languedoc, Domaine de Vedilhan Sauvignon Blanc is quite Pouilly Fumé in style, so that would also be ideal.

If you can’t look beyond New Zealand, check out Fairhall Cliffs and Mount Cass for wines that would be more in the mould of a Sancerre or a Pouilly Fumé Sauvignon.

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Originating in Mexico, papaya is now grown pretty much wherever the climate allows. I started to like it when I was in Thailand, where I was fortunate to enjoy the sweetest, most beautifully ripe fruit. It’s got quite a unique flavour. Another memorable fruit in South East Asia was mango. Mango and sweet rice is a Thai speciality and I’ll post the recipe for it in the coming weeks.

Like tomatoes, Papaya has a touch of the super-food thing going on, as it contains lycopene, which is thought to help prevent cancer cells from forming. So you don’t have to feel so bad when you’re wolfing down the parma ham and mozzarella in this fancy starter.

There are loads of white wines that would work very well with this salad, provided they’re food friendly (of good quality) and not too prominent or robust in terms of flavour and sweetness. The highly versatile Mirabello Pinot Grigio, or for a little step-up, the delicate and floral Tabali Viognier are great matches.

A light red may strike the right cord for some. If so, I think a young Beaujolais might just be the ticket. OK, so we need to re-shoot the bottle on this one, but the Domaine de la Roche looks perfect in real life and tastes even better when you get stuck in.

Video courtesy of Look and Taste.

Better than any burger from the chippy or the frozen food aisle of a supermarket, the ultimate burger is the perfect home made treat for the weekend. Sure, it’s not the most healthy thing you could eat, but it’s not the worst by far, and much more wholesome than anything from a fast food restaurant.

I get my hands on the freshest burger buns possible (there’s a lot of horrible ones on the supermarket shelves) and add some crisp lettuce leaves, gherkins and a spread of Dijon Mustard. But then that’s just me.

It has to be red, doesn’t it? A big bold Barossan red, such as the Heartland Shiraz, is just the ticket here for the complete and truly satisfying food and drink experience.

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The way to my heart is through my stomach. My girlfriend became aware of this very early in our relationship, and over five years later we’re still together.

OK, so it’s more than just food you need to make a relationship work, but if your partner is ‘good food’ on the brain, then Niall’s fancy cheese selection and a nice bottle of wine or sparkling wine will surely be enough to seduce.

Ginette Mathiot (I Know How To Cook) suggests:

Red wine is usually served with cheese. But the wine should be chosen to suit the cheese. So, for example, Gruyere and Brie require a less full-bodied wine than Roquefort. Goats milk cheese goes well with a dry white wine such as Sancerre.

Many wines are matched with the locally produced cheeses of that region, but you don’t have to be that fussy. Why not treat your loved one to a Ruby Port with cheddar, a Late Harvest Riesling with Brie or a Bordeaux Pomerol with Camembert? You can look up the I Love Cheese website for more inspiration.

Video courtesy of Look and Taste.