After tasting a Bacchus produced by Winbirri Vineyard, Norfolk, Olley’s Fish Experience, has been praised for developing the most extensive English wine list ever seen in a fish and chip shop.
The chippy, based in Herne Hill, London, has not only added nine wines from five counties (Kent, Hampshire, Sussex, Surrey and Dorset) but has paired each one to accompany its ‘legendary’ fish suppers.
“We re-worked our beer list last year to bring in five British gluten free beers, to pair with our gluten free fish batter,” said Harry Niazi, owner of Olley’s Fish Experience. “I thought now that our British beer list is flying, why not give a big bold hug to England’s burgeoning wine scene as well? English wines seem to have an amazing floral acidity to them, like a squeeze of exotic lemon with our fish! And they add a new element to the toasty butteriness of our batters.”
Not limiting the options to white wines, Mr Niazi has done the “unspeakable”, pairing Bolney Estate’s Pinot Noir with a gluten free battered hake and the estate’s white Pinot Noir with battered salmon.
For the prawn cocktail, Mr Niazi suggests the Ridgeview’s Fitzrovia Rose or Chapel Down’s Brut; Jenkyn Place’s Blanc de Noirs has been paired with the grilled herring on deep fried bread; Lyme Bay’s Shoreline Bacchus blend has been selected to accompany the battered lemon sole; and Chapel Down’s Bacchus or Litmus’ Bacchus are to pair with the battered Haddock.
