To say that Leopard’s Leap Cellarmaster Eugene van Zyl is particularly pleased with the 2014 vintage of the brand’s Culinaria Grand Vin Bordeaux-style blend, would be an understatement.

“The wine is complex and combines layered flavours with an elegant structure – exactly what you need when you choose a wine for the dinner table”, he concludes. This would be ideal as the Leopard’s Leap Culinaria Collection is set out to be just that – a celebration of the harmony in which food and wine complement one another.

While a red blend with such depth and complexity would generally be associated with something of equal substance such as roast beef or leg of lamb, the Leopard’s Leap Culinary team suggest a combination that although it makes absolute sense, would not have been the obvious choice. – Mushrooms.

“If you think of the ingredients that show off a great wine, mushrooms would have to be near the top of the list”, says acclaimed food and wine writer, Fiona Beckett. “Possessed of the sexy ingredient umami – the intensely savoury taste identified by the Japanese, they flatter and act as the perfect foil for wines as disparate as vintage Champagne, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon.”

It is also the umami and meaty taste as well as rich, earthy flavour that make mushrooms ideal as a substitute for meat in many recipes. But whether they add to your meat, our replace it, mushrooms can be a wonderful pairing with the  2014 Culinaria Grand Vin.