Junk Food Wine: Cereal Pt.1 - Everday Edition
Is this the dumbest edition of Junk Food Wine pairing yet? Abso-friggin-lutely. You'll rarely be munching down a bowl of cereal and be pondering "man - what wine would go well with this?", and if you have been, well at least we have the answer for you! Some of these are breakfast wines, based off pure refreshment alone, but paired with a bowl of day starter, we're here to make your breakfast lit, and we've decided to kick it off with some of the icons of everyday breakfast cereals - some of your favourite school holiday treats are coming next week! If you're gonna try this, please do it on a weekend, or whatever your weekend is - and send us pictures! Or invite us, it'll be awesome. Anyway. The best part of waking up is a bit of Junk Food Wine!
Special K - Vintage Champagne
While the marketing of Special K had a target market of affluent active-wear wearers, it's a pretty good little cereal. Not too sweet so it can be eaten every day, and provides a good balance for your added fruits like strawberry or banana. Would do well with a bit of brioche love, and nothing gives brioche love like vintage champagne. Not many do it as good as Krug. Make breakfast really baller. Adelaide folk, fill up a bowl of Special K outside the Exeter and have the time of your life. If you wanna stay local (not to mention in the budget), grab some Jansz Vintage or even some of their Late Disgorged - remarkably good value!
Weet Bix - BK Yellow Wine Blue Sky
An icon of Australian breakfast foods - how many did you do? A staple of damn near every Australian cupboard next to a jar of Vegemite. Top it with bananas, honey, sugar, - whatever made you feel like Brett Lee. Still as delicious as ever, and definitely in need of some salty nutty goodness, and we're lucky or buds at BK makes a ripping take on Vin Jaune from Savagnin in the Adelaide Hills named Yellow Wine, Blue Sky. If you've got some wine left over after you're done with your Weet-bix, follow it up with some cheese like Comte - maybe show the wine some respect, after we somewhat bastardise it. Love you BK!
Rice Bubbles - Chablis
Rice Bubbles are just the placebo when you can't have CocoPops because you really shouldn't have coco pops every day. That being said, still heaps of fun - not like a chocolate milkshake only crunch, more like a milk... milkshake. There is something about it that is screaming for some flinty reduction, so we're gonna have to go back to France and get some Chablis - the reigning champ of reduction, and we mean that in a good way. Don't go crazy, get some Petit Chablis - William Fevre makes some really good value Petit, and you can pretty much get it anywhere. If you're still dipping your toes into the glory that is Chablis, not many better places to start, but before you know it you'll be knee-deep in Grand Cru.
Just Right - Clare Reisling
I was stunned by how sweet Just Right is. Just Not Quite Right really. Probably didn't notice it when I had had it previously as it was likely washed away by the milk. Anyways, it's still pretty good, but needs some relief with some spritely acid without sacrificing texture and fruit weight - oh hey there Clare Valley Riesling! Maybe try some of our friend Michael Corbetts good stuff from Vanguardist Wines - absolutely sublime gear out of Clare. A little birdy told us that sadly, these might be the last editions of these brilliant wines, so make sure you snap some while you can!
Corn Flakes - Chenin Blanc
The batting fifty of breakfast cereal (sorry for the cricket references, blame the Weet-Bix). No matter what, corn flakes can't let you down. So reliable, so crunchy, not too sweet, and they do well with a bit of honey too - if you're feeling extra sweet, make some cornflake crackles for your next class party! As far as wine, something with a great degree of texture, without sacrificing that spritely acid. Chenin Blanc will bat fifty for you there as well, and what better time to try some excellent stuff from the Swan Valley, like Vino Volta! Their 'Nothing Wrong With Old School' will be a fitting spiritual and flavourful match with a staple cereal - and it's bloody delicious too!
Sultana Bran - Madeira
Kinship with the cereal - there are actual grapes in this one! Basically, a jazzed-up All-Bran with some sweet relief with the sultanas, but surprisingly good stuff. For fans of roasted and toasted flavours like coffee and stout - bet you didn't think about that when you were a kid! Would go bloody delightfully with some fortified wine and one we've been loving in the cooler weather is Madeira. What the heck is Madeira you ask? It's a fortified wine made off the coast of Portugal on the island of the same name, made from four noble grape varieties - Sercial, Verdelho, Bual/Boal and Malvasia - made in a range from near dry to sweet, in order with the varieties above. They are then aged outside in the sun for wildly varying amounts of time, and the variations don't stop there. It's a pretty interesting style of wine, in both crafting and consuming. The Verdelho style, which is generally medium-dry, would be an excellent pairing, especially around 10 years old. Have a look around but they're pretty readily available in your local bottle shop. We keep tellin' ya - fortifieds are cool!