Pale does not mean feeble. While researching this piece, over lunch at Scott’s Richmond I found an excellent illustration in Yorkshire grouse from H.G. Walter, served with butternut squash purée and sliced cabbage: richly flavoured, yet given lift rather than weight. Chef Tom Fraser had bypassed the usual bread sauce, parfait and game chips. ‘Always seems strange to me eating grouse this time of year with the traditional additions… especially with the heat we’ve had recently,’ he says. ‘Tried to lighten it up a bit.’ With such a dish, reach for a slightly chilled Pinot with tea leaf, earth and woodland notes, rather than sweet fruit or emphatic oak.
