McGuigan and Torode launch recipe site

Australian winemaker Neil McGuigan and celebrity chef John Torode have joined forces to launch a food and wine matching website for consumers.

Winemaker Neil McGuigan and TV chef John Torode

Accessed with smart phones via scanning QR codes on the back of bottles of McGuigan wines, the website features 50 recipes created by Torode alongside accompanying wine matches from McGuigan.

Aiming to take the “ponciness” out of food and wine matching, the John Torode and Neil McGuigan Recipe Collection will be launched nationwide next month.

A promotion set to run alongside initiative will offer consumers the chance to win a cooking masterclass and lunch with Master Chef presenter Torode.

“With more people now cooking from scratch at home, we felt it was about time that they were given easier access to simple and fun food and wine matching advice.

“Neil is one of the most astute readers of the public palate around and being able to collaborate in this way using the latest technology is exciting,” said Torode.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZBWJ6tTQOQ[/youtube]

Though only recently introduced, McGuigan and Torode grew up in the same part of the Hunter Valley in New South Wales.

“One person’s food and wine ambrosia may leave another cold, so we were determined to find a way of personalising recommendations to satisfy people’s individual tastes,” said McGuigan.

“John has put together a superb range of recipes that can be made with a minimum of fuss, such as grilled salmon with dill mayonnaise to match with McGuigan Semillon Blanc,” McGuigan added.

On scanning the QR code on the back of a bottle of McGuigan wine with a smartphone, users are taken through to a webpage that will ask them to enter their flavour preferences.

A collection of Torode’s recipes that best match their answers will then be emailed to the user.

From next month, QR codes will feature on all bottles in the McGuigan range.