By Chef Ian – Underground Chef
Some pairings make sense straight away.
Others take a little more conversation, a few glasses, and a willingness to be surprised.
This month, with Leeanne tied up elsewhere, Robyn and I took on the pairing ourselves. We worked our way through a few options — starting with lighter reds, then moving into whites, with a Chardonnay coming very close. But the wine that kept drawing us back was the one neither of us expected to land on first: Ballandean Estate’s Sylvaner 2019.
At first glance, it might sound like an unusual choice. Dessert wine with a salad? On paper, that can feel like a stretch. But this isn’t a leafy side salad with a sharp vinaigrette and not much else going on. This dish is built around figs, pear, cranberries, halloumi, prosciutto, macadamias, and a honey-mayo dressing with citrus and basil. It has fruit sweetness, creamy richness, salty edges, and enough texture to need a wine with flavour, body, and freshness.
That is exactly why the Sylvaner worked.
Ballandean Estate’s Sylvaner is one of those wines with a real sense of place and history. The winery describes it as a rare Australian expression of the variety, made only in suitable years, with the 2019 season described by Ballandean as the best growing season in a decade. Their longstanding style aims for concentrated sweetness balanced by real acidity, so the finish stays crisp rather than heavy or sticky.
That balance is what made the pairing sing.
The saltiness of the prosciutto and halloumi needed something with enough sweetness to soften the edges, but not so much that the whole experience tipped into cloying territory. The figs, pear, cranberries, and bush honey dressing already bring natural sweetness to the plate, so the wine had to join that conversation without overpowering it. Instead of fighting the fruit, the Sylvaner sat alongside it beautifully, adding roundness and depth.
What also impressed us was the finish. A lot of dessert wines can be one-note — all sweetness, all the way through. This one isn’t. It carries that luscious, late-harvest generosity, but it finishes with a clean acid line that lifts the palate. That freshness stops the pairing from becoming too rich and keeps each bite tasting bright.
It also makes more sense when you think about how this wine is usually enjoyed. Ballandean itself positions the Sylvaner alongside cheese, fruit, and creamy desserts, and that gives you a strong clue as to why it works here. This salad may sit in the savoury camp, but with halloumi, prosciutto, fruit, nuts, and honey in the mix, it is already playing in that same space between cheese plate and composed entrée.
And that is really the point of pairing wine with food.
It does not always have to follow the expected path. Sometimes the right match is not the most obvious bottle on the table. Sometimes it is the one that makes you stop, go back for another sip, then another bite, and realise the whole dish has just become more interesting.
That was this pairing.
The Chardonnay came close. Very close, in fact. But the 2019 Sylvaner brought something extra — age, softness, generosity, and just enough acidity to hold the line. It wrapped itself around the salty halloumi and crisp prosciutto, echoed the sweetness of the fruit and bush honey, and still finished clean.
Unexpected? Yes.
But once we tasted it together, it made perfect sense.