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Wine, Food Pairing, and the People Bringing Us Together

20.03.26

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7 min read

Since launching ETO, co-founder Dina Jahina has developed a deep admiration for the people whose passionate expertise make the world of wine shine. For the past 7 years, she's enjoyed enlightening encounters with sommeliers and writers, chefs and restaurateurs, Masters of Wine and owners of wineries.

All of them have a different story to tell, but all of them are united in pursuing a path through their profession that brings people together. Over the next few months, we’ll be sharing conversations with the wine world's best and brightest; wide-ranging chats with people we love, who we think you'll love, too.

To start the series, Dina caught up with Melanie Brown - Kiwi chef-sommelier and founder of The Laundry in Brixton, and the unofficial Ambassador of New Zealand wine...

Rethinking Food and Wine Pairings

Dina: How has your taste in wine evolved over the years? And has the way you consume wine changed?

Melanie: Oh, incredibly. I think my palate has evolved and become more refined, in that I'm utilising the balance of flavour and texture, when looking at food and wine pairings. I'm always looking at how the culinary journey will enhance a wine.

And sometimes, the greatest pleasure in analysing and respecting the flavour profiles from each dish or wine, is when things don't match; why the balance, texture or flavour profiles don't work. That kind of understanding, when you're looking at matching food and wine, is respectful and mindful, in terms of each wine and food pairing having its own integrity.

My drinking capability has definitely changed. I'm drinking less, but of probably a higher quality. When I created the New Zealand Cellar, it was all about trying to connect the UK consumer with smaller, lesser-known varietals; the people and the land. So naturally, those wines are probably more expensive than supermarket wines.

Yes, we love Sauvignon, but please don't buy New Zealand Sauvignon from the supermarket. Try and think outside the box and look at maybe a Gruner Veltliner or Pinot Noir from Marlborough. New Zealand Sauvignon has a time and a place. We wouldn't be where we are without it. And thank God they've managed to retain the incredible consistency and quality of Sauvignon. But New Zealand does so much more.

Why Wine Is About More Than What’s in the Glass

Dina: ETO is about elevating the enjoyment of wine. The idea that wine can have the same power as music - to evoke memories of a special holiday, or an amazing meal...

Melanie: Absolutely, wine is entirely visceral. Much like a song, it can instantly pull you back into a specific time or place. A glass can transport you anywhere across the world. Chardonnay's probably my go-to, for that kind of transporting power. Kumeu River Chardonnay, for me, just tastes like old-world class. Or a sip of an aromatic wine like Toru, that blending of Gewürztraminer, Riesling, and Pinot Gris—it takes you back to a time and place, long, spicy lunches with friends.

Wines should never technically be about what's in the glass. If you're drinking good quality wine, it's about the memories that we share, the holidays and the milestones.

Collage of the exterior of the Laundry Restaurant in Brixton and it's interior open bar

From Christchurch to Brixton

Dina: You describe yourself as 'part Kiwi, part chef, part sommelier'...

Melanie: I really do! Going through school, I always had this culinary drive behind me, and I did my chef's apprenticeship in Christchurch. I knew I wanted to travel the globe, to learn about cultures and cuisine.

And then I happened to fall into the wine world. I trained to be a sommelier and did my diploma. That's what took me on the journey to opening the New Zealand cellar, which had the largest selection of New Zealand wine in the Northern Hemisphere at the time. We had about 300 different wines at one point. So, it was an amazing showcase for New Zealand.

And it really taught me a lot about the power of flavour, the power of balance. And it kind of assisted my transition back into cooking, after we opened the restaurant. I think that's where my heart's always been.

Dina: A long journey in every sense! What brought you from New Zealand to London, specifically, and then to your current home in Brixton?

Melanie: Growing up, as a teenager, London was the culinary capital of the world. Watching the restaurants, the chefs, the energy and all the culinary delights that happened over this side of the world, I was on a one-way ticket to London. One of my favourites of all time is Anthony Bourdain - not that he was based in London, but he always valued the energy and the restaurants. There's also the obvious, Marco Pierre White, Gordon Ramsay... As a young chef, these chefs were captivating.

We did the typical Kiwi thing of Notting Hill and Clapham, and then North London. We decided to move down to South London, where the green spaces were a little bit more abundant! South London really took hold... We created our New Zealand wine shop in Pop Brixton, and we crowdfunded for that. Then one thing led to another, when we opened the e-commerce side of the New Zealand cellar. We had our office in Brixton close to the wine shop, where we would host various events and visiting winemakers from New Zealand. And that's where the connection with New Zealand wineries and producers really came into its own.

I was embedding myself in the local community, understanding what people wanted in terms of wine events, wine community. Brixton is so diverse, dynamic and energetic. I love it. It's so different, I think, to anywhere else in the rest of London. You've got tiny little street food restaurants where you can pick up a little pasta, or some jerk chicken on the side of the road. Or you can dine somewhere like The Laundry, or Naughty Piglets, one of my other favourite Brixton institutions. It's just full of life. Now I'm trapped, and I can't leave! It does that to you.

When we opened the New Zealand wine shop, my route into work every day was driving past The Laundry. And I'm sure you've seen the facade. It's listed. It's captivatingly beautiful. And it literally seduced me: "I have to turn this into a restaurant." I swear to God, I reckon I manifested it, just looking at how freaking glorious it was. It gave me all the inspiration that I needed to raise the money, build the business plan, and open the restaurant.

Dina: You’re certainly not one to sit still..! Launching the New Zealand Cellar, then The Laundry, and now alongside all this, your 'cooking on fire' experiences (which look devastatingly mouth-watering, by the way...)

Melanie: One thing led to another. Diving back into my culinary journey, getting back into the kitchen and cooking more, led to "how can we extend the conversation, around experiences within hospitality?"

It's all fun and games doing it in the middle of Brixton, and that's great. But when you're looking for inspiration, and you want to dive into different areas and landscapes throughout the UK? It's about how we can convey our story, messaging and hospitality, to folk that can’t make it to Brixton.

In the back of my head, being a Kiwi is about being enriched by nature, environment, soil, all the things that produce the incredible ingredients that we get to use daily. It's at the very heart of who I am, having grown up in New Zealand - so how can I extend that conversation? Who can I work with in these spaces, that can really bring all this to life?

There's something so creative and inspiring about moving that story outside of London. That's why we've begun doing lots of events 'on fire'. I'm doing a lot of chef sommelier led events, where we're matching, five, six, seven, eight, nine courses, with New Zealand wines and wines from everywhere around the world.

Person holding a wine glass next to a ggraphite decanter and a plate of food on a table.

Quality over quantity, decant, serve, and preserve with ETO

Dina: Could you share with us some of the wines you think really benefit from decanting, and why?

Melanie: As a sommelier, decanting is a way of hitting fast forward on a wine's evolution. It's about aeration - introducing oxygen, softening tight tannins and releasing complex aromas - that ultimately enhance the enjoyment of a bottle.

Younger Pinot Noirs, especially ones from Central Otago in their first five years, benefit so well from that air and aeration. They've got such a good energy and ‘mana’, or spirit. Letting them have time and space within the decanter allows the fruit to move from primary, to tight, expressive and perfumed.

I'm also a big advocate for decanting Chardonnays, especially full-bodied ones that have seen good oak integration. It rounds off the palate and lets their flinty, toasted character really shine.

Dina: Finally, which wine are you enjoying in your ETO now?

Melanie: That's a very good question. I have a Valli Gibbston Pinot Noir in mine at the moment. It's really elegant and fragrant, really floral and full of grace. What I love about my ETO is that it has this respect for the wine's integrity. I can have a glass tonight, and then I can happily know that in a week, the ETO will preserve what's in the bottle, even though it's been opened. Those flavours will still be there seven nights later, and it's just as vibrant.

I'm enjoying my ETO, thanks very much! It allows me to enjoy wines at my own pace. As a mom on my own, I never really want to open nice bottles, because I want to make sure they're all drunk within a timely fashion! So my ETO has given me a whole new lease of life. It's about quality over quantity, always.