How to pair wine with meat
What cuts should you be coupling with your clarets and chiantis?
Words: Jonathan Wells
A good meal needs a good wine – that much is universally accepted. But knowing what bottle goes with what plate is a trick that only top sommeliers have mastered. So, next time you have guests round, consult this handy guide and you’ll look like a vino virtuoso, a wine whizz – a pundit of plonk.
Gentleman’s Journal have worked with celebrated wine merchants Berry Bros & Rudd to clear up your meat and wine woes once and for all.
When it comes to beef, red wine works incredibly well. Try and match the richness/fattiness of your cut of beef with the intensity and tannin of your wine. For a dish like Beef Bourguignon try it with a red wine from Burgundy like the 2013 Berry Bros. & Rudd Bourgogne Rouge by Maison Roche de Bellene (£17.50) or for roast sirloin try the 2012 Berry Bros. & Rudd Pauillac by Ch. Lynch Bages (£21.00).
There are many ways to serve lamb so there are many wines which will accompany it well depending on how it is served. Merlot dominated Red Bordeaux is a great accompaniment to roasted or grilled lamb dishes. Alternatively for more delicate lamb dishes a red Rioja like the 2012 Berry Bros. & Rudd Rioja by Bodegas Amézola de la Mora (£11.95) can make an ideal partner.
To offset the delicate flavours in the Pork a lower tannin red wine like a Pinot Noir or a Beaujolais is required, try roast pork with 2014 Berry Bros. & Rudd New Zealand Pinot Noir by Greystone Wines (£17.50)
Chicken dishes vary hugely in style depending on how they are cooked, but you cannot really go wrong with a simple Chardonnay – not too overpowering for the delicate flavour – we suggest the 2015 Berry Bros. & Rudd White Burgundy (£12.25)
Fish dishes tend to be lightly flavoured, so it is the way in which it has been cooked that should determine your choice of wine. For simply prepared fish dishes, a dry white wine from Italy is a great match such as the 2015 Berry Bros. & Rudd Pinot Grigio delle Venezie by Nec Otium, Friuli (£9.95)
Strong, gamey-flavoured birds tend to be able to cope with more full-flavoured red wines for example Red wines from the Rhône Valley. Though like all poultry you need to beware of tannin and select wines that are not heavily tannic, try our 2014 Berry Bros.& Rudd Côtes du Rhône Rouge by Famille Perrin (£11.25) with game.
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