The best wine pairing for steak (updated)

Steak is a natural partner for red wine, but is there a definitive “best” red for steak?

While it’s easy to say that any good red will do, you can fine tune the match. The cut of the steak, the way it’s cooked, and the sauce you choose all play a role in determining which wine will work best with your dish. And if you’re not a red wine drinker you can even pair steak with white wine too.

Here are the key factors to bear in mind when you’re choosing a wine for steak:

How rare or well done it is
The rarer a steak is the more it will lessen the sensation of tannin in any accompanying wine. So if you have a young or comparatively young full-bodied red - a cabernet sauvignon or malbec, for instance - a rare steak will make it taste smoother and more mellow

How charred the outside of the steak is
The more charred a steak is the more ripeness/sweetness you want in your wine. A Coonawarra or Napa Valley cabernet for example or a Stellenbosch cabernet sauvignon.

How much fat there is on the cut
The fattier a steak is the more robust a wine it needs. Rhône reds or other syrah or GSM (grenache/syrah/mourvèdre) blends are perfectly suited to ribeye steaks while a leaner fillet steak pairs better with a pinot noir.

What sauce you’re serving with it
Sauces make a difference. A rich red wine sauce like my Essential Steak Sauce will need a wine that can stand up to it like a malbec or a good quality red Bordeaux. (If you’re making the sauce yourself drink a wine of slightly better quality than you used to make the sauce).

With a peppercorn sauce you don’t want a wine that’s too oaky and/or high in alcohol or it may make each mouthful too spicy. A ripe Rhône or Languedoc red such as a Minervois should work well.

With a béarnaise sauce a pinot noir is a good match or you could even drink a rich white like a Meursault or other full-bodied chardonnay.

With a punchy Argentine chimichurri sauce malbec is the obvious go to.

How old the wine is
If you’re serving an older red ease back on the saucing and serve the wine with its natural juices. If it’s a very old vintage you might even want to serve the steak medium-rare rather than rare - and hold the salad.

My 5 best wines for steak

All that said these are the wines I regularly go back to with steak and which won’t let you down. (Basically we’re talking full-bodied reds)

1. Malbec (especially Argentinian malbec)

Malbec has earned its place as a go-to steak wine, particularly those from Argentina. Why? They’re satisfyingly rich, smooth and plummy - real crowd pleasers. Look out particularly from wines from the Uco Valley.

Check out this idea for a Steak and Malbec supper 

2. Cabernet and cabernet/merlot blends e.g. red Bordeaux

Elegant structured cabernet sauvignon such as the ones you get from the Napa Valley are fantastic with most steaks - equally so when the wine has a proportion of merlot. Steak is probably the ideal way to show off a special bottle, especially with a classic red wine sauce

See also Six of the best pairings for Cabernet Sauvignon

3. Merlot

Merlot is generally softer, smoother and more velvety than cabernet on its own so well suited to leaner cuts like fillet and rump. It goes well with mushrooms too

See also Which foods pair best with merlot

4. Shiraz/syrah

Both shiraz and syrah work with steak in slightly different ways. Australian shiraz in the same way as cabernet sauvignon and malbec - it’s a similarly full bodied red to serve with a nicely charred steak cooked over the coals. Syrah is more savoury - a better choice with a classic steak frites.

See also six of the best food pairings for Australian shiraz

5. ‘Supertuscans’ and other modern Tuscan reds

Although Chianti Classico is a great pairing for the classic bistecca alla Fiorentina more modern Tuscan reds which contain a higher proportion of cabernet and merlot are probably a more versatile match if you’re serving a steak with a creamy sauce or lots of sides.

See also

The best wine pairings for steak tartare

The best wine and beer pairings for a steak pie

You can also serve steak with sake as you can see from this free post

Top image by Natalia Lisovskaya at shutterstock.com

Six of the best food pairings for Australian Shiraz (updated)

What most people probably think of in terms of Australian red wine is a Barossa or McLaren Vale shiraz - big, lush, sweet and ripe, the ideal pairing for grilled or barbecued beef.

Hunter Valley shiraz typically has a more savoury character that suits venison while Western Australian shiraz is made in a more elegant style, almost like a red Bordeaux, making it a good pairing for lamb.

Australian shiraz is typically much sweeter and riper than European-style syrah or syrah blends so I wouldn’t personally pair it with French food - or Italian dishes come to that. Think big flavours - and spice.

Here are six of my best pairings

* grilled or roast beef especially served rare or with a pepper sauce. Steak, in other words.

* barbecue, especially for younger less expensive shiraz and sparkling shiraz. Ribs, spicy sausages and smoked brisket in particular. Probably the best way to cook veggies if you’re looking for a vegetarian pairing

* big beefy stews such as ox cheek especially ones cooked in wine or with a touch of smoky spice like a chilli

* roast or grilled lamb, especially with more restrained Western Australia shiraz

* carpaccio of beef or venison this might surprise you but given the right accompaniments it can work as you can see from this former match of the week of carpaccio of venison with a Mollydooker The Boxer Shiraz.

* Strong hard cheeses especially cheddar. With its sweetness it can also handle a mellow blue

You might also like to know that a side of red cabbage makes a dish shiraz-friendly as you can see from this post.

And that you can even pair shiraz or a shiraz blend with fish if accompanied by a red wine sauce. See this match of the week of roast monkfish with girolles and Kalimna Cabernet-Shiraz 

And try this dish of slow-baked plums with shiraz and star anise.

These pairings would also apply to other shiraz that is made in the Australian style such as some of those from South Africa.

See also The best food pairings for syrah

You may also enjoy:

The best food matches for semillon and semillon-sauvignon blends

The best wines to pair with haggis (updated)

I’ve argued before that whisky and beer are the best pairings for haggis but what if you prefer wine? What colour and style work best?

It might raise eyebrows at a Burns Night dinner but if you’re enjoying haggis at home there’s no reason not to crack-open a bottle.

Haggis is quite a funky-tasting meat - a bit like a savoury, spicy sausage - so I think red wine is a better match than white although orange wine, a relatively recent addition to the wine scene, is another good option.

(That’s not a wine made from oranges, for those of you who are unfamiliar with them, but a white wine made like a red by leaving the juice in contact with the skins which gives it a darker colour and a flavour of apricot or quince)

And many haggises - haggi? - are vegetarian these days. They’re not as full-on in flavour as the traditional haggis but they still have a bit of a spicy kick. What should you drink with those?

I’ve found big jammy reds such as Australian shiraz work well with the classic haggis (there is appropriately enough one called Bobbie Burns shiraz (available for about £18-22 from independents including Alexander Hadleigh and Field & Fawcett.

Northern Rhône syrah and grenache/syrah/mourvèdre (GSM) blends from the southern Rhône, the Languedoc and Australia are also good matches, especially if they have a year or two’s bottle age. 

Robust ‘natural’ reds (i.e. wines made with wild yeasts and low levels of - if any - sulphur) are also a good choice though again I’d go for syrah rather than lighter gamay or pinot noir.

And as I’ve said there’s no reason why you shouldn’t drink an orange wine. It would match the colour of the neeps (swede) after all ?)

Traditionalists, as I’ve discovered from past Burns’ night dinner’s go for claret - but then they tend to like Bordeaux with anything and everything meaty. I’d pick a more full-bodied Saint-Emilion rather than a more elegant left bank claret. I personally think rioja or, even better, Ribera del Duero is a better match.

Pure carignan, which has become increasingly popular is a good partner for haggis too. I like the old vine carignans which are made by a number of producers in the Maule region of Chile under the VIGNO label

And finally I’d be more than happy to drink a Zinfandel - again, one made from old vines would work particularly well.

So far as vegetarian haggis is concerned you can get away with a slightly lighter wine though if you’re serving it with a robust gravy you might still want to stick to the above suggestions. A Côtes du Rhône or a Rioja would be my preferred choices

See also Which foods pair best with whisky

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Six of the best wine pairings for roast or baked ham

If you’re serving a ham or gammon as a roast this Thanksgiving or Christmas you need a more full-bodied wine with it than when you serve ham as a cold cut. Which one depends on the glaze.

Recipes vary hugely but generally include some element of sweetness to counteract the saltiness of the meat. There may be spice in the glaze too which calls for a red with generous ripe fruit - in other words an element of sweetness too. 

Good wine and Christmas ham pairings 

Grenache and grenache blends

Providing your glaze isn’t too sweet try a grenache or grenache blend from the South of France or Australia. That includes Côtes du Rhône but also the popular blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre, often shortened to GSM.

Medium to full-bodied shiraz

But not too alcoholic or tannic, I’d suggest. Lovely ripe juicy fruit is just what you want with ham

Chilean merlot or carmenère

Soft and ripe, just the ticket. Good value, too.

Beaujolais

Not the light, gulpable kind but a serious ‘cru’ Beaujolais like a Morgon. For those who like ‘old world’ wines with a bit more acidity

Central Otago pinot noir

The richest of New Zealand’s pinot noirs this would work particularly well with sweeter glazes or ones that include star anise or five spice

Barossa semillon

Semillon tastes of pineapple and pineapple and ham go together so semillon and ham should be a perfect match, right? Absolutely, but I’d go for rich lush Barossa Valley semillon rather than the lighter Hunter Valley style.

And for the leftovers I’d suggest a light juicy Beaujolais or other gamay, a lighter pinot noir or a Chablis.

You may also find this post 20 Christmas wine pairings to learn by heart useful.

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