The best wine pairings for partridge

I sometimes think partridge is my favourite game bird - less full-on and ‘gamey’ than pheasant, more subtle and delicate than chicken. But what wine should you drink with it?

The options are in fact similar to my recommended wine pairings for pheasant but because it’s a more delicate meat think lighter, finer-textured wines - a gran reserva rather than a reserva rioja, for instance. As you’ll see from the suggestions below 2009 and 2010 were good across the board

Whether you go for pretty youthful fruit or a more complex aged wine depends how you cook it (for me simply roasted is best) your personal taste and your bank balance but these would be my preferred options:

If you have a treasured red burgundy partridge is a good excuse for cracking it open. (2009 or ’10 should be drinking deliciously now). Or a top pinot noir (German spåtburgunder, for example). A ‘natural’ low sulphur pinot - or gamay - would be especially interesting.

* A mature red bordeaux which could be even a touch older, say a 2005.

* A top barolo (again the 09s and 10s were good from this region but beware, there’s a lot of dull barolo around)

* A gran reserva rioja - 2004, 2005 and 2010 were all good vintages. 2001 even better but it needs to have been stored well.

* A Jura chardonnay (which is less fruity, more savoury than most chardonnays) would be especially good with perdrix au chou (partridge with cabbage)

* Dry oloroso sherry - a spectacular pairing I once had in Jerez (see here) - maybe not for your pals but great as part of a sherry dinner -

* A Flemish red ale like Rodenbach, Duchesse de Bourgogne or the Wild Beer Company’s Modus Operandi would be the perfect beer match

You may also find these posts useful

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The best wine pairings for pheasant

The photo is of partridge with cabbage as cooked by Stephen Markwick of the sadly now closed Culinaria in Bristol. © Fiona Beckett

The best pairings with red burgundy

As with white burgundy there’s a world of difference between a simple village burgundy and an elegant premier or grand cru - most of which need 5 years at the very least to show at their best but the dividing line when it comes to pairing wine with red burgundy is age.

Is it a light wine you’re dealing with or a more mature, intensely flavoured one? Duck is almost always a winner but here are some other options.

Basic red burgundy (Bourgogne rouge)

Best thought of as a companion for simple French meals, even picnics. My number one choice would be charcuterie - simple saucisson sec, paté, rillettes and terrines

Mild cheeses such as goats cheese and creamy but not too mature brie (but stinkier cheeses such as Epoisses will overwhelm them)

Seared tuna especially with an Asian accent such as a sesame crust

Chicken or rabbit with a creamy mustard sauce

Good quality youthful red burgundy 2-5 years old e.g. Marsannay, Mercurey and Santenay

You don’t want to overwhelm this with heavy sauces so think simply cooked rare meat rather than heavily charred or sauced. (You can also, of course, pair them with the dishes above)

Rack of lamb with a herb crust

Seared duck breast particularly accented with red fruits like cherries or blackberries

9 great wine matches for duck

Offal - liver, especially calves liver, kidneys and sweetbreads

Mushrooms - as with white burgundy mushroom risotto works particularly well but a mushroom sauce will frequently kick a pairing into touch. Think mushroom stroganoff too

Beetroot (particularly roast beetroot but avoid vinegar) Good with riper fruitier styles from warm vintages (like 2015 at the time of writing)

Peas - weirdly but they almost always enhance a pinot match

Light umami-rich broths such as you find in sukiyaki (see this very successful pairing)

Weightier, more serious red burgundies such as Nuits-Saint-Georges and Gevrey-Chambertin

A great foil for meats of all kinds - even richly sauced dishes like boeuf bourguignon and coq au vin

Feathered game - particularly with elegant wines such as Vosne-Romanée or Chambolle-Musigny: roast grouse, pheasant, partridge as well as high quality farmed meats such as guineafowl and goose

The best wine pairings for partridge

Lean red meat such as venison, fillet steak and lamb

Simply roasted white meats like rare breed roast pork, roast veal or a good roast chicken

Dishes with a sauce based on red burgundy such as coq au vin and boeuf bourguignon

Four favourite matches for coq au vin

Dishes with black truffles and porcini

Cheese - though I say this tentatively. They would definitely serve the best red burgundies with cheese in France and more traditional dining rooms in the UK but I personally think the wines struggle, particular with pungent washed rind cheeses such as L’ami de Chambertin and Epoisses. Even the official Burgundy wine site favours white wines with cheese!

See also

The best food pairings for pinot noir

9 fine pairings with white burgundy

photo © Stephanie Frey at shutterstock.com

The best food pairings for Barolo and Barbaresco

The food of Piedmont in north-west Italy is as highly regarded as its wines so it makes sense to make the local dishes your first choice if you’re looking for a match for a bottle of Barolo or Barbaresco.

I’ve grouped the two wines together because although there are differences between them their similarities are greater and the same kind of food will work with both.

More significant is the age of the wine - older vintages with their ethereal flavours and silky texture need a little more respect so don’t overwhelm them with rich sauces.

* feathered game such as partridge, pheasant, wild duck and pigeon and other slightly gamey birds such as guineafowl and quail

* roast goose

* carne cruda - raw beef or veal prepared the Piedmontese way - or steak tartare. (Locals might well drink a Barbera or even a white such as Gavi or Favorita but Barolo and Barbaresco would be an equally good choice)

* grilled fillet steak

* braised beef in Barolo (brasato al Barolo) - better with younger wines

* delicately flavoured offal such as calves liver, kidneys and sweetbreads

* truffles. Although locally they tend to drink Barbera or Dolcetto with truffle dishes like fonduta and tajarin (egg noodles with butter and truffles), Barolo and Barbaresco work well with these dishes too - and any beef or veal dish with wild mushrooms or truffles

* risotto with porcini/ceps

* cheese. Not all cheeses - a powerful Castelmagno or Gorgonzola piccante would certainly knock the stuffing out of a delicate Barolo but milder cheeses such as robiolo, grana padano and ‘toma’-style cheeses are delicious. Wine-friendly goats’ and sheeps’ cheeses would also work well.

Note: You could also pair the same type of food with Langhe Nebbiolo which in the case of the best producers is similar to the quality of a Barolo or Barbaresco.

The best food pairings for Pinot Noir

Pinot noir is one of the most versatile red wines to match with food and a great option in a restaurant when one of you is eating meat and the other fish.

There are ingredients that will pair with practically any pinot noir, for example, it's a classic wine match for duck. Pinot can also pair well with salmon or tuna, depending on the way you’ve cooked them and the style of pinot you’re drinking.

Here are some food pairings for different styles of pinot noir, most of which (barring the mature pinots) should be served cool or chilled:

Light, fresh pinots

Such as: inexpensive red burgundy, Alsace pinot noir and other less expensive pinots, especially from poor vintages

Good pairings: Charcuterie, ham and other cold meats. Patés and terrines. classic French dishes with light creamy sauces such as rabbit or kidneys with a mustard sauce. Goat cheese. Grilled asparagus. Spring vegetables such as peas

The best pairings with red burgundy

Sweetly fruited pinots

Such as: those from Chile, New Zealand and California with bright berry fruit

Good pairings: Dishes with a touch of spice such as crispy duck pancakes (and hoisin duck bao buns as I've recently discovered!), grilled quail, pulled or char siu pork, seared salmon and tuna. Barbecues. Roast or other cooked beetroot dishes. Dishes that include cherries or figs like this duck and fig combination at Kooyong in the Mornington Peninsula

Silky, elegant pinots

Such as: top red burgundy and other Burgundian-style pinots

Good pairings: Roast chicken or guineafowl (even with lots of garlic as this post illustrates. Pigeon. Rack of lamb, served pink. Rare fillet steak and carpaccio. Beef Wellington. Roast pork with herbs and fennel. Chicken or turkey sausages. Calves liver, sweetbreads. Dishes with morels and other wild mushrooms. Mushroom risotto. Roast or grillled lobster

Rich, full-bodied pinots

Such as: those from Central Otago or pinots from a hot vintage

Good pairings: Butterflied lamb, chargrilled steak, venison. Dishes like cassoulet or duck with olives if they’re more rustic. Roast goose. Hare Royale as you can see from this post. Coq au vin where the sauce is made with pinot noir. Glazed ham. Roast turkey. Brie and similar cheeses. Milder blue cheeses such as Gorgonzola dolce.

Mature, truffley pinots

Such as: older vintages of Burgundy

Good pairings: feathered game such as grouse, partridge and pheasant. Cold game pie. Dishes with truffles.

See also

Top pairings with pinot noir - Natasha Hughes' report from the 2009 International Pinot Noir Celebration (IPNC)

Pinot Noir and Asian food - some observations from Ch'ng Poh Tiong

Pinot Noir and lamb - my report on a workshop at the 2011 IPNC

9 Fine Wine Matches for Duck - Including Pinot Noir and other suggestions 

Photo by freeskyline at shutterstock.com