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

The best food and wine pairings for Valentine’s Day

If you’re planning a special meal for Valentine’s Day you may be wondering which wine to pair with your menu. I’ve picked some favourite Valentine’s Day foods and suggested some matches that should work well with them.

Asparagus

If served on its own with melted butter or a hollandaise sauce a subtle, creamy white burgundy or chardonnay would be the most seductive choice. If dressed with a vinaigrette or in a salad with seafood I’d go for a crisper white like a Sancerre, Pouilly Fumé or other top quality sauvignon blanc.

Camembert

Camembert baked in its box makes a sexy instant fondue but isn’t the easiest of dishes to pair with wine (even trickier than when it’s served cold). Funnily enough a glass of champagne - or similar style sparkling wine - works surprisingly well or go for a dry white like a Chablis.

What to pair with Camembert

Caviar (or, more likely, a caviar imitation)

Dry champagne. (Vodka is arguably better but not as romantic.)

Chocolate (dark)

There are possibilities with wine (sweet reds like Maury or Quady’s seductive Elysium being good choices - see

www.quadywinery.com) but my own preferred option with dark chocolate is a frozen shot of cherry brandy or other fruit-flavoured spirit or liqueur or a small glass of sloe or damson gin. An orange-flavoured liqueur like Grand Marnier also works well.

Chocolate (white)

An ice-cold raspberry-flavoured wine or liqueur like Southbrook Winery’s Framboise from Canada. Especially if the dessert includes raspberries.

Duck

Pinot Noir. Look to New Zealand and Chile for the best value

Ice cream (vanilla)

Tricky with wine. A toffee or chocolate-flavoured liqueur is your best bet. Very sweet PX sherry can be wonderful poured over it.

Ice cream (chocolate)

Try a coffee-flavoured liqueur like Toussaint or Kahlua.

Lobster

Good white burgundy (or other chardonnay) or vintage champagne.

Wine with lobster: 5 of the best pairings

Oysters

Champagne or Chablis. Not Guinness on Valentine’s Night, I suggest.

Best matches with oysters

Passion fruit

Can be quite sharp so you need a very sweet wine to balance it. A sweet riesling or late harvest semillon or sauvignon blanc will work well. If it’s mixed with a creamy base as in a passion fruit brulée you could drink a sweet (demi-sec) Champagne or other dessert wine. Or a passion fruit flavoured beer. (Yes, such drinks exist! Try Floris from Belgium.)

Prawns/shrimp

If you’re serving a classic prawn cocktail I suggest a dry or off-dry riesling which would also work with an Asian-style stir-fry or salad. A sparkling rosé - including champagne - would be a suitably kitsch all-pink choice.

The best pairings for prawns or shrimp

Smoked salmon

Champagne on this occasion. But see

other possibilities.

Scallops

Made for top white burgundy or other really good chardonnay. Champagne is also spot on if that’s what you’re drinking.

Top wine pairings with scallops

Steak

The best full-bodied red you can afford. Whatever turns your partner on . . .

My 5 top wine and steak pairing tips

Strawberries

If served plain and unadorned, gently sparkling Moscato d’Asti or Asti is lovely or go for the luscious

Fragola liqueur. If they’re served with cream you could serve a classic sweet wine like Sauternes.

My top pairings with strawberries

Image © 9MOT 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

What food to pair with coffee

For many people coffee is a regular companion to food whether it’s breakfast or that great German institution of kaffee und kuchen (coffee and cake) - only the amount of caffeine they might consume holding them back.

But apart from the time of day there are specific ingredients and dishes that make great coffee pairings

Coffee of course comes in many guises from a flat white to a double espresso to a delicate single origin filter coffee. In general I’d say milky coffees such as cappuccinos and lattes lend themselves better to sweet foods and darker more intense coffees such as espressos and black americanos to savoury ones but it is of course a question of taste and how you like your coffee. (I generally like mine black)

Here’s a general round-up, some of which may be familiar to you, some not.

Sweet coffee pairings

Almost any kind of chocolate bars, cake or cookies, especially brownies and chocolate chip cookies.

Coffee-flavoured cakes and desserts such as this Austrian coffee cake, espresso and hazelnut cake and Turkish coffee cake.

Tiramisu (with black coffee, I’d say)

Nut-flavoured cakes and desserts - especially hazelnut and walnut cakes, biscotti, almost anything with Nutella, walnut or pecan pie.

Ice cream - in fact to pour espresso coffee over vanilla ice cream is a recognised dish called affogato

French-style breakfast pastries such as croissants and pain au chocolat

Cinnamon buns (in fact cinnamon generally as you can see from this post

Doughnuts and beignets (see these doughnuts with hot chocolate sauce)

Waffles

Toast and marmalade

Banana bread

Cheesecake especially ones with caramel or nut toppings

Savoury coffee pairings

Bacon, in practically all its guises - in a fry up, in a sandwich, in a roll

Smoked salmon bagels

Cheese - especially sliceable Swiss, German and Scandinavian-style cheeses or Dutch Leerdammer

Rich fatty triple cream cheeses

Coffee-rubbed cheese such as Barely Buzzed from Utah

Cheese toasties/grilled cheese

Cured meats such as salt beef and frankfurter sausages (so hot dogs)

Coffee-rubbed ribs and steak

Chilli con carne

Burgers

Coffee is also often consumed with spirits such as brandy (especially cognac) and grappa