Wine News: White wine, red meat?

"Red wine with red meat, white wine with white meat" may be one of the most widely recognized rules of thumb in wine-and-food matching. But we find all sorts of delicious exceptions to the white-meat rule, including such glorious combinations as Pinot Noir with wild salmon or a mature Bordeaux with roast chicken. How about breaking the rules in the other direction, though? For me, at least, "white wine with red meat" isn't intuitively appealing. Naturally, ever the skeptic, I couldn't resist giving it a try. With a couple of nice grass-fed filet mignons in hand and a 2005 Petit Chablis from Jean-Marc Brocard up for tasting, the stage was set. I pan-seared the steaks in olive oil and garlic to a perfect medium-rare ... chilled the white wine just to cellar temperature and uncorked, er, unscrewed the cap ... and ... meh! In fairness, the combination wasn't awful. The beefy, earthy character of the grass-fed steak didn't actually war with the appley, tart wine. But the flavors didn't really create a greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts synergy as the best food-and-wine pairings do. The wine washed down the steak, but you could do that with iced tea or a Coke. There was nothing wrong with the wine: I re-capped the bottle and stuck it in the fridge to finish another day. We finished the steak with a splendid California Syrah (Domaine de la Terre Rouge 2003 "Ascent" from the Sierra Foothills) that worked with the beef as a fine red wine should. Its dark fruit and nuances of earth, "grilled meat," firm tannins and chocolatey oak played a natural counterpoint to the flavor and texture of the steaks. Red wine and red meat: Makes sense to me.

Full article here.

May 19, 2007

Wine News: White wine, red meat?