What wine goes with Steak?

This is a wide-ranging question to which there can be many answers with no 'one-size-fits-all' approach as much can depend on the cut of beef, the cooking, the sauce (if any) that accompanies it as well as what side dishes are served.  For the purposes of this article, we're going to talk about beef steaks.

Firstly, chips-on-the-table (pardon the pun!), I'm a big fan of a steak dinner and like nothing more than a good thick rib-eye cooked medium rare with chips, crispy onions, sauteed garlic mushrooms and a good pot of pepper sauce, washed down with a cracking bottle of red wine on any Saturday evening! (I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!!)

To answer this question we'll stick to the basics rather than going into specifics of beef cuts etc as it took take weeks to write this!

Firstly, taste, as we all know, is all very subjective and what one person likes is not what another one likes, but with some basic guidelines, we can all get to a point where we will end up with a great food and wine experience.

The Meat

It goes without saying, buy the best meat you can afford.  Ideally, support your local butcher as they will take more care and thought over the meat they buy and sell and will offer advice and various cuts compared to large supermarkets.  I'm personally a big fan of the Ribeye cut which has lovely marbling that adds great flavour to the finished steak.  Other key cuts include fillet (filet mignon), sirloin, rump, T-Bone etc

The Cooking

How is the meat cooked?  Flame grilled (BBQ), over roasted, pan-fried in garlic butter?  Cooked rare, medium rare, medium, well-done?  It all has an effect and will influence the wine you want to pick for the meat.  Flame grilled (BBQ) will have a stronger flavour and therefore need a more powerfully flavoured wine than something oven roasted for example.  It all has an impact.   

The Wine

Firstly we want to follow a few rules of thumb.  Steak is high in protein so we need something that works well with protein and the best bridge for making wine fit with protein is tannin.  So that means red wine, not white wine. Protein-rich red meats require wines with tannin or else the wine tends to get lost, so good well-known grape matches tend to be wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah/Shiraz and Malbec.  That's not to say Pinot Noir can't make a good match for a steak, it just means you need to be careful with the Pinot Noir you select and how old it is.  A younger one will have a bit more tannins than an older one and if eating the steak on its own without highly flavoured sauces, they can work quite well, particularly if its a steak with a bit more fat which the natural acidity in the wine can work well with, in a similar way to Duck.  A Pinot Noir from Central Otago can work as they tend to be a bit riper and richer than many Burgundies (not to mention more affordable these days!) 

Like the meat, buy the best you can afford as entry-level wines even from these varieties above can be quite light, soft in tannin and don't tend to be memorable.   Wines with oak ageing tend to be good as the wood tannins and spice also fit well with steak and can work particularly well with the flame-grilled style of meat, so a good quality Australian Shiraz, Argentinean Malbec or Rioja with their spicy elements can be a great match for a steak with some pepper sauce.  Try the Mendieta-Osaba wines from Rioja and their Vascomendi for a full-bodied taste sensation!

Bordeaux reds can be a great match too, more so Cabernet dominant styles for me, so left-bank is always a go to here, particularly if the steak is being served with a mild sauce such as chasseur or garlic, but right bank Merlot dominated wines if fuller bodied and of good quality can work well with leaner cuts such fillets.

Another style I particularly like with my medium-rare Ribeye is a classic Rhone Valley blend of Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre.  They tend to have fruit, spiciness and body with good tannin structure to stand up to the meat and a few favourites in this particular style are the Domaine La Haute Marone ‘Le Cru des Dentelles de Montmirail’, Gigondas and John Duval's PLexus Red from Barossa Valley, Australia and these work well with pepper sauce too.

Conclusion

Picking the right wine can be a hit-or-miss exercise, but part of the fun is exploring different tastes and options and seeing what the results end up looking like, so don't be afraid to experiment as you will always discover new things and often find new favourite combinations!  However, bear in mind a few loose rules and you'll always end up with a pleasant experience.  Just avoid Sauvignon Blanc with steak, save that for the salads and seafood!

Happy exploring and experimenting.

Andrew