How To
By
eHow Food & Drink Editor
Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Things You’ll Need:
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Red Wines
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Steaks
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Wine Glasses
Step1
Consider the strength of the flavors and aromas in the dish. Pair powerful flavors and aromas with a powerful wine. If the flavors are more delicate, choose a wine with more finesse.
Step2
Pair full-flavored dishes such as steak au poivre with a wine that has lots of black pepper aromas and flavors. The best are made with grenache, especially those from the Gigondas region of France's Rhone Valley, Chateauneuf du Pape and Spain's Rioja.
Step3
For a delicate beef carpaccio or steak tartare, choose wines with subtle red-meat aromas, such as cabernet sauvignons and merlots. Wines from the Napa Valley floor and Bordeaux exemplify this style.
Step4
For "beefy" dishes such as grilled steak, choose intense, smoky wines, such as Barolo or Barbaresco. Big, tarry cabernet sauvignons from the Napa Valley and mountains can also stand up to a juicy steak.
Step5
Choose a less complex wine to go with s complex sauce. You don't want your wine to compete with your sauce, and vice versa.
Step6
For hearty beef stews with heavy spices and herbs, pick spicy syrah-based wines from the Rhone regions of Hermitage and Cote Rotie or California's central coast.
Comments
said
on 11/22/2005 Start with whatever wines you like. Probably a white wine or a young red or rose is easier to start with than a full body. Someone mentioned not to go over $45, which I think is way too much. Start with inexpensive wines. Trader Joe's has a very decent selection for $4.99 and less. These are excellent wines to start with. Under all circumstances, avoid those peach and strawberry wines as if your life depended on it. That is not wine.
said
on 11/22/2005 Some of the greatest tasting steaks or chicken thighs have been created using Merlot. Dry rub the steak (or chicken) with a simple salt, pepper, and lemon salt. Marinate the steak(s) with Merlot red wine, letting it set with a tin foil covering in the refrigerator. You can now start the charcoal. It usually will take 1/2 an hour for the coals to be perfect, unless of course you're using a gas grill. Electing to use charcoal, allows almost the perfect time to marinate the steak (or chicken). Use the excess juices to coat the meat while cooking. This also works extremely well with fish, such as salmon.
said
on 11/22/2005 Great wines depend on how great your knowledge of wine is. To truly appreciate good wines you need to know what to look for, it takes training the palette to recognize desirable attributes. Until you can genuinely appreciate wine, keep yourself limited to a maximum of $45 a bottle in shops, it's easy to spend more, it takes time to appreciate why you're spending it.
said
on 12/15/2005 If you are planning a special dinner with recipes such as minestrone soup, Spanish Menestra, eggplants, zucchini, or pasta with vegetables or even salmon, then an Italian Lambrusco, a sparkling rosý is the right choice.
It is neither a Champagne nor a common wine, and it will add some class to a special menu.
said
on 11/22/2005 For a celebration dinner, Champagne goes with all dishes - even beef!