Pairings

Foie gras and company
«Gastronom» №11(34) November 2004

Duck, goose, turkey and even ostrich have a lot in common.

Not only because they are called poultry, but they also have similar wine partners at the dinner table.

Duck

Duck’s dark meat has a distinctive taste, so the wines served with it should be expressive. Duck is most often roasted or grilled. In this case French and Italian wines are an ideal choice: Bordeaux or Burgundy or Barolo, Barbera and Amarone from Northern Italy. Fruit sauces, such as orange sauce, frequently feature with roast duck. To highlight the additional flavour in the dish, it is best to serve juicy red wines with it — an American Zinfandel with its fruity-jammy notes, a spicy Australian Shiraz or a generous New World Merlot.

Universal partners for Asian-style duck — with spices, fruit or honey — are full-bodied, rich white wines of Alsace: Riesling, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris. Riesling spatlese or auslese from neighbouring Pfalz is also a good match.

If you do heavy dishes like cassoulet, choose chunky red wines. They are French spicy Cotes-du-Rhone-Villages or wines of Bandol, Languedoc and Provence. Red Italian wines with good acidity are also trustworthy companions.

Goose

The most harmonious match for roast goose is Pinot Noir. Take luscious Burgundy wines from Gevrey-Chambertin, Vougeot, Vosne-Romanee and Nuits-St-George. If you want to serve a New World Pinot Noir, the suggestion is to look for New Zealand or Oregon. Alternatively, take juicy red wines with the dominance of Merlot grape. A stuffed bird will have Syrah as a best accompaniment. Besides, it is worth remembering that goose is a traditional Russian dish and it has always enjoyed a friendly relationship with vodka.

Talking about ducks and geese, we can’t leave out foie gras. It makes a classical match with dessert wines. In France Aquitaine and Alsace specialize in production of the delicacy. It is logical to look for best pairs there. Sauternes, famous sweet wine of Bordeaux, and foie gras is one of the finest gastronomic marriages. Late harvested Alsace Riesling ‘vendange tardive’ and ‘selection de grains nobles’ is guaranteed to leave you satisfied. Apart from Sauternes and Riesling, sweet Loire wines from Chenin Blanc go well with foie fras.

Turkey

White turkey meat is similar to that of chicken, so you can use our advice for chicken and wine pairing («Gastronom» №5, 2004). For boiled and roast meat take Chardonnay, Viognier, Gruner Veltliner, Albarino, provencal rose, light red Beaujolais, Dolcetto, Valpolicella.

Roast turkey is the main decoration of the festive table for Thanksgiving day in America and Christmas in England. Surrounded by many garnishes, turkey becomes one of many components of the dish and its taste doesn’t dominate anymore. For more expressiveness it is worth choosing a red wine with a light touch of sweetness or spiciness. There is quite a variety of grapes: sensual Burgundy Pinot Noir, powerful Australian Shiraz, rich Spanish Tempranillo, juicy Tuscan Sangiovese.

If you get a chance to have an ostrich dish, rely on Pinot Noir. This grape gives wines with notes of red fruit, earth and mushrooms and makes a harmonious match with ostrich meat. For grilled ostrich fillet there is nothing better than South African Pinotage with smoky flavours, and ostrich braised in red wine will benefit from the company of red Merlot.