Pairings

"Will you have it with game?"
"Gastronom" №11(46) November 2005

Game has pronounced, sharp taste. The meat is usually neither fatty nor very juicy. These features should be taken into account when choosing wines for game.

Quail has the most neutral taste. It can be compared with chicken. This is a good reference point for choosing a wine. Quail is usually fried or roasted. For such dishes serve rich, buttery Chardonnay aged in oak barrels. Appropriate wines can be found in the New World — California, Australia, Chile, South Africa. Another choice is a light red wine like Beaujolais or Dolcetto. The wines also match nicely with young guinea fowl.

Red burgundy is made of Pinot Noir and goes well with partridge, pheasant and especially grouse. When choosing a wine, give preference to aged bottles. They are appreciated for developed animal and earthy aromas which ideally echo the flavours of dark meat of the birds. Best Pinot Noir from New Zealand, Australia and Oregon also make suitable pairs. If there are mushrooms in the dish, they highlight complex bouquet of the wine. For a change, you can serve other aged reds — Italian Barolo and Barbaresco from Piedmont, Chianti and Brunello di Montalcino from Tuscany, French Hermitage from the Northern Rhone. When choosing a fine bottle for dinner, remember that the dish shouldn’t be excessively spicy. The birds best come roasted — together with roast potatoes.

Wild duck might be a bit too strong for aged Pinot Noir. Give priority to juicy red wines, for example Merlot or Zweigelt. Worthy matches come with Northern Italian Amarone and Barbera. If it is a roast or a cassoulet, it can be accompanied by rustic wines — red French from Bandol, Languedoc, Provence, the Rhone Valley. Fatty dishes are counterbalanced by Italian wines with high acidity. They are also a good match with goose.

Wild boar dishes are often present in restaurant menus. Italians match them with powerful red wines from the north of the country. In general, suitable wines can be compared with those served with port dishes, if only they should be a bit stronger in flavours.

Venison is lean. It will benefit from the presence of easy drinking wines. Say, Bordeaux with dominance of Merlot, Spanish wines of Rioja and Ribera-del-Duero based on Tempranillo. New World wines of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon also fit the bill. If venison is cooked in casserole, Syrah based wines should be point of attention. The flavour of the meat is usually highlighted with juniper — this requires a strong wine partner. In France Syrah is made in the Rhone Valley and in the south of the country. Australian and South African Shirazes as well as Italian wines based on Sangiovese and Nebbiolo also give exciting matches.

Hare has delicate meat, but the flavours give away its wild origin. When choosing wines, one can have birds as a reference point. The first choice should rest with Pinot Noir — from Burgundy, New Zealand, Australia and Oregon. For simpler versions of the dish Italian Chianti and Cabernet Franc from the Loire Valley are a good choice. Hare is often cooked as a stew with thick sauce and rich aromas. Some intense white wines can accompany such dishes. Austrian Gruner Veltliner, Alsatian Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris are ideal for mustard-based sauces. One can experiment with Riesling from different countries and with smooth Semillon from Bordeaux and Australia. A refined choice is white Rhone Hermitage, the blend of Marsanne and Roussane.

Finally, we will mention some exotic for us types of game. If you ever decide to order a bison-based dish, choose wines as you would for beef. Steaks, grilled meat and burgers are matched with wines from Bordeaux, Rioja, Tuscany, Napa. The taste of ostrich meat will be highlighted by Pinot Noir, and ostrich barbeque is well matched by South African Pinotage. Kangaroo steaks and barbeques are especially good in the company of Australian Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon.

***
By the way

In Tuscany, especially in Siena, wild boar meat is very popular. Since the medieval times the favourite dish for local people is scottiglia, or wild boar stew. Small pieces of meat are fried until brown. Separately garlic is fried in olive oil, then removed from the pan. Meat, sprigs of sage and rosemary are added with half a cup of red wine. Wild boar is stewed for about two hours, then cubed tomatoes are added and the dish is left to stew for another hour until the sauce thickens. Scottiglia is usually served with the famous red wine of Tuscany Brunello di Montalcino.