The Best Red Wine Food Pairings: Cheese, Meats, and More

Finding the best red wine food pairings is a great way to elevate any dinner party or red wine gifts. When you match the flavour profiles of your food and wine, you enhance the sensations offered by both, transforming every sip and bite into something unforgettable. From local favourites to timeless classics, this guide will help you create perfect pairings and inspire your next wine night.

Principles of Successful Pairings

Red wine's incredible versatility makes it a natural partner for a wide range of dishes. But not all red wines complement every meal equally. To create the perfect pairing, think about what you enjoy most and consider a few essential factors. These simple principles will help you enhance both the wine and the dish, ensuring a delicious dining experience:

Acidity

A good pairing starts with balance. Your wine should be more acidic than the food. This helps cut through rich, creamy sauces and buttery dishes to bring the delectable food flavours to the forefront. Just be cautious and avoid pairing red wine with foods that contain a lot of citrus and vinegar, as the combined acidity can become overpowering.

Sweetness

Food and wine pairings are all about finding complimentary flavours. One way to do this is to match the sweetness of your wine with your dish. For example, dessert wines pair beautifully with cakes and pies, while a dry red might feel too bitter alongside sweeter treats.

Flavour Intensity

By matching the flavour intensity of your food and wine, you ensure one doesn't overpower the other. For instance, if you have a herb-heavy dish, you would pair it with a herbaceous red wine, like Cabernet Franc. This is the key to bringing out and enjoying the robust flavour profiles of both your indulgences.

Weight

The final thing you should always consider when finding the perfect wine pairing is the weight of the dish. Light wines pair better with foods that are low in fat and sodium, whereas heavier foods require an equally heavy wine with high tannins.

Cheese Pairings for Red Wine

Cheese and red wine are a classic combo, and for good reason. The acidity and tannins in red wine cut through the fats and proteins in cheese, acting as a perfect palate cleanser. However, just like any food, there is an art that comes with finding the perfect wine and cheese pairings. Here are a few rules of thumb for choosing the right combinations.

• Fresh and soft cheeses (e.g., mozzarella, feta): Pair with light-bodied wines like Pinot Noir.
• Semi-soft cheeses (e.g., Havarti, Gouda): Go with medium-bodied wines with fruity notes like Cabernet Franc.
• Semi-hard cheeses (e.g., Gruyère, Manchego): Accentuate bold medium-bodied wines like Merlot.
• Hard cheeses (e.g., aged cheddar, Parmesan): Match with full-bodied reds like Cabernet Sauvignon.

Popular Red Wine and Cheese Pairings

Pairing Wine	Cheese	Why They Work
Cabernet Franc	Goat Cheese	Cabernet Franc's high acidity and fruity notes cut through the heaviness of goat cheese to complement its tangy, earthy flavours.
Cabernet Sauvignon	Aged Cheddar	Cabernet Sauvignon's strong tannin profile matches the strong flavours of aged cheeses for an equally bold pairing.
Merlot	Brie	Merlot's medium-body and moderate acidity accentuates the delicacies of creamy cheeses.
Pinot Noir	Gruyere	Pinot Noir's berry fruit flavours and aromas embolden Gruyere cheese's creamy and nutty profiles.
Shiraz	Gouda	Shiraz's ripe berry flavours pair with Gouda's sweet and sharp taste while bringing the smokey tobacco aromas to the forefront

7 Other Popular Red Wine Food Pairings

Wine and cheese boards are always a crowd-pleaser. But sometimes, the occasion calls for something a bit more substantial. Here are a few more refined wine and food pairings that will leave any guest satisfied and impressed.

1. Grilled Steak: The Best Food Pairing with Cabernet Sauvignon

With rich, juicy flavours, grilled steak requires a wine that is equally bold. And Cabernet Sauvignon is more than capable of meeting the task. Its medium acidity and strong tannin structure cut into most red meats. Meanwhile, the fats and proteins in steak smooth out the wine for a rewarding finish.

2. Roast Turkey: The Best Food Pairing with Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir is a fruit-forward, light-bodied red wine. As such, it is the perfect wine pairing for light meats, such as poultry, chicken, and duck. Still, Pinot Noir is at its best when served alongside a roast turkey, with the wine's tangy notes adding sweet berry flavours. This makes it a popular holiday wine for serving at Thanksgiving dinner.

3. Spare Ribs: The Best Food Pairing with Shiraz

With a high tannin structure and medium acidity, Shiraz is more than capable of standing up to the bold flavour intensity of smoked meats and barbecue. One of its best food pairings is spare ribs, whose high fats, proteins, and charred flavours are accentuated by the wine's pepper, herb, and tobacco notes.

4. Braised Duck: The Best Food Pairing with Merlot

Merlot is a medium-bodied wine with a medium acidity and tannin structure. This makes it a great pairing for both red and white meats, but it is best alongside a braised duck. The acidity of the wine cuts through the fattiness of the duck while providing earthy, fruit-forward flavours that enhance the gamey meat.

5. BBQ Burger: The Best Food Pairing with Malbec

Like Shiraz, Malbec is a bold, full-bodied red wine with a robust berry-flavoured profile and aromatic hints of leather, spice, and herbs. This makes it a great candidate for serving at backyard barbecue, with hamburgers being one of its best food pairings. For an added layer of mouthwatering deliciousness, top your burger with blue cheese to bring out the wine's earthy tones.

6. Beef Lasagne: The Best Food Pairing with Cabernet Franc

Cabernet Franc is a versatile wine that pairs equally well with red meat, tomato dishes, and pasta. This makes it the ideal option to serve alongside a beef lasagne. The wine's high tannin structure cuts through the fatty layer of the beef to elevate the more subtle cheese, meat, and vegetable flavours underneath.

7. Roast Chicken: The Best Food Pairing with Gamay

With a light to medium body, Gamay provides a delicate touch that accentuates the mild, savoury flavours of roast chicken without overpowering it. Meanwhile, its high acidity cuts through the fatty chicken skin, enhancing the juiciness of the meat and resulting in a lighter, more flavourful experience.

A Fun Way to Explore Pairings

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