Better together – red wine and seasoned beef rib

When pairing wines you need to take into account the seasoning, for a better together combination.

Salt makes wine taste less dry and bitter, less acidic, and will leave you with a smoother and richer mouth feel, making a tannic wine more palatable.  Tannin’s are mainly found in red wines, it is extracted from the grape skins, stems and seeds.  They bind to the proteins in your saliva so your mouth will feel dry after drinking them, they can be bitter, but add to the richness of texture.

Combine the red wine with fatty seasoned steaks, (the fat on the steak will also make the wine taste less acidic)  go for the chefs choice of rib eye.

Beef rib and red wine pairing
Beef rib

To drink?  Argentinian Malbec from Mendoza is a good place to start.  They have been producing wine since 1557, Mendoza being the largest wine area in Latin America and 5th largest in the world. Malbec is the single most planted grape variety in Argentina and is mainly used as a single varietal.  You are expecting a full bodied, ripe, black fruit tasting wine with some spice.

Where can I buy it? I went cheap, this is only £5 from Tesco at the moment. Give it some time to breathe and do not drink it on its own!  This really needs the seasoned steak to make for a smooth, rich mouth feel.

Any recipe suggestions? Try my beef rib tried and tested recipe, it will make any tannic red wine taste good.