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The Definitive Guide For Pairing Wine And Steak, According To A Master Sommelier

Pairing food and wine has always been a delicate dance, especially if you're a lover of both, but an expert of neither. That goes double when the food is a premium juicy steak with a premium price tag. If pairing perfection feels a bit intimidating, you're in good company: Most folks leave pairing expertise to professional chefs and acclaimed sommeliers. That's why we reached out to an expert in the field, Gillian Ballance, a master sommelier and educator at Treasury Wine Estates.

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With more than two decades at the helm of highly regarded wine programs in America's esteemed restaurants and resorts, Ballance brings a wealth of insight into the conversation about wine, steak, and the magic they make. "Understanding how to pair steak and wine is a great place to begin your wine journey, as it is such a classic pairing," notes Ballance. She quickly dispels some foregone conclusions, such as limiting steak to a red wine companion. 

"Generally, red wine pairs best with steak," acknowledges Ballance. "However, if you are partial to white wine, you can select a fuller bodied white when pairing your steak dishes." That's good news for the countless number of oaky, smoky chardonnay fans who also love a good steak. Ballance digs even deeper with another tip for those with white wine proclivities. "The accompanying sauce can help guide your choices, too," she says. "For example, a vinegary, citrus-y Béarnaise can really complement the flavors of full-bodied chardonnay."

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The steak cut matters

Pairing wine with steak is, alas, not as simple as choosing between red and white. The characteristics of specific wines make them more or less compatible with the meat, but it's even more nuanced than that. When selecting a bottle of wine for pairing, the cut of the steak comes into play, as well as the flavors. Gillian Ballance explains that "leaner meats pair with lighter wines, while fattier cuts pair with high-tannin wines that can cut through the fat." She continues, "For example, you will find that a leaner steak, such as a filet mignon, pairs best with a pinot noir or even a dry sparkling wine." 

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We tend to think of sparkling wines as being primarily white, but plenty of red bubblies come from black grapes, sometimes combined with white ones. Ballance recommends the 2020 Etude Grace Benoist Ranch Blanc de Noirs Sparkling Wine for pairing with steaks, especially for celebratory moments. It's created by winemaker Jon Priest and features black pinot noir grapes and white chardonnay grapes. The California company describes it as having a "bright fruity fleshiness" combined with extra body and texture. 

Pinot noir wines come in many iterations, with Oregon hosting a large concentration of American versions in the Willamette Valley and southern Oregon. Considered the state's flagship wine, produced from either red or black grapes, Oregon pinot noirs hold some generally affordable steak-pairing potential. As with the Etude bubbly, these wines are considered fruit-forward, but with high acidity and spicy accents such as cinnamon and sassafras.

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Thicker steaks, more wine tannins

Just as leaner meats pair well with lighter pinots or bubblies, a fattier steak needs a heartier pairing partner. It's therefore unsurprising that our chosen sommelier expert switches gears when it comes to thicker cuts. "A more fatty cut of meat, like a rib-eye, can pair best with the tannins of a cabernet sauvignon," Gillian Ballance reveals. Cabernet wines are known for having high tannin compounds, which affect things like structure and aging. The bold, rich flavors of a cabernet hold their own with the deep succulence and high marbling of rib-eyes and other traditionally thick-cut steaks.  

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Ballance recommends the 2021 Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon from Beaulieu Vineyards, which rose to vino fame in 2024 when Wine Spectator deemed it the Number Two wine in its Top 100 list. "The palate is expansive and full-bodied with a sumptuous mouthfeel," she says, "showcasing layers of ripe blackberry, redcurrant, and red rose petal alongside earthier tones of graphite, licorice root, gravely stone, and dark chocolate." She notes that the tannins are "silky and polished," which is "exactly what you would seek when pairing a hearty steak."

It's definitely worth putting on your wish list, but the high retail price might keep it from daily-drinker status. Other worthy cabernet sauvignon wines abound, and many are quite good. A Trader Joe's Diamond Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon even claimed the top spot on our own Tasting Table ranking of TJ's reserve wines. A lesser known alternative for cabernet sauvignon is a bold, full-bodied Chilean carménère wine. 

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Seasonings and spices impact pairing choices

Very few people cook a steak sans seasoning of some sort. Minimalists stick with salt and pepper, while others tap into regional identities and ingredients to enhance the natural qualities of a cut of steak. For this definitive guide to pairing steak and wine, Gillian Ballance feels that, in addition to the steak's cut and any accompanying sauces, a home-kitchen chef should consider the steak seasonings and spices as another way to assess the best wine pairing. And smokiness counts as a flavor. 

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Case in point is a relatively specialized cut, the beef brisket. It's not something you do every day, due to the time intensity involved — so you definitely want to get it right. Briskets bring intense smoky flavors to your table, which dominate the palate and make wine pairing a calculated choice. "I would opt for a petite sirah, such as the 2020 Stags' Leap Napa Valley Petite Sirah," states Ballance, adding, "Its lovely floral tones interwoven with more savory notes of black pepper and cigar box spice enhance the smokiness of the brisket."

In addition to Ballance's noted attributes, Stags' Leap also describes its petite sirah as "dark, inky, and dense," with all the qualities and tones balanced by the integration of balanced oak. A virtual parade of deep-toned fruits come forward when paired with brisket, including blackberry preserves, blueberry creme, dark plum, cherry kirsch, and more. Other petite sirah vintages accessible online include Inkblot by Michael David Winery (available on Amazon) and Aristotle from California's Monterey County. 

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