When deciding which wine to pair with a steak, it’s easy to reach for a big California cab and call it a day. Sure, that formula would work fine a lot of the time, but it’s not a perfect pairing for every cut or preparation.
As a steakhouse enthusiast myself, I’m always looking for something better and more interesting to drink with the succulent red meat, so I tapped a few pros to get the lowdown on the best wine pairings for steak, no matter the cut or preparation. Whether you’re getting gussied up for a night on the town or preparing a quiet dinner at home, you can’t go wrong with this expert advice.
Think About Acid
A lot of us think about big, bold reds when pairing wine with steak, but they aren’t always the best match for certain cuts, especially those that are heavily marbled and richer in flavor.
“One way to pair [wine] with a steak would be to cut through said richness, which is where wines of elevated acidity come into play,” says Thomas Kakalios, beverage director and lead sommelier for Asador Bastian, Andros Taverna and Mano a Mano in Chicago. “And while there are certainly red wines with elevated acids — tempranillos from Ribera del Duero, red Burgundy and sangiovese from Chianti Classico — usually this is the domain of white wines. So a dry and full-bodied riesling from France’s Alsace, a verdejo from Rueda in Spain or even a rosé Champagne or cava can work wonders and surprise your dining companions.”
White wine with steak? You better believe it! While it won’t work for every pairing, there’s something to be said for experimenting and trying that Alsace riesling with a medium-rare ribeye.
The Spill by InsideHook
The secret to great cocktails? Find out now.Don’t Forget About Body
Some steaks have more heft and body than others. For example, a ribeye or tomahawk is going to be richer and more substantial than a skirt steak or fillet. You should pair your wines accordingly.
“The beauty of focusing on structure means you can use these rules of thumb to select a white, red, rosé or even bubbles to pair with your steak, opening up a wide range of opportunities,” Kakalios says. “Match the intensity of the steak with the concentration of the wine, looking at wines with a big and bold profile like Napa cab, garnacha from Spain’s Priorat or an Argentine malbec. And, of course, it is possible to find full-bodied whites of high intensity such as an aged white Rioja, with its layers of flavor, or a generous chardonnay from Sonoma Coast.”
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While you certainly don’t have to spend a fortune dining at a steakhouse, there is something that always feels a little bit special about that type of restaurant, even if it’s a more casual place. It’s why Eric Wareheim — actor, comedian, author and co-founder of Las Jaras Wines — thinks a steakhouse is the perfect place to spend the big bucks on a really good bottle of vino. That’s if the wine list contains worthy bottles to begin with.
“If the wine list is decent, which it rarely is, I lean California,” says Wareheim, whose new book Steak House: The People, the Places, the Recipes is releasing this fall. “And age is your friend. A steakhouse is all about excess and celebration, so throw down a few bucks and try what the winemaker intended — for a wine to settle into itself, which oftentimes takes many years.”
If you have the funds to splurge on something cellared, go for it. And if you need a rec, the somms are always happy to help. Or “you can always text me a photo of the wine list and I’ll help you out,” Wareheim adds. (Good for you if you have him on speed dial!)
Now that we’ve covered some overarching scenarios, let’s get into the specifics of pairing different cuts and steak preparations with wine.
How to Pair Wine With Specific Cuts of Steak
Ribeye
If you want to try a lighter wine with steak, the ribeye is a great place to start. Kakalios suggests eating it alongside a rosé Champagne for “acidity that cleaves through the marbling.” I’m personally a fan of Nicolas Feuillatte Palmes d’Or Brut Rose Champagne.
Wareheim and Joel Burt, the winemaker and co-founder of Las Jaras, suggest pairing the beautifully rich piece of meat with a syrah from Saint-Joseph in France’s northern Rhône Valley.
T-Bone
When pairing wine with a T-bone steak, big and bold is your friend. Kakalios likes a garnacha from Spain’s Priorat region, while Wareheim and Burt would drink a Napa cabernet sauvignon. I recently had a bottle of Beringer’s 2016 Private Reserve Napa Valley Cab Sauv and agree it would be excellent with this big, beautiful hunk of meat.
Filet Mignon
A filet is a leaner cut of meat, which means you want to “rely on a less tannic wine to highlight delicate flavors,” Kakalios says. He suggests a red Burgundy. Wareheim and Burt would go for a carignan, which has medium tannins and body, making it a perfect food wine. I’m a big fan of Las Jaras 2022 Old Vines Carignan and Saldo 2021 Carignan.
Sirloin
The sirloin steak, sometimes called the rump steak, is pretty lean with some light marbling. It’s often a more affordable cut and tastes great when cooked on the grill. Kakalios suggests a “red Bordeaux, preferably with some age. Full-bodied and structured — descriptors that apply to what’s on the plate and in the glass.” Wareheim and Burt would open a zinfandel, specifically one crafted from old vine fruit, if you can find it.
Hangar Steak
“An Alsatian riesling will complement the cut’s minerality and natural sweetness with a wine that delivers the same generosity,” Kakalios says. As for Wareheim and Burt, they recommend a wine from Bordeaux Médoc on the Left Bank of the Gironde estuary. Most of these wines are cabernet sauvignons and come with a hefty price tag.
New York Strip
After exploring the Left Bank of Bordeaux, this steak takes us to the Right Bank to regions like Saint-Émilion and Pomerol. Wareheim and Burt suggest pairing a New York strip with a wine from this area, many of which are very age-worthy.
Porterhouse
Similar to the T-bone, a porterhouse also contains both the filet and strip steak. For this cut, Wareheim and Burt would seek out a mondeuse noire from Haute-Savoie in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France. Mondeuse is native to the area and often has red fruit notes mixed with spiced flavors like white pepper and cloves.
Flank and Skirt Steak
While these aren’t exactly the same cut, they often benefit from the same preparation (marinate the hell out of them for delicious results) and, therefore, similar wines. Wareheim and Burt suggest one of my personal favorites for this cut: Cru Beaujolais. You can’t go wrong with Jean Foillard Beaujolais-Villages 2022, Camille Mélinand Chiroubles or Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages 2022.
Chateaubriand
A chateaubriand is kind of a cross between a roast and a steak. Taken from the thickest part of the beef tenderloin, it reached peak popularity in American steakhouses in the 1950s, but it’s still an impressive cut to both make at home and order out. For the festive chateaubriand, Wareheim and Burt would grab a bottle of Oregon pinot noir (which you can never go wrong with, in my opinion). Las Jaras 2023 Oregon Pinot Noir is absolutely gorgeous, and I also love the Résonance Vineyard 2021 Pinot Noir.
How to Pair Wine With Specific Sauces and Preparations
Béarnaise
If you’re dressing your steak with this classic French sauce (made with clarified butter, white wine vinegar, egg yolk and herbs), you’ll want something to both cut through and complement its rich, elegant flavor and texture. Kakalios would go with a dry chenin blanc. “A rich and creamy sauce [needs] an austere, high-acid and mineral-driven white,” he says. I’m a big fan of Las Jaras 2023 Cézanne Chenin Blanc.
Chimichurri
There are few greater pleasures in life than eating a rare steak topped with herby, garlicky chimichurri. For this pairing, Kakalios is taking us back to the Right Bank of Bordeaux. “The structure of Bordeaux and the plushness of merlot hit the structural points, while the herbal streak of Cab Franc matches the same notes in the sauce,” he says.
Peppercorn
Steak au poivre is a classic, whether you make it with black or green peppercorns. When pairing with this piquant sauce, you’ll want to find a wine that offers similarly sharp notes. “Rioja tempranillo, preferably with some age,” Kakalios suggests. “Rioja’s renowned for old barrels of American oak that impart savory tones of dill and Szechuan peppercorn, a rarity in wines generally but a necessity when looking at this bold sauce.”
Dry-Aged
We’ve made it to my favorite type of steak with the umami-laden, sometimes blue-cheesy flavor that comes from the dry-aging process. These steaks need little accoutrement because they are so rich and flavorful on their own, so you definitely want a wine that complements, not competes. “If you order a gorgeous dry-aged piece of meat that is properly marbled, you don’t want to overpower it,” Wareheim says. “Stay with something medium-bodied like an old Ridge zinfandel.”
When slicing into a perfectly-cooked steak, you can’t go wrong with a great bottle of red wine. But if you want to get into the nitty gritty, these expert pairings will make it a meal to remember. And if the wine list isn’t so great, Wareheim has a very valuable piece of advice. “Worst-case scenario, just go for a gin Martini,” he says. “I guarantee you will have a good time.”
I couldn’t agree more.
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