Beef bourguignon and wine: here’s a classic dish that now needs pairing. As one of the French people’s favourite dishes, we couldn’t leave beef bourguignon out of the food and wine pairings we offer you. Made with red wine, beef bourguignon needs to be served with specific wines. So you’re wondering which wine to have with beef bourguignon?
Burgundy wine: the classic pairing
One of the rules of food and wine pairing is to choose a wine from the same region as the dish. So this traditional Burgundian dish pairs very well with a wine from the same region. That said, not every Burgundy will match your dish. Beef bourguignon is a dish that calls for a wine with real presence on the palate. As a result, you need to choose a wine with a well-defined acid backbone and fine tannins. For this, head toward village-level Burgundy appellations such as Gevrey, Chambolle-Musigny, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Volnay, Givry, Mercurey, Aloxe-Corton, Pommard, or Rully and Vosne-Romanée.
Food and wine pairings with beef bourguignon
Other pairings are of course possible with beef bourguignon. In every case, be sure to choose a wine with real presence on the palate so it can hold its own against the dish. Reach for a wine with a good concentration of alcohol: it will highlight the slightly sweet side of your dish, and especially of its carrot garnish. The texture of beef bourguignon largely dictates the choice of wine to go with it.
So, with beef bourguignon, you need to serve wines that can stand up to the dish’s heartiness. Choose wines with a good acid backbone and don’t be afraid of tannins if they give the wine an interesting structure.
As a result, you can opt for wines from the Rhône (north and south). A Châteauneuf-du-Pape, a Lirac, or a Saint-Joseph will be excellent. In the Languedoc-Roussillon, you’ll certainly find what you’re after with wines from Corbières. Loire wines will also be very good with beef bourguignon: Chinon or Saumur should delight you. In Alsace, reach for a Pinot Noir. The red wines of Corsica will also be very good: Ajaccio, Sartène, or Patrimonio all hold genuine appeal!
White wine and beef bourguignon
It’s a no! Beef bourguignon is cooked with a red wine sauce. So it’s impossible to pair white wine with beef bourguignon: never mind the calories in wine. In every case, as you’ll have gathered, for beef bourguignon you need to choose a red wine. By the way, here’s a lovely recipe for this dish.
You now know all about pairings with beef bourguignon. About to put our advice into practice? Take the chance to fill out a tasting sheet. And good news, we’re giving you one!
