For me, a good cut of meat is a dine out treat, especially at “high end” restaurants. My personal favorite is Filet Mignon (4 or 6 oz.) with mashed potatoes and a vegetable, usually asparagus or broccoli. You may be a NY Strip or Ribeye fan; I will occasionally have a strip, instead of the filet, but am not really enamored of the ribeye (apologies to those of you who are). In general, the filet is considered the most tender, but least flavorful. The ribeye is the most flavorful, but least tender. While the strip is in the middle for both. Whichever of the three is your favorite, it does not matter because they will all pair very well with the wine I have chosen. If you are ever in midtown Manhattan, Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse has the best steaks & an outstanding wine menu. For the purposes of this blog, I will continue to use Ocean Blue in Utica.
In my opinion, there is nothing that pairs better with a good restaurant steak than a quality Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. It’s like they were made for each other. The trick, of course, is what does the restaurant offer and how much are you willing to pay. For a quality Napa Cab, you will pay $150-$200 (at the high end of Reggie III’s price range). At Ocean Blue, that would be a Caymus or Stag’s Leap Artemis. If that is “too rich” for your blood, some restaurants will have cheaper Napa Cabs in the $65-$100 range (Steve’s territory), like a Robert Mondavi or Beringer’s Knight’s Valley (an excellent bottle of wine). Otherwise, you will have to go to Washington State to get under $65-$70 dollars (Billy’s range). In any case, stick with a Cab. Sauv., preferably one from Napa!
Why the Napa Cab with steak? Even with flavored, quality meat, you still need to balance the protein & fat with an astringent (bitter) taste on your tongue. An aged Napa Cab, with smooth tannins, will provide the perfect balance. In addition, the complex flavors in the wine (black fruit, currant, pepper, graphite, wet rocks, etc.) will bring out the taste of the steak. You should definitely get a “pop” (what I call the perfect pairing) when you put these two together. I would never pair Filet Mignon (or the other two steaks) with anything but a Napa Cab! The issue, of course, is how much are you willing to pay, given the choices they have. Hopefully, I have given you enough options to find something that works for your budget. Remember, most of these types of restaurants have a “wine buyer” or sommelier on hand to help out. Otherwise, drop me a line with their choices and I’ll get back to you with what I think works best.
That should take care of this one. Next time, I will start a new Education series. Be sure to come back and see what wine related thing I talk about. Cheers!