What wine goes with fish, meat, steak and barbecue?

1. Match the weight of wine and food. A delicate steamed fish disappears beside a powerful red, while a juicy steak makes a light white seem watery.
2. Sauce matters more: creamy and tomato chicken are different. Cream wants round white, tomato good acidity.
3. Fat likes acidity or tannins. Acidity cuts through fat and refreshes, while tannins bind proteins. That is why steak makes Cabernet seem softer.
4. Acid with acid: lemon, tomato and marinades need equally acidic wine or it tastes flat.
5. Salt helps, bitterness and chilli hurt: salt softens red tannins; bitter food and chilli amplify tannin and alcohol.

Can red go with fish?

Yes, thoughtfully. Powerful tannic reds create metallic flavours, especially with oily fish. Low-tannin Pinot Noir, Beaujolais Gamay and Frappato suit salmon, tuna, grilled fish and fish in red wine.

Salmon and pink-fleshed fish

Fat needs acidity or light structure: Chardonnay, especially Burgundy, Provence rosé, sparkling or light Pinot Noir. Lightly salted salmon suits Chablis or brut.

Steak

The classics are Cabernet Sauvignon and Left Bank Bordeaux. Tannins bind to the meat’s protein and fat, making the wine seem softer. Malbec from Cahors or Argentina, Rhône Syrah and Rioja Tempranillo also work well. The fattier the steak, such as ribeye, the fuller the wine can be. For fillet, choose something more elegant: Burgundy or Merlot.

Barbecue skewers, shashlik

Charcoal heat, smoke, marinade and often spicy sauce want juicy fruity red with little oak:

• pork: Merlot, Grenache, Côtes du Rhône, Pinot Noir;

• lamb: Syrah, Malbec, Rioja;
• chicken: rosé or Chardonnay;
• vinegar or lemon marinade: good acidity, reds slightly cooler at 14–16°C.

Duck

Duck is rich and aromatic, making Pinot Noir a good partner. Its acidity refreshes the palate while its berry notes complement the meat. Merlot from Bordeaux’s Right Bank and Cahors also work well. With orange or cherry sauce, choose Pinot Noir or a fruity red without excessive tannins. Foie gras calls for Sauternes or Monbazillac.

• Tomato and pizza: acidic Chianti, Barbera or light Côtes du Rhône.

• Carbonara and cream: Chardonnay or white Burgundy.
• Seafood pasta: Vermentino, Sauvignon, Pinot Grigio.
• Bolognese: Sangiovese, Côtes du Rhône, Merlot.

• Fresh Sauvignon, Chablis, Muscadet: seafood, salads, goat’s cheese, greens.

• Round aged Chardonnay: chicken, veal, cream and mushrooms.
• Aromatic Riesling, Gewurztraminer: Asian, spicy, smoked and Alsatian food.
• Sweet Sauternes, Monbazillac: foie gras, blue cheeses and desserts.

• Chilli: amplifies alcohol and tannin; choose off-dry Riesling or Gewurztraminer.

• Vinegar and strong marinades: flatten soft wine.
• Bitter rocket and grapefruit: increase tannic bitterness.
• Heavy food with light wine: Beaujolais disappears beside cassoulet.
• Sweet dessert and dry wine: wine tastes sour; choose sweeter than the food.

Follow the dish’s region:

• Burgundy: bourguignon and red, snails and Chablis;

• Bordeaux: entrecôte bordelaise and Bordeaux, Arcachon oysters and Entre-deux-Mers;
• Alsace: choucroute and Riesling;
• Provence: bouillabaisse and rosé;
• Loire: goat’s cheese and Sancerre.

French wine regions.

In France, the main rule is simple: what grows together goes together. Over centuries, local wines developed alongside the food of their own region.

Five to try: oysters–Muscadet, goat’s cheese–Sancerre, cassoulet–Madiran, herb lamb–Châteauneuf and bouillabaisse–Bandol rosé.

Rosé is the most flexible wine at the table: it combines white-wine acidity with red-wine fruit. It handles ingredients other wines struggle with: garlic, tomatoes, olives, anchovies and a little spice. If the table includes fish, meat and vegetables at the same time, a dry Provence rosé will almost never let you down. French wines.

Twenty-minute rule: take white out of the fridge twenty minutes early; put red in for twenty minutes.

For fish, meat, salads and cheeses together:

• Brut: versatile for starters and fish.

• Dry rosé: the mixed table.
• Light Pinot Noir, Beaujolais or Côtes du Rhône: meat and poultry without overwhelming fish.
• One white and one red: guests choose.

• Fresh goat’s cheese: Sancerre or Sauvignon.

• Camembert, Brie: brut or Chardonnay.
• Comté and mature hard cheese: Jura vin jaune, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir.
• Roquefort and blues: Sauternes, salty with sweet.
• Dessert: sweeter wine, Sauternes, Monbazillac or demi-sec.
• Chocolate: sweet reds such as Banyuls.

Cheese and wine.

The same fish calls for a different wine depending on how it is prepared:

• Raw tartare, ceviche, carpaccio: freshest acidity, Chablis, Muscadet, dry sparkling.

• Steamed or poached: light unoaked Sauvignon or Picpoul.
• Grilled: fuller white or light red, Chardonnay, rosé, Pinot Noir with tuna and salmon.
• Fried or battered: sparkling wine, whose bubbles and acidity refresh after the frying oil.
• Cream sauce: round aged Burgundy Chardonnay or Graves.
• Smoked: Riesling, Gewurztraminer.
• Tomato and garlic: Provence rosé or Cassis white.

The same principle applies to meat: grilled beef and beef slowly braised in wine need different partners. For the grill, look for tannins and fruit. For a long braise, choose wine from the region in which the dish is cooked: Burgundy with bœuf bourguignon, for example.

1. Powerful red with delicate fish: overwhelms and tastes metallic.
2. Ignoring sauce: often more important than meat.
3. Dry with sweet dessert: sour wine.
4. Tannic red with chilli: stronger alcohol and astringency.
5. Warm red in summer: 16–18°C, not 25.
6. Icy white: hides aroma; aim for 8–12°C.

Why does salt soften tannins and lemon clash with Chardonnay? Explore pairings at the table on our trips. → Our food tours · Cheese and wine · Champagne pairings