We’re going to bust into the Holy Grail Tajima American Wagyu Ground Beef and grill some burgers tomorrow night. What’s the best to pair with those? Here are the basic choices that we have in the wine fridge: aged or young left-bank Bordeaux; Cal cabs (some bruisers; some restrained and classical); young village or 1er cru Burgs. I could also dig up syrah if that’s more appropriate.
I’d go with younger cab or Bordeaux or syrah. The accompanying dishes would be the deciding factor within those. If there are tomato-based vegetables, I’d lean toward syrah.
Older wines or Burgundy would be kind of wasted with grilled burgers.
Burgers are just the foundation. Depends on how you plan to serve them. Blue cheese and caramelized onions? American cheese and ketchup? Cheddar and potato chips? Lots of options call for different wines. Safest bet for a clean and rare preparation over charcoal is young and fruit forward.
I’ve got nothing against blue cheese and caramelized onions, but with top waygu? American cheese???
Personally while I grill almost everything I do waygu burgers in skillet. And they’re the main focus.
Can’t recall having had a noteworthy “a-ha!” moment with past burger-and-wine experiences. This may just be the ticket to pound the table with my next at-home burger.
Never would have thought to pair Riesling with Burgers, but with last night’s burgers we finished the other half of a bottle of Desire Lines Riesling. Very enjoyable together.
Young L. Bank Bdx or Village Burgundy, depending on what you do with the burgers (more heavily seasoned, go with Bdx; if the patties are largely unadulterated, then Burgundy). Sounds delish!
I do smash burgers with fess parker ranch wagyu and American cheese for simple burgers with grilled onion, pickles and maybe some kind of 1000 island spread (no lettuce or tomato). Wagyu caramelizes so well in a hot cast iron pan.