Question: What pairs well with steak tartare?

WINE TALK
41

I’m not a big fan of steak tartare, have it once every year or two in France, usually Paris with friends who love the stuff.

I’m in for a relatively light bodied, young, tannic, high-acid red wine. Sorry, the match of raw beef with white wine doesn’t work for me (ymmv). I love rose immoderately, and not just because it provides a lot of my livelihood, but I also don’t want cool or cold wine with my tartare.

As I’m not a Beaujolais fan, my go-to would be a Bourgogne Rouge, light and tart enough to cut through the heft. I don’t think I’ve ever ordered it in a place where Mondeuse from Savoie or Refosco from Northern Italy were available, but that would be my first choice. In a pinch, I could go with a Bordeaux Rouge (again, as with my choice of Bourgogne, nothing higher on the Appellation totem pole). From California, if you can find a cheap 13% Zinfandel, that could work.

Dan Kravitz

42

Okay, I’ll give you the opportunity: Why don’t you eat steak tartare, Russell?

43

Champagne

44

Add some french fries for good measure.

45

Don’t like it. That’s all! :slight_smile:

46

In our brosé bronanza last June (A brosé bronanza with the brochachos - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers) we had steak tartare and indeed pretty much everything I tried worked fantastically well with it. Of course almost all the wines (Tondonia, L’Anglore, Simone, Valentini etc) were more or less of the tannic, vinous kind. I would not take the average pale Provencal style rosé necessarily for this dish, although in all likelihood even that would not be a catastrophe. Last Saturday at our Condrieu tasting I ordered a steak tartare and the pairing did not suck, although ideally I would go for a rosé, a saignée style rosé Champagne or a light to medium bodied savory red.

47

Breakfast of champions. champagne.gif

48

You are so right!!!

49

This thread got me going…

Last night, tartare made with top sirloin, trimmed and flash seared for sterility, cut into 1 inch cubes and pulsed in the Cuisinart.

Pulse four times: 1 second, then 2 seconds, then 3 seconds, then 4 seconds and liked the texture.

16 ounces meat.

Whisked 2 egg yolks, 2 teaspoon rosata vinegar, 1 teaspoon mustard powder, 1 teaspoon lemon zest, 1/2 teaspoon celery seed, 2 tablespoons capers, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt.

Match ups that we tried:

2016 Ceritas chard - the acid structure of the chardonnay worked great! Yes vote.

2016 Williams Seylem chenin blanc. A surprisingly good match. The acidity of the wine mated well with the softer and more viscous characteristics of the tartare.

2016 A Rafanell cabernet - old school Cali structure, picked up the egg/oil aspects well, not as good a match as the chard. (Good wine, though!)

2016 Spottswoode cabernet - nice match with the mild oak and velvety fruit of the wine with the mouth feel of the tartare. This was another thumbs up.

2016 Rivers Marie Lore cabernet - I think of this wine as having ‘feminine’ qualities. Very fine tannins, well integrated fruit…another good match.

2016 Roadhouse pinot noir. Another fine wine, but the nature of the fruit was better suited to a chicken dish we had rather than with the tartare.

So, we concluded that choosing some whites with good acid characteristics and perhaps reds with more barrel time worked out quite well.

Made enough that we will try again tonight!

Thanks for a great and inspiring thread!

50

Agreed. Sort of shocked to hear that Michael thinks otherwise

51

I’m not sure he actually does. He went on to admit he doesn’t like rose champagne. Many people believe that “what I like” IS “what pairs well.” So, on the flipside, something I don’t like isn’t a pairing for anything! :wink:

52

A sparkling or a riesling.

53

Rose Champagne without a doubt - one of my favorite and most underrated pairings.