Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Surf, Turf and Wine

A customer asked me yesterday what wines he should have with his "anniversary" lobster and filet. He said this troubles him every year, and sometimes he will serve both a Chardonnay and Cabernet to compliment both the surf and the turf.
Nothing wrong with that. Chardonnay and Cabernet would be lovely.
However, if I could only choose one - it would be the Cabernet.
I always felt that you match the wine to the most dominant food flavor of the meal. That can be a a sauce or a gravy, or, in this case, the filet mignon over the lobster.
So, with filet mignon, I would go with a domestic Cabernet Sauvignon or blend that has a little age on it to soften the tannins. There's not much fat on a filet, so you don't want a big young Napa Cab that will overpower the meat. A Bordeaux, Brunello or Merlot will also work well. I've had this match many times with surf and turf and the red wine always supported both the lobster and filet beautifully.
Anybody else besides me craving some surf and turf now?

Tom





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