Cabernet Sauvignon Wine and Food Pairing – Perfect Matching

It might be easy to typecast Cabernet Sauvignon as a big, bold and brash red wine that should be enjoyed with a fat juicy steak. While this might be enough to get your mouth watering, there are many facets to this variety that make it an excellent match for a multitude of dishes.

Traditionally a French variety, it’s common to find it blended with the likes of Merlot, Malbec and Shiraz to name a few. However, on its own, it delights drinkers with a richness of body, dark plummy fruit expressions, with a nice hit of acidity in its youth, and slight herbaceousness. It’s no surprise then that all these characters make this wine a match made in heaven for some deliciously indulgent dishes.

Braised Beef

Pairing a wine with a dish doesn’t mean you can’t actually include the wine in the dish itself. It actually makes it all the more perfect. So why not add a little splash of Cab into your slow braised beef? The richness of the sauce, and the fat in the meat will create the perfect environment for a Cab Sauvs’ tannin to work its magic.

Moussaka

Ideal whether making a vegetarian style, or using a lean lamb mince. Moussaka delivers delicious layers of eggplant, potato and zucchini, lathered in a rich tomato sauce. This makes the perfect match for Cab Sauvs’ abundance of dark fruit flavours which latch-on to the richly savouryness of this dish.

Grilled Radicchio with Balsamic Glaze

The bitterness of radicchio is mellowed somewhat by grilling, giving a smokey, almost meaty flavour. Topped with a sticky balsamic glaze, served as a side or as a bruschetta topping, the sweet and saltyness of this dish makes it a winner with Cab any day of the week.

Lamb

Cabernet Sauvignon and Lamb is a pretty obvious one. So spice things up a little with an exotic blend of Mediterranean meets middle eastern flavours with a Moroccan tagine.

The traditional lamb roast with a good sprinkling or rosemary will of course always be a crowd pleaser, and make for a great matching to the more greener notes in a Cab Sauv.

Burgers

Yes, burgers. Not only will a Cab Sauv match well with the beef component of this meal, but including a cheese that has a little more bite like a blue, and adding a slice of bacon will give this wine everything it needs to round out the palate beautifully.

Thyme Roasted Mushrooms and Polenta

The earthiness of mushrooms and herbs come together for a magnificent meat-free match for Cab Sauv. A great variety of mushrooms are now in season, and perfect to top some soft steaming polenta.

Read more food and wine pairing ideas here.

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Lucia Guadagnuolo

Lucia has recently completed her WSET Level 3 Award in Wines, enjoys hosting wine tastings, discovering the Melbourne foodie scene, and has a keen interest in the wines, and fried foods, of Southern Italy.