A match made in hunting heaven as Scott Heiman lets his tastebuds do the talking
There’s an old saying that I learnt from a friend’s father – and it’s one I’ve adopted as my own. He said: “Regardless of cost, the best wine you will ever have is the one you have with friends, over a meal, enjoying a good time.”
For me, I like to add another element to this philosophy. Specifically, I believe that the best meal you’ll ever have is (1) the one you enjoy with wine and good friends that (2) has been wild harvested by you (or one of those friends).
So, for those of you who have never ventured much further than the cab savs and chards at the bottle shop, this will encourage you to become a little more adventurous ‑ just like you’ve encouraged your non-hunting friends to consume your wild harvest.
With a little knowledge, you can enjoy a range of wine flavours that you may never have savoured before. Importantly, you’ll be able to pair the right style of wine with the meat that you’ve taken such efforts to serve at the dining table.
How do you pair wine with game meats? I’m glad you asked. The basic rule of thumb is to accompany red meat with red wine, and white with white, but it’s not so simple. The type of meat, preparation and sauce all influence the flavours on the plate. Then there are the varieties of grape that go into making the wine and their individual flavours.
Visit almost any bottle shop and invariably there will be rows and rows of shiraz, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, chardonnay, sémillon and sauvignon blanc. However, according to British wine expert Jancis Robinson in her book Wine Grapes (written with Master of Wine Julia Harding and geneticist José Vouillamoz) there are an estimated 10,000 grape varieties on this planet.
That’s not to say all of them end up in wine bottles. Some of these varieties include table grapes, sultanas and raisons. Indeed, of the 10,000 known grape varieties, just 13 are planted across the 30 per cent of the world’s surface that is covered by vineyards, while it takes just another 20 varieties to make up 50 per cent of the total.
Despite this relatively small number of dominate varietals, they all have their own flavours and aromas. In addition to the grapes’ unique characteristics, the variations in wine makers’ preparation processes adds a range of complex flavours. After all, wine is not just fermented grape juice.
To the point
You obviously know your taste buds better than I do but here are a few tips to make choosing wine easier:
Try to complement and enhance the flavours – don’t compete against them. For example, the spice in a curry will be balanced by the savoury spice and smokiness of a shiraz. Equally, a grilled fish dish will match well with the light and zesty freshness of a sémillon.
Match the accompaniment or the sauce. You can create a good wine match by letting the meat speak for itself. So, instead of pairing your wine with the meat on the plate, focus (for example) on the asparagus side dish by choosing the grassy flavours of a sauvignon blanc, or choose the forest berry undertones of a pinot noir if your meal involves mushrooms. Meanwhile, creamy sauces call for the butteriness of a chardonnay, even if the sauce contains red meats like bacon or ham. That’s right ‑ red wine doesn’t have to pair with red meat in all cases.
Hammer and tongs. Be gallant with bold flavours ‑ and light wines with delicate flesh. This means pairing the high tannin full body and dark cherry/green pepper flavours of a cabernet sauvignon with a big juicy buffalo steak, while opting for a light white like chenin blanc with freshly caught whiting or bream. Meanwhile, a fattier fish like salmon or a mud crab and avocado salad calls for a white pinot noir (this is where they take the skins out of the vat before fermentation begins).
Consider the acidity of your wine and food. You can cut the fat of your cheese platter or beer battered fish and chips with the acidity of pinot gris or a riesling. These wines will also go well with the side salad if it features a zingy vinaigrette.
Match tannins with fats. Fire up your barbecue and consider the jammy, dark fruit flavours, combined with the spicy hints of cinnamon and cloves, of a malbec with your homemade sausages, and with slow cooked ribs from almost any animal including wild boars, deer or buffaloes.
Wild boar
Boar meat can be paired with almost any red wine, but may also match well with white wine depending on the cooking method and the predominant sauce. Because it is a wild meat – not the product of livestock – the flavour and texture of boar can be very different to domesticated pork.
Boar tends to have a nuttier flavour and firmer texture (similar to beef), but with a more delicate and tender mouthfeel.
The meat is also a bit darker than pork due to the higher iron content. Boar is best paired with wine that’s not tannic and that will cut the fat. On that basis, if the meal called for red wine, I would be opting for the mellowness of a carmenère or a sangiovese. Alternatively, a white wine option would be a fruity viognier to complement it, especially if the dish has pineapple or mango. Hangi anyone?
Rabbit
Rabbit shares the conundrum of pork – is it a red or white meat? Actually, it is white and some say tastes like chicken. In fact, when compared to chicken, rabbit has less fat and fewer calories. With a denser, drier texture and more intense flavour than farm reared rabbit (or even chicken), wild harvested rabbit needs to be carefully cooked.
Since it’s mild-tasting and a lean meat it calls for a light-bodied wine that won’t overpower it. I simply love rabbit and mushroom pies and my go-to wine is a pinot noir or a lighter style gamay. But if there is a creamy sauce involved in the meal, I’ll reach for a chardonnay or a white Rhône-style wine (typically a blend of viognier, marsanne and roussanne).
Hare
Sure, hares have long ears and hop just like rabbits. But they’re like chalk and cheese when it comes to relative flavours. The raw meat of a hare has a reddish-brown colour, much darker than rabbit meat. That’s because of the differences in diet. Hare meat is also juicier and has finer fibres. Compared to the mild flavour of rabbit meat (which tastes a little like fowl), hare meat is distinctly more earthy.
We’ve been known to drop a hare or two between the vines, and when it comes to wine matching, we’ll be seeking out the cellar door’s light to medium bodied red with low tannins. Depending on how and what the meat is cooked with, a good pairing might be a pinot noir, Beaujolais, zinfandel, tempranillo, carmenère or nebbiolo.
Goat
My daughter scoffs down goat but won’t touch lamb with a pike pole. That’s because goat meat is less fatty than lamb and has a characteristic flavour, precise and intense, that varies according to the age of the animal.
It has less cholesterol, less fat, less sodium and more protein than beef. It also provides more iron than other meats. With the texture of chicken, and an earthy flavour that’s a cross between lamb and beef, pair goat with a mature red wine that’s smooth and medium bodied, but not necessarily tannic. Varietals that hit the mark include merlot, malbec or a GSM (a blend of grenache, shiraz and mourvèdre).
Deer
Referred to the ‘king of meats and the meat of kings’, venison is rich in flavour, minerals, vitamins, and exceptionally high in protein. But it is also a low-fat meat that is drier, denser, firmer and with a chewier texture than beef.
For this reason, venison needs to be paired with a wine that can equal its strong flavour. As such, red wines with earthy or smoky flavours are a perfect match. I’d favour Mourvèdre, zinfandel and grenache, but if you can’t find one of those, go for a classic shiraz.
Duck
Being a bird, you’d be forgiven for selecting a white wine to accompany a duck meal. However, duck meat has very fatty skin and, while categorised as a white meat, has more myoglobin than both pork and chicken. This helps deliver oxygen and iron to the working muscles, making it darker.
Chicken and turkey don’t need as much because they don’t fly, thus ducks have a darker, fatty muscle for stamina because they work harder – they fly.
Most cooking methods render the bulk of the fat off, but they still allow the rich fats and flavours of the higher nutritional content to remain in the meat. Next to a seared duck breast, white wines (even big and bold ones) tend to taste somewhat insipid and flat.
Instead, pinot noir is a favourite for duck pairing. You could also cut the fat of a roast duck with a tempranillo or sangiovese, which are light on tannins and a little acidic. Alternatively, if the dish is served with a ‘heavy’ sauce, you might like to go with a malbec.
Camel
Although it tastes roughly the same as red meats such as beef, camel has a sweeter after-taste and is a better source of vitamin E. It is also more nutritious and leaner than other red meats while remaining an excellent source of protein.
A small camel will have a softer texture than beef but with a stronger flavour – somewhat like a cross between beef and lamb. Meanwhile, like most animals, camels will become dry and tough as they get older. So, marination and slow cooking (such as braising) is recommended for meat from older beasts. As for what wine goes with camel meat? You should be looking for a fairly hearty red blend – something with the earthiness of cabernet sauvignon. The ‘Bordeaux blend’ of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and cabernet franc will be perfect, as will malbec, petit verdot and carménère.
Donkey
The best ‘hamburger’ I’ve ever had was made with horse meat. But I’m told that, in France, donkey meat is enjoyed as a sweeter and more tender alternative. It’s also a regular meal in northern China, Hong Kong, Italy, North Korea, Russia and South America.
Compared to other types of meat (such as from a sheep or cow), donkey meat contains a higher percentage of protein and essential amino acids, as well as being lower in fat, cholesterol and calorie content. Much more tender than beef, donkey meat is also rich in iron, calcium and phosphorous.
Cook it low and slow and then pair the meal with a young medium-bodied red wine like carmenère. The fruits, spices and berry flavours of this varietal, combined with the gentler and softer tannins (compared to cabernet sauvignon) are an ideal complement to the meat.
Fish
Let’s face it, fishing is simply another form of hunting and the topic of catching, preparing and wine matching with fish could fill an entire article. That’s because not all fish are created equal. But, in summary, there are four main types of fish meat ‑ be they from freshwater or the ocean.
Lean and flaky fish – bass, perch. Pair with a pinot grigio or even a champagne.
Medium-textured fish – trout, catfish. Select a sémillon, fiano, vermentino or dry riesling.
Meaty fish – tuna, swordfish, salmon, mahi. Look for a marsanne, chardonnay or a dry rosé.
Intensely flavoured fish – anchovies, sardines, herring, mackerel. The rules change right here, and you might be looking at a light red like grenache blanc, dry rosé or even a pinot noir.
I’m not in the business of dictating what you should drink with your meal. Instead, the purpose of this article is to encourage you to think more broadly about what wines you pair with what meats. Ultimately, the aim is to help you get the most out of your wild harvest and to make a good meal great!