A CLASSIC beef dish needs a good, robust red to sit alongside. You have to match the weight of the food to the weight of the wine, so a lighter Beaujolais or an Italian Dolcetto will not work in this case.
Instead, you should be thinking of a Cabernet Sauvignon (perhaps a hearty Medoc), a Barossa Shiraz or a tasty Malbec from Lujan de Cuyo in Argentina.
Small grapes are key here, as the skin to pulp ratio will work in your favour. A wine made from smaller grapes will have significantly more of the characteristics of the skin in your glass. So expect more colour, tannin and oomph (technical wine term). Basically, everything you need to match Shirley’s Scottish beef.
Segla Margaux 2012 (Majestic, £31). This is the second wine of Rauzan Segla, a second growth chateau owned by Chanel. John Kolasa was the winemaker here from 1994 until 2015, and his wines have always been amongst my favourites from Bordeaux. He was also responsible for the sublime wines of Chateau Canon in Saint Emilion.
Barossa Shiraz 2016 (M&S online, £63 for six bottles). This is big, rich and delicious with a classic Barossa concentration and intensity. More weight (and a slight vanilla note) has been added by a portion of the wine being aged in American oak for sixteen months. There’s an attractive spicy note too, which opens up the food matching possibilities. Try this with Scottish lamb, a peppered steak or a pot of homemade chilli.
Republica del Malbec Riccitelli 2014 (Inverarity One to One, £35.99). This is one of my favourite wines in the shop, and without a doubt, the best Malbec I have ever tasted. Matias Riccitelli is a winemaking genius, and the grapes that make up this wine come from a vineyard planted over 100 years ago. Older vines produce fewer, but better grapes, so the age of this vineyard plays a major part in the quality of the wine. Matias’s father Jorge was the head winemaker at Norton so Matias basically grew up in vineyards and was always surrounded by excellent wines, particularly Malbecs. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree (incidentally also the name of his excellent entry level offering), and he’s definitely a talent to watch out for in the future. This is the ideal wine to go with Shirley’s beef.
Pete Stewart is Glasgow director of Inverarity One to One, 185a Bath Street, Glasgow (0141 221 5121) www.inverarity121.com
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