Which wine with venison steak? Christmas dinner wine advice

Wine advice

Prices are indications per bottle; they vary by shop.

Smart up to €10

Ripe red from southern Italy

Primitivo from Puglia

Lots of ripe, dark fruit.

Southern Rhône

Côtes du Rhône Villages

Spicy and round.

Generous €10 to €25

Northern Rhône syrah

Crozes-Hermitage or Saint-Joseph

Pepper and dark fruit, a classic with game.

Douro red

Douro tinto (touriga nacional)

Full of fruit, a natural match for port sauce.

All out from €25

Fine syrah

Hermitage or Côte-Rôtie

Deep and spicy.

Ripe Australian shiraz

Barossa shiraz

Rich fruit that stands up to a sweet sauce.

Why this wine?

Venison is lean and flavourful, and the sauce is often sweet (port, forest fruits, cranberry). Sweetness makes a dry wine less fruity and its tannin harsher. Choose a red with lots of ripe fruit and not too firm tannins.

What matters here

Umami makes wine taste more bitter, more astringent and less fruity. Young, fruity, low-tannin wine works best; salt in the dish helps.
Sweetness in food makes wine taste less sweet and fruity, and makes bitterness, acidity and alcohol stand out.
Salt makes wine softer and fuller, and less bitter or astringent: salty dishes are easy to match.

Better not

A young, austere Barolo or Bordeaux: with the sweet sauce the tannin turns harsh and the fruit disappears.

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Wine with venison steak