WTN: Difficult to find pairing for mature left-bank claret

Château Cos d’Estournel Saint-Estèphe 2ème grand cru 1985 – Alc.12.5%

My experience with this wine the other day is illustrative of my difficulty of finding a good pairing for mature left-bank claret, particularly from delicately styled vintages like 1985. I have found some previous bottles of this wine celestial when paired with nothing stronger than a savoury nibble - a fine nose of discrete red fruit, pencil shaving and mineral touches allied to a long medium weight palate, perfectly shaped with a gentle crescendo to the finished followed by the slow dying away of the fine aromas. This latest bottle had all this too but it was swamped by a relatively simple dish of rare Châteaubriand steak accompanied by girolle mushrooms in a sauce and a green vegetable. It is not the first time that I have had such an experience and I am at a loss about how to serve these fine low key wines with a meal in a way that brings out all their charms. Any advice?

For me the easiest match for mature claret from a non-bulky vintage is generally roast chicken, though I've also liked veal chops and game birds in fairly simple preps. If I want to match Bordeaux with steak, I go younger or try a bulkier/more tannic vintage like '86 or '88.

Tim,

I know this wine well because my son was born in 1985 and I bought a case of it.
Drank the last bottle with him last year.

My rule of thumb with any great wine is to keep it simple.

A grilled duck breast would be perfect in my opinion (rare). No need for sauce and certainly not the sweet sauces so many people make the mistake in serving!

Dale is right, you can hardly go wrong with roast chicken although this doesn't seem special somehow...
His idea of a veal chop seems better to me.

What of beef? I see no problem with a tender steak (toujours w/o sauce).

However, roast leg of lamb would be second on my list. Sure, some lamb has a high taste.
Baby lamb doesn't however.

All the best,
Alex R.

I'm going with Alex on this, as I love a rare duck breast pairing with a mature claret, soft vintage or otherwise.
I also have to concur that a roast leg of lamb would also do very nicely.

I like filet mignon, but avoid seasonings aside from salt, and maybe pepper, though I don't even use that. A simple baked potato, maybe some sauteed mushrooms, with some peas and corn from the freezer (after being steamed, of course! )

Chicken, for me, is a bit too light. And I haven't tried duck (not being a very accomplished chef!), but that seems to work so well with Burgs (when others have prepared it for me! ). So I fall back on steak, but mild flavored ones, and very simply grilled, and with NO seasonings except the aforementioned salt

I normally go with poultry (though don't have that much experience with mature claret) - roast chicken as Dale said works very nicely, and I've also enjoyed quail, squab and pheasant.

My rule of thumb with any great wine is to keep it simple.

Thanks all for your advice. I think that none of you would disagree with Alex's rule of thumb.

I think that our error lay in the girolles and their sauce, which together were too sweet and rich for the wine. However, I do have reservations about beef; this Châteaubriand was a lean cut but I have noticed that more fatty cuts (delicious in their own right) can set up a taste clash with some elements, tannins most likely, from the Cabernets in claret.

I haven't thought of trying duck which is superb with Burgundy and Northern Rhône but I can see it working with, say, a 1990 if kept simple. Game birds, if not long hung, would be an interesting experiment as well. I take from this that the safest choices are veal, chicken and baby lamb if kept simple.

I third roast chicken. As Hugh Johnson once said, if the wine is the main attraction roast chicken is the right choice, and it doesn't matter much what kind of wine it is.

I have noticed that more fatty cuts (delicious in their own right) can set up a taste clash with some elements, tannins most likely, from the Cabernets in claret.

Interesting, as I would have suggested the opposite. I tend to think of tannic wines as a good contrast to rare meat with some fat. With a marbled steak I tend to go for Cal Cab, younger Bordeaux, or a young beefy Burg like a bigger Pommard. Of course, food matching is about as personal/subjective as wine tasting preferences!

I do think leg of lamb is another good option. Cooked medium rare (and reasonally simply) it's a good backdrop to mature wine (more so than say rack, which I like on rare side).

As to chicken, a well roasted non-factory bird is a thing of beauty, and as Oliver says let's one concentrate on the wine.

[Robin Garr]

I do think leg of lamb is another good option.

I agree with leg of lamb or lamb chops as a go-to pick with aged Medoc Bordeaux - and, come to think of it, young Medoc Bordeaux, too. The judicious use of fresh rosemary brings it around even more, in my opinion; it does something nice with the pencil shavings/cedar/cigar box character of many older Bordeaux.

Of course, beef is good, and I'm totally on board with roast chicken as a foil to just about any wine. But think about lamb, and think about why Mouton is called Mouton and has a sheep on the flag of the commune.

[David M. Bueker]

think about why Mouton is called Mouton and has a sheep on the flag of the commune.

Mouton Rothschild - where the men are men, and the sheep are scared!

I have noticed that more fatty cuts (delicious in their own right) can set up a taste clash with some elements, tannins most likely, from the Cabernets in claret.

Interesting, as I would have suggested the opposite. I tend to think of tannic wines as a good contrast to rare meat with some fat. With a marbled steak I tend to go for Cal Cab, younger Bordeaux, or a young beefy Burg like a bigger Pommard. Of course, food matching is about as personal/subjective as wine tasting preferences!

If I can be a bit more precise, it is a momentary harsh oily streak which appears during a sip soon after the mouthful of marbled steak. In my view this is a reaction between the fats and some element in the claret. The oily streak does not appear on sips further away from a mouthful of steak. I have not found this with beef paired with any other wine type.

Next time you take a claret with marbled beef, see if you get what I'm referring to. Others, of course, may like it better than I do.

Personally, I thank the Lord that there is a genre of wine that can stand alone. For food, there is every other kind of wine. Not everything in the world has to be social. But the human mind seems to be wired with that imperative, which I just said in the superiority post.

If I can be a bit more precise, it is a momentary harsh oily streak which appears during a sip soon after the mouthful of marbled steak. In my view this is a reaction between the fats and some element in the claret. The oily streak does not appear on sips further away from a mouthful of steak. I have not found this with beef paired with any other wine type.
Next time you take a claret with marbled beef, see if you get what I'm referring to. Others, of course, may like it better than I do.

I'll pay attention next time - I'm not a hard guy to convince to try marbled beef OR Bordeaux!

Château Cos d’Estournel Saint-Estèphe 2ème grand cru 1985 – Alc.12.5%
.... It is not the first time that I have had such an experience and I am at a loss about how to serve these fine low key wines with a meal in a way that brings out all their charms. Any advice?

Good fresh Chestnuts - boiled or roasted. A very nice way to show off many delicate older reds. I think a very mellow creamy mushroom risotto would also do well.

Château Cos d’Estournel Saint-Estèphe 2ème grand cru 1985 – Alc.12.5%
.... It is not the first time that I have had such an experience and I am at a loss about how to serve these fine low key wines with a meal in a way that brings out all their charms. Any advice?

Good fresh Chestnuts - boiled or roasted. A very nice way to show off many delicate older reds. I think a very mellow creamy mushroom risotto would also do well.

Interesting. Chestnuts with left-bank claret are counter-intuitive for me because of their slight sweetness. Same goes from a creamy mushroom risotto. I think that they would work with old Burgundy, Rhône, Barolo and perhaps right-bank claret.
BTW, my garden fills with chestnuts every autumn and, apart from an occasional purée, I don't what to do with those that my dogs don't eat.

I believe that claret calls for meat.

I respect vegetarians, and they may possibly live longer as a result of their choice, which is probably also more ecologically-friendly.

But I left off vegetarianism in my twenties when I saw that it was no-go with fine wine.

As for chestnuts or risotto, the fairest thing would be to try the combination before criticizing.
I am dubious, but it pays to keep an open mind.


Best regards,
Alex R.

Château Cos d’Estournel Saint-Estèphe 2ème grand cru 1985 – Alc.12.5%
.... It is not the first time that I have had such an experience and I am at a loss about how to serve these fine low key wines with a meal in a way that brings out all their charms. Any advice?

Good fresh Chestnuts - boiled or roasted. A very nice way to show off many delicate older reds. I think a very mellow creamy mushroom risotto would also do well.

Interesting. Chestnuts with left-bank claret are counter-intuitive for me because of their slight sweetness. Same goes from a creamy mushroom risotto. I think that they would work with old Burgundy, Rhône, Barolo and perhaps right-bank claret.
BTW, my garden fills with chestnuts every autumn and, apart from an occasional purée, I don't what to do with those that my dogs don't eat.

Huh, to my palate an old Barolo is much drier and more austere than most old left bank wines.
Other stuff to do with chestnuts:
--chestnut and pancetta risotto
--composed salad of roast chestnuts and roast duck on greens
--stew or clay pot of pork shoulder, chestnuts, shitake mushrooms and ginger
--cook and peel some chestnuts. Brown a squab or pheasant or game hen in butter. Remove and add sliced shallots, deglaze with white or red wine and a shot of good brandy. Add a cup or two of chicken stock, 2 bay leaves, perhaps a couple of pinches of cardamom powder or garam masala. Add back the birds and throw in the chestnuts, cover tightly and simmer gently for about an hour to an hour and a half, depending on the size of the bird(s). (Check occasionally to see that the stock hasn't evaporated). Remove and split the birds when done, and most of the chestnuts. Thicken the remaining stock by mashing a few chestnuts into it and reducing with perhaps a little cream. Pour over the split birds and chestnuts.

A nice board of varied cheeses with none being too overpowering would be my choice; unless I was more hungry.