money The Absolute Best Wine To Serve With Beef Tenderloin, And The Styles You Should Always Avoid
The next time you host a dinner party for friends and family, consider serving a show-stopping beef tenderloin. The robust cut comes from the back of the animal, and is hailed as being the most tender piece of beef there is. This muscle is lean but not heavily used. It has a fine grain and is free of chewy connective tissue that yields unpleasant toughness. Unlike filet mignon, which actually comes from the same area, beef tenderloin includes the entire muscle, so it's the perfect pick for a group. To really draw wows from the crowd, you'll want to pair it with the perfect wine.
While the general rule of thumb is that red wine goes with red meat, Gillian Ballance, master sommelier of Treasury Wine Estates, suggests getting a bit more granular with your choice. As she told Tasting Table, "A cabernet sauvignon is the quintessential choice for a beef tenderloin as it's known to cut through fatter pieces of meat." Indeed, tenderloins are known for their largeness, so a full-bodied vino is essential for matching its energy.
Ballance's vintage of choice? The 2022 Beaulieu Vineyard Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. "[It's] fresh, buoyant, and aromatic, offering lovely red berry fruits on the nose, supported by a lifted floral potpourri character and secondary aromas of stony minerality, crushed earth, and graphite. Its rich and complex flavors complement the rich taste of beef tenderloin."
Read more: The Absolute Best Finishing Salt To Elevate Your Steak
Save The Lighter Wines For Chicken And Fish
If you don't have a bottle of cabernet sauvignon on hand, some other red varietals can also work. You'll find a great alternative in a Bordeaux, which has a structured flavor stemming from its notes of dark fruits, dried herbs, and chocolate. You can also choose a medium-bodied merlot that strikes a good balance between smoothness and acidity. For a slightly lighter finish, try a more mellow red like malbec, which complements the savory taste of tenderloin without drowning it out.
As for the bottles it's best to keep corked during a meal starring beef tenderloin, take it from a wine pro like Gillian Ballance: "I would avoid pairing a beef tenderloin with a light white wine or a rosé wine as it won't stand up well to the rich flavors and fattiness of the beef." Indeed, due to their more delicate nature, lighter wines can easily get overpowered by the umami flavor of the cut, and will do little to enhance the meat's taste on the tongue -- which, of course, is the whole point of a good wine pairing. These sips also lack the amount of tannins needed to balance the robust taste of red meat.
Bottom line? Save the whites and pinks for lighter dishes like chicken, fish, and salad, and opt for a bold, full-bodied red, preferably a cabernet sauvignon, if you're serving a sumptuous beef tenderloin. Your dinner party guests will be guaranteed to raise a glass (and a fork) to that.
Read the original article on Tasting Table.
