Here's How To Pair White Wine With Beef

There are some food pairings we'd never dream of disrupting, beef and red wine being one of them. Both rich and luscious, there's nothing that washes a steak down better than a glass of vino. Though white wine is often thought of as too light for the meat, we reached out to an expert to show us the right way to pair it with beef.

Crisp and refreshing, white wine is sipped with foods that sit on the opposite side of beef along the protein spectrum — think shrimp or lobster. However, Lexi Stephens, the wine educator behind Lexi's Wine List, shows us how white wine and beef can go together. "White wines can absolutely pair with beef dishes, but you'll want to keep in mind the intensity of the dish," she says. "If the dish is very heavy like a stew or roast, you'll want to choose a fuller-bodied white wine, like oaked Chardonnay." This particular wine is more velvety, thanks to the buttery nuttiness found within it. Oaked chardonnay can have dessert-like tasting notes such as vanilla or caramel, which embraces the umami of beef.

"For slow-roasted beef dishes, a fuller-bodied white wine like an oaked Chardonnay will work well to stand up to the intensity of flavors in the dish, while also cutting through the fattiness of the beef with its balanced acidity," Stephens explains. Its acidity isn't as high as other white wines, but it's just enough to temper the richness without masking the savory flavor entirely.

The depth of oaked Chardonnay makes it an instant hit with heartier beef dishes like cheesy French onion soup pasta casserole, but not every recipe containing the meat must be relegated to that wine. "If the dish is lighter (think: beef tacos with fresh toppings), you can go with a lighter white wine, like Sancerre or Chablis," Lexi Stephens recommends.

Sancerre can be quite tart; it has a high acidity, made up of tasting notes like zesty green apples and lemons. It's refreshing nature definitely makes it a match for Panzanella-style beef and noodles summer salad. Basil and fresh tomatoes accompany the savory beef and chill noodles, giving it a revitalizing nature that's mirrored in the acidity of the wine. Sancerre also contains herbaceous flavors like grass and asparagus, which can be great at balancing out sweetness in cherry balsamic flap steak.

Chablis opens with similar zesty flavors like Sancerre, although it contains white floral flavors and ends with an acidic minerality. It serves as the perfect contrast to creamier dishes, making it a delicious pair to marry-me steak. The velvety sauce is rife with herbs and tomatoes, embracing the fruity and light aspects of a Chablis.