The Underrated Wine You Should Be Pairing With Steaks

A good food and wine pairing is one where both the dish and the drink highlight each other and create an elevated experience together — this is the basis of the most classic food-and-wine match-ups. And an exciting pairing builds on that by introducing unexpected elements, like lesser-known wines. So we asked an expert for their opinion on a next-level pairing that could be created with an underrated yet very worthy wine. "I think Riojas don't get enough love," says Matthew Kreider, executive chef at Steak 954 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. "They can be complex, food-friendly wines."

It's true, you don't see Rioja wines teamed up with steak like you do, say, cabernet sauvignons. But that's exactly why tapping a Rioja wine creates a pairing that surprises and delights. Rioja is a region in Spain, and Rioja wines refer to wines made in that area with a blend of grapes. The primary and best-known grape for these wines is the tempranillo. There are four categories of Rioja wines: Joven, aka genérico or the wine at its most basic with no aging specifications and a fruity, acidic character; Crianza, aged for at least one year in oak barrels plus several months in bottles, with leathery, dark fruity, toasty notes; Reserva, using only the best grapes from the best seasons and aged at least three years, with dried fruit and tobacco flavors; and Gran Reserva, with even more exacting grape standards and aging minimums of two years in barrels and two years in bottles.

To understand why Riojas are such a good fit for steak, it helps to review the essential steps for pairing food and wine. The wine should ideally be more acidic than the food so that it cuts through factors like fattiness, richness, roastiness, and umami. But while characteristics like acidity or sweetness should be bolder, the overall flavor intensities of both the food and the wine should match, otherwise one will drown out the other. That's why, generally, red wines are best for red meat like steak: They're both strongly flavored enough and many red wines tend to be more medium- to full-bodied, which can stand up to steak. Rioja wines are mostly medium-bodied.

Rioja wines offer beautiful fruit notes that evolve throughout the course of aging, so younger wines in the genérico category are brighter and more berry-forward while crianzas and reservas take on more dark, dried fruit characteristics. When it comes to simply pairing the wine with the meat, the older Riojas are ideal because they have tannins to temper the steak's richness but dark fruit flavors to play with its sweet caramelized exterior. But then you can also consider the best sauces for steaks — for example, the spicy, herbaceous notes of a green peppercorn sauce or chimichurri would sing with the bright fruit of a genérico. A genérico would cut the fattiness of a béarnaise, while a reserva would match its rich intensity.