Choosing the right red wine for your T-bone requires some research and a lot of practice.
Pairing food and wine is a dance -- not exactly science, not entirely art, choosing the right combination of the two involves striking a balance that can't be entirely codified. Since taste buds and personal preferences vary, individual experience -- informed experience, of course -- is most important when choosing which wine to pair with a meal. So, when it comes to choosing the right wine for your T-Bone steak, you have some options. But, like any dance, some performances will be better than others.
Instructions
1. Choose the right T-Bone steak. The best wine in the world won't save you from the wrong steak choice. There are a number of factors to consider when choosing a T-Bone, but, as a rule, the higher the grade of meat, the better -- in the United States the best cut is called USDA Prime. Also, you want your steak to be fresh and well kept. You want a bright-red steak that is marbled with white fat, not a dull, solid-gray one.
2. Start with the wine basics: look for a red wine. Pairing any kind of beef with a white wine is a bit like wearing socks with sandals -- you can do it, but people are going to stare. Flavor is key here; the wine needs to be strong enough to stand up to the richness of the beef. That's a job for red wine.
3. Think flavor. T-bone steaks are renowned for their quality. A choice cut of beef, T-bones tend to be tender, flavorful steaks; so, you'll need a relatively strong red to match up with your steak. This requires "tannic strength" -- tannins are what gives a wine its bitter, astringent taste. Common choices include a full-bodied red, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, or medium-bodied choices such as Merlot or Shiraz. There are too many labels to list, which is why trial and error are important when pairing a wine with your T-bone.
4. Try, try, try again. You may hit a perfect match the first time you choose a red wine to pair with your T-bone; or, you may suspect that your dream choice is still out there, waiting to be discovered. Since individual palettes vary, trial and error is the key to finding the perfect match. There are worse things to have to do over and over again.
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