Red wines to pair with venison, rabbit and ostrich (From York Press)

Red wines to pair with venison, rabbit and ostrich

2:01pm Saturday 17th September 2011 in Tipping's Tipples By Mike Tipping

Recent heart problems have meant that a bon viveur mate of mine has had to change his diet. That means no more belly pork, no more eggs and no more goose, come Christmas. The list of ‘can’t have anymore’ foodstuffs goes on, but I won’t.

One local trader who has no doubt noticed my pal’s change in diet, is the butcher that we both patronise. Dave, the former bon viveur, must have been one of his best customers until recently.

This perhaps explains why, when I popped into the butcher’s today to buy some mince, the owner said, “If you see Dave, can you tell him I’ve got rabbit in, venison and some ostrich too”.

I’m no health expert but I’m told all three of these meats are lean and relatively low in cholesterol, therefore suitable for his diet. One thing that won’t be missing from Dave’s menu, however, is wine. Although from now on he is limited to one small glass. That’s even more of a reason to make sure the wine he chooses is a good one.

With this in mind I’ve come up with a trio of wines to marry with the meats mentioned. All three are new to Majestic.

Pick a fruit-driven red to go with an ostrich steak. I’ve chosen Kanonkop Kadette 2010 from the Stellenbosch region of South Africa. It’s a spicy blend of pinotage, cabernet and merlot, steeped in flavours of black cherry, raspberry and blackcurrant, with a fine tannic backbone.

Rabbit in a thick gravy, would be all the better with a rich red from the south of France. Domaine des Crès Ricards ‘Alexaume’ 2009, PGI Mont Baudile, fits the bill. Made from cabernet, merlot, syrah and carignan, it’s from the Jean-Claude Mas stable. It has concentrated flavours of ripe berry fruit, pepper, liquorice and chocolate.

An earthy, spicy, Rhône red would be my choice with venison. Like Domaine Notre Dame des Pallières, Rasteau 2009. A blend of grenache, mourvèdre and cinsault, it carries its 15 percent alcohol effortlessly, with flavours of brambles, plums, chocolate and pepper.

In case you were not aware, last year Rasteau’s dry red wines, which were previously sold as Côtes du Rhône Villages Rasteau, were promoted to full appellation status and are now sold as Rasteau. This change has been retrospectively applied to wines from the 2009 vintage.

Kanonkop Kadette 2010, Stellenbosch, £8.79 when you buy two at Majestic 17/20.

Domaine des Crès Ricards ‘Alexaume’ 2009, PGI Mont Baudile, £7.99 when you buy two at Majestic 17/20.

Domaine Notre Dame des Pallières, Rasteau 2009, £9.99 when you buy two at Majestic 18/20.