Steak and Wine Pairing for Labor Day Grilling

Steak and Wine Pairing for Labor Day Grilling

Steak and wine pairing for Labor Day grilling is one of the easiest tasks in the world. Usually pairing steak and wine involves balancing micro-climates, vintages charts, various producers' reputations, and grape varietals against how much cash you have in your pocket at the time of purchase. You often face so many variables when pairing wine and food that the very phrase puts you in panic mode.

When you enter panic mode when it comes to wine and food pairing, usually your first reactions are either to spend more money ($30 for a bottle means it must be good, right?) or revert the useless phrase "_____ country makes great wine." This phrase is ridiculous no matter what country you fill in the blank with. Trying to say that every producer in France, Chile, Spain, Argentina, etc. makes great wine is just plain silly. Every country is littered with both great winemakers and horrible winemakers. The awesomeness of wine falls on a bell curve from good to bad just like everything else in life. It's very rare that you can make an overarching statement about an entire country's wine production without completely throwing out logic. There's as much bad wine in Chile as there is in France, and there is as much bad wine in Italy as there is in Spain. I am literally writing books to dispel the myth that wine can be judged from a country-level view, and this is especially true for steak and wine pairings, too.

One over-the-top claim about wine that is true is that South Africa makes smokey red wines that are the perfect steak and wine pairing for Labor Day grilling. Note that I didn't say South Africa makes great wine or even good wine. There are bad red wines in South Africa and there are great red wines in South Africa. The difference is that nearly all South African red wines will smell like smoke and because of that they will pair perfectly with any steak that you throwing on a Labor Day grill. $15 almost guarantees that the wine will be good and $25 or more gives you the opportunity to taste some of the best wines in the world since South African wines are still generally unknown.

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• steak and wine
• steak
• wine
• pairing
• steak and wine pairing
• Labor Day
• grilling
• recipes
• Pinotage
• South Africa