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McManis Cabernet Sauvignon is full-bodied and rich red wine.  With its aromas and flavours of blackberries, black cherries, mocha, toffee and cassis, it’s a great wine to pair a wide variety of foods.  Here are four great pairings we suggest you try.

McManis Cabernet Sauvignon and Steak

McManis Cabernet Sauvignon loves grilled steak.  The charred nature of the meat mirrors the bitter edge of the tannin in this wine.  When you combine these two flavours, you’ll find the bitterness of both the meat and the wine are significantly reduced allowing you to enjoy each component that much more.  The less you cook the steak, the better the pairing as the less fat you’ll have in the steak, the more body you’ll have for the wine to hold on to.  Thus we’d recommend cooking your steak medium rare or medium.  (If you’re a well done kind of person, we’d suggest McManis Malbec.)   For the ultimate pairing, try a little Peppercorn Sauce on your steak.  The pepper will really spice up the black fruit flavours in this Cabernet Sauvignon.

McManis Cabernet Sauvignon and Beef Stew

One common food and wine pairing philosophy is to match the body of the wine with the weight of the dish.  McManis Cabernet Sauvignon is a rich and full bodied red wine that will pair great with a hearty beef stew.  There is a hint of earthiness or perhaps tobacco flavour in McManis Cabernet Sauvignon which allows it to go great with the earthier vegetables in your stew such as mushrooms and potatoes.

McManis Cabernet Sauvignon and Ostrich Burgers

Ostrich is a great cut of meat that is versatile and full of flavour.  A grilled Ostrich burger goes great with McManis Cabernet Sauvignon as the tannin in wine is instantly softened from the protein.  The charred nature of the flesh waltzes well with the subtle bitterness of the oak tannin in the wine too.  While Ostrich has the same texture and flavours of beef it also has two thirds less the fat.  Thus, Ostrich burgers, when paired with McManis Cabernet Sauvignon, should be cooked Medium Rare to Medium to get the best pairing.  The more fat you cook out of your Ostrich Burger, you’ll find that the less flavour this full bodied wine has to hold on to.

McManis Cabernet Sauvignon and Swordfish

In general, Cabernet Sauvignon is not an ideal wine to serve with fish.  The oils in a lot of fish do not tame the tannin in the wine, making the whole combination seem off.  Meatier fishes like Tuna, Swordfish and Shark aren’t overly oily, so the protein will subdue the tannin in the wine quite well.  To improve this pairing even more, grill your swordfish to give it that bitter edge that brings out the subtle oak flavours in the wine.

So there you have four great foods that will go great with McManis Cabernet Sauvignon.  For additional information, read our article on Cabernet Sauvignon and Food Pairing.