The Best Red Wine with Charcuterie

Charcuterie represents an amazing range of different products mainly produced and exported from Europe, with France and Italy leading the charge. However, also high quality cured meat products are produced in the US and in Southern America, where European immigrants brought their expertise.

How Do You Make Your Charcuterie?

Charcuterie must be differentiated between two major styles: products made from raw meat and products made from cooked meat (that could be stewed, braised or roasted). Generally speaking, raw meat charcuterie is much more expensive and fine, compared to cooked meat products; that’s because raw meat can be processed in completely different ways, at different temperatures and with different spices. However, there are also some outstanding quality products with cooked meat as the main ingredient, but they tend to be much cheaper overall. This kind of products could be paired with all the wines that go well with steaks and braised meat, but there are some high-quality products that can also be paired with Traditional Method sparkling wines if you dare. Nevertheless, if you want to buy a wine that can be easily paired with a lot of different charcuterie products, take a look at our “The Wine For Steaks”, our Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah blend.

Charcuterie Meat and Wine Pairing

Raw meat charcuterie products are represented by some of the most famous cured meat products of the entire world, starting from the Jamon Iberico in Spain to the Prosciutto Crudo di Parma in Italy. The best examples of this style tend to be protected by a Denomination of Origin, also simply called DO, that requires the producers to follow strict rules to reach the best quality for their products. These rules can vary, from the minimum time that the product must be spent maturing, to the temperature and the spices used during the whole process. Generally speaking, raw meat charcuterie tend to display a delicate, yet cutting aroma combined with a smooth and slippery texture brought by the fat and high saltiness; all these characteristics made these products ideal to fill a piece of bread, able to keep under control the strength of the charcuterie.

how to pair Raw Meat Charcuterie and Wine

Just, for example, The fresh thigh rests for 24 hours in special cooling cells until it reaches a temperature of 0 ° C so that the meat is firmer in the cold and can be trimmed more easily. During the cooling phase, the product undergoes a first weight loss of about 1%. After that, the trimming is carried out by removing part of the fat and the rind, also for a technical reason, as it favors the subsequent salting. Salting takes place in a diversified way: the parts of the rind are treated with wet salt, while the lean parts are sprinkled with dry salt. This operation is extremely delicate and must be carried out on the thighs at the right and at a constant temperature. Finally, the uncovered muscular part is covered with lard, a mixture of ground pork fat with the addition of a little salt and ground pepper and sometimes rice flour. The greasing performs the function of softening the superficial muscle layers avoiding too rapid drying compared to the internal ones while allowing a further loss of moisture.

Now, the Prosciutto Crudo must be left to age in particular rooms with controlled humidity and temperature from some months to more than two years in total.

These products can be perfectly paired with fresh red wine, with medium to high tannins and cutting acidity, in order to balance the fatty smooth texture of the raw meat. At the same time, the high alcohol content is needed to keep under control the salty feeling on the aftertaste. You will find all these characteristics in our “The Wine For Steaks” thanks to the acidity and tannins brought by the Cabernet Sauvignon and the overall smoothness and fruitiness brought by the Syrah in the blend; find it here. Usually, this style of charcuterie is produced using a lot of different spices, in particular pepper and cloves, that must be balanced by a wine with character, made from fruit-driven varieties just like Cabernet Sauvignon and particularly Syrah.

However, you can also dare to pair these products with Traditional Method sparkling wines, especially if you want to try a Prosciutto Crudo or similar products that tend to be pretty delicate on the mouth. Traditional method wines have the acidity needed to balance the fattiness and the slippery texture of the product. Moreover, these wines tend to have smoky and yeasty notes that perfectly combine with the spices used during the production process of this style of charcuterie.

how to pair Cooked Meat Charcuterie and Wine

Cooked meat charcuterie has a completely different taste and texture, with an aroma much more similar to steaks and grilled meat. These products tend to be much finer in texture, with meat that is minced and mixed with salt, spices and other ingredients like pistachios and fat. The texture of these products is almost always smooth, like a cream, with a delicate aroma of cooked meat and the spices that “rule the roost” on the aftertaste.

There are a lot of examples of this style of charcuterie, ranging from low to outstanding quality, but the best can be found in the French cuisine; also sausages from Germany could be classified as cooked meat charcuterie and they are pretty popular all around the world.

For example, just like we did for the Prosciutto Crudo di Parma, let’s talk about the Pates in French cuisine. "Pâtés and terrines, broadly speaking, are essentially big sausages cooked in some sort of mold," writes Michael Ruhlman. The grind can vary from coarse to fine, and pork is the dominant pâté meat. There are also much more expensive pates made from duck, for example, the famous foie gras made from the liver of the ducks. Les Trois Petits Cochons distinguishes pâtés as coarse in texture, meat-based (from mostly pork, duck and chicken), hearty, and garnished with spices and, occasionally, vegetables. Pâté de Campagne, the most common, is a coarse grind of lean and fatty pork with spices and little if any, liver. More lavish versions are found baked in pastry dough (en croûte), in a mold (en terrine), or in the skin (galantines and ballottines), but, historically speaking, the charcutier's goal was always the same: "Pâté was created to use up the excess product (offal, trim, fat) from a day of slaughter,".

This kind of product requires exactly the same wines of grilled or braised meat, thanks to their particular and spices strength on the aftertaste. In this case, tannic red wine with high acidity and balancing smoothness brought by the alcohol and glycerin content is the key to keeping under control the aroma of a cooked meat charcuterie product. Just think about a foie gras pate, characterized by a smooth fatty texture and a long-lasting finish thanks to the minced and spiced liver. The tannins found in red wine help to balance the smooth texture, cleaning up the mouth, and the fruity aromatics on the aftertaste help to keep under control the spiciness on the aftertaste, making the mouth ready for another bite.

If you are a fan of French charcuterie and you need the ideal wine to pair it, check PairME’s “The Wine for Steak” to learn more about our “The Wine For Steak”, the ideal friend for your romantic French dinner.