What wine with a mustard, ginger rubbed leg of lamb?

Question

One of my favorite recipes for lamb! But what to serve with it. I'll most likely find a Savigaun Blanc since my mother only likes white and doesn't care about compatibility....but I want to find a proper red to go with a robust flavored lamb (by the way you have to try this recipe, Julie Childs French cooking). We'll serve new potatoes roasted with butter and parsley, string beans and a side dish of gingered cranberry, another fav. So...full bodied red? Something more subtle? I'm inclined to French wines or other foreign wines, honestly don't like many domestic ones. Thanks for your input! X-mas day is so close hope everyone is in the spirits!

Answer 1

Try Pinot Noir, the most delicious red of all, perfect with lamb.

Answer 2

Pinot Noir is the standard for lamb, and French Burgundian Pinot's set the standard for the rest of the world. Figure $30+ for a decent bottle. Avoid heavy reds (Cabernet Sauv/Franc) as that would be too robust for the a delicate meat like lamb even with the mustard & ginger rub.

Since your Mom is partial to whites, consider a nicely chilled rose or even a Beaujolais. Some Nouveau Beaujolais should still be available for around $9-12, and despite its name is good for about 2 years. French & Spanish rose's tend to be drier and less sweet than the corn syrup some call "White Zinfandel" and are usually very reasonably priced (under $15) and would be a great match for your holiday feast!

For something completely different, consider a German Spatburgunder (usually found in the US as a rose). Just a hint of sweetness, and might provide a nice contrast to the spicy lamb.

Enjoy!

Answer 3

Can I come over to YOUR house for Christmas dinner? Wow... what a spread. Sounds really nice and unique... we're just having ham and trimmings. Whatever you choose, make sure it is a nice flavorful heavy red wine, possibly a burgundy, cabernet or even a merlot, to go along with your amazing meal. Lamb usually is served with a very heavy red wine, FYI. I'm not an expert on all the specific vintages, but I do know which types go with certain meats. Also, don't get put off bi others on eating lamb... it's done bi people all over the world and it's biblically sound as consumable meat.

P.S.>>> Flingebunt's answer below is the most informed... many wine shops will actually answer your question over the phone, even at this time of the year, especially more mom & pop neighborly types of businesses.

Answer 4

The idea that red must go with meat is outdated. Ignore the names of wines, because they can differ a lot in their taste.

Lamb is a subtle meat and your if you are serving the vegetables without gravy you don't want a wine that over powers the vegetables.

With the amount of ginger and things like cranberry I would be heading for a white wine with a subtle fruity flavour. Definitely not sweet. These are your "Colonial" wines, California, Australia and New Zealand.

But I think you appreciate different qualities in a wine to me, so you should also ask for those qualities.

Actually if it is Christmas, you should be serving mulled wine. This is wine, heated with spices. Nothing better on a winter's night.

Go to a wine shop and describe what you want from a wine, and they will recommend one for you.

Answer 5

I would go with a more subtle red so that it does not clash with your robust flavored lamb.
Far Niente cabernet is the smoothest cab I've ever tasted. It will go well with that scrumptious lamb dish. However, it's very expensive, cheapest I can find is $90/bottle.
If you change your mind about domestic wines, try Trilogy by Flora Springs. It's the only red wine that comes close to Far Niente and it's half the price. You will not be disappointed.

Answer 6

I depends on your price range. With robust, richly seasoned food, I LOVE Rodney Strong's Cabernet or Merlot. I usually pay around $24 for it. If I am feeling frisky, I buy his barrel select of the same types for around $40. Only when I am pushing my chair up to a platter of garlic and rosemary roasted Panda do I spend more. Mmmm...Panda.

If you want less expensive, try Georges Du Boeuf.

Answer 7

Hi,

I'm not sure i understand your recipe but it seems a bit spicy.
Since i'm french i'll think about Madiran, a strong south west red win (area of Carcassone). this wine is good with cassoulet.

i hope this will help.

Answer 8

A great red yellow tail. It has a little wild taste with your leg of lamb to complement.

Answer 9

What a wonderful menu! I usually do my leg of lamb with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, garlic and rosemary, but your mustard-ginger sounds great. (Actually... I believe we've made that; we have a bunch of The Divine Julia's books... No, no, now I remember: I had it at a restaurant in Felton, California, in June of 1994 -- our 15th anniversary, only it was on rack of lamb, not leg of lamb. Yes, it was fantastic!)

Anyway, I would recommend a big, robust pinot noir, such as a 2000 or 2001 Argyle (about $20 retail). They're one of Oregon's most consistently highly-rated wineries, and they specialize in pinot and in sparkling wine. (They're right on the 45th parallel, the same latitude as the southern French wineries, and the climate and geology are superb for pinot noir.) We had their 2001 Reserve (more like $45) over the summer, with a heavily herbed roasted pork loin served on a bed of burgundy beans and roasted baby beets; it was big, very full-bodied for a pinot, with both tremendous fruit and lots of acid to stand up to the seasonings of the pork loin. At the time, we thought it would be great with lamb... pinot noir is always my first choice for lamb.

Barring that, I'd go with a French "meridionale" wine, something from the Cotes du Rhone or Ventoux, with a blend of the robust, flavor-drenched grapes of the south -- maybe Le Parallel 45, a reasonably-priced ($12-ish retail), or a nice Morgon if you're up to spending a bit more ($20-$40). Look for something with a blend of the four classic grapes: Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, and Cinsault. (We recently had a *very* nice Cairanne from that area; can't remember the vineyard, but it had the kind of spicy, fruit-rich flavor that would stand up to the mustard and ginger without completely overpowering the lamb. It wasn't centerpiece quality like the Argyle would be, but at $10-$12 it'd be a great second wine to open if everybody wanted to nibble a little bit more of the lamb and keep sipping something appropriate, or a GREAT wine to enjoy while cooking and socializing beforehand.)

And... you might also do well with one of my recent favorites, Valpolicella Ripasso. Don't let the first part of the name fool you: the Valpolicella region (far to the north, in the valleys of the Alps) is home to four different wines. They make an intense wine called amarone, made by letting the grapes dry slightly on the vines, concentrating the flavors. A true amarone is a deep, rich, voluptuous, sensual red, something to be savored with intensely flavored food like manzo brasato alla Lombarda from the nearby Milanese region; it's almost too much wine for a leg of lamb, though it would definitely hold up to the mustard/ginger rub. (And at about $40, it opens up a different price point to the $15-$20 ripassos.)

Ripasso, however, uses the lees from amarone and mixes them with the free-run juice from the standard valpolicella (normally a fairly light, brightly flavored red wine). The result is a wine not only of extraordinary complexity, but even contrasts, with the intensity of the partially-raisined amarone lees serving to provide structure and depth to the bright, fruit-forward grace notes of the valpolicella. It would be ideal with ANY lamb dish, but especially one with the tangy, pungent and fragrant combination of mustard and ginger you're using.

If we weren't serving sage-brined roast turkey with a rosato di montepulciano -- my favorite wine for turkey, all the body of a dry red with the crispness and chillable factor of a white -- I'd ask where you were serving this lamb and try to wheedle an invitation out of you. :-) But this year we stuffed our Thanksgiving turkey with oranges, lemons, and fresh sage, and while it made the meat very fragrant, I really missed my classic stuffing, and so did our daughter. So we're making up for that at Christmas this year -- slices of French bread toasted lightly, mixed with homemade sage sausage and roasted chestnuts, and sage leaves under the skin after brining the turkey overnight. Mmmmmm.

One final tip... while butter and parsley sound perfect with your menu, if you ever do a pork roast, try one of my favorite ways to serve red potatoes: top them with melted butter, then stir in about a tablespoon of really good Hungarian paprika and a half-teaspoon of caraway seeds. Wow! If you can restrain yourselves from eating them all, they're even better for breakfast, fried in a skillet in the butter and paprika, getting crispy and brown. Incredible with scrambled eggs and more of that homemade sage sausage...

As Julia would say, bon appetit!

Answer 10

There is nothing wrong with a sauvigion blanc with lamb,or a chardonnay