Pairings | Smoked duck
9 great wine pairings for duck
There’s one wine that’s invariably recommended as a pairing for duck and that is pinot noir but of course duck, like any other meat, can be cooked in different ways. How does that affect the wine match?
The common factor is that duck is a fatty meat that tends to need a wine with some sharpness and acidity to cut through and some ripe fruit to contrast with the rich flesh (duck is often cooked with fruit like plums and cherries).
Here are the types of wine I think go with duck best.
Pinot Noir
Whether it’s a fine old burgundy or an exuberant full-bodied pinot from California, Chile, Oregon or the Central Otago region of New Zealand, Pinot Noir is almost always going to make people happy. (See this pairing for example.) If you’re roasting a wild duck or serving it plainly cooked you might want to go for a more delicate red burgundy*. If you’re serving super-rare duck breasts or duck that has some kind of Asian spicing (e.g. Peking duck), a sweeter, riper style might work better. Whatever. Think Pinot.
Merlot
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