
Around the world, where Cabernet Sauvignon is grown, there’s also a signature treatment for a hunk of meat. Start your global exploration here.
Central Coast, California
Cabernet here ranges from lean to lush, depending how high up it’s grown. Spicy, herbal and wood notes are common and in opposition to the fruit-forward expressions elsewhere in the state.
Drink it with: Tri-tip
With all that spicy woodiness, these wines are tailor-made for this triangular sirloin-tip smoked over oak. The signature barbecue style of the Central Coast and Central Valley is meaty and lean to match the wine in flavor intensity and body.
Washington
Cabernet is emerging as the state’s signature grape, grown in warm, dry eastern vineyards. Here, it’s ripe and lush with black fruit and berries, as well as scorched earth and mineral notes like flint and graphite.
Drink it with: Elk
Elk from Washington and neighboring Montana tastes like beef, but richer and sweeter and doesn’t have much gaminess. A local Cab will complement it in the same way a berry-based sauce or glaze would.
Argentina
The best word to describe Argentine Cab is rich. These wines are full-bodied and jam-packed with luscious dark fruits. They also often carry hints of mint and some vanilla from oak-aging.
Drink it with: Skirt steak and chimichurri
Chimichurri is the country’s signature sauce. Made from parsley, oregano, chile flakes and plenty of garlic and vinegar, it’s spicy and bold, to lift both the savory, grilled meat and the opulent wine.
Chile
Whether in Bordeaux-style blends or on its own, Cabernet here tends to be bursting with black and red berries with bold tannins. It’s often aged in American oak, which adds some rounded spice, vanilla and tobacco.
Drink it with: Chacarero
This sandwich is made with thin-sliced skirt or hanger steak and decked out with green beans, tomatoes and chile peppers, pickled or fresh. The vegetal notes are a good match for the elegant wine, and the chile heat will pick up the spice.
Australia
The Coonawarra and Margaret River regions have a similar climate to Bordeaux that allows them to produce world-class Cabs defined by the minty and eucalyptus notes to balance out dark fruit.
Drink it with: Kangaroo
The continent’s signature marsupial has very lean meat that’s a little sweet and a little gamy. If you like lamb with mint jelly, you’ll appreciate how the wine’s herbaceous notes lift the flavor of the kangaroo.
South Africa
South African Cabernet drinks ripe and juicy, but often with a distinct black pepper flavor that gives it a savory edge, plus spice and wood, along with the grape’s calling card black fruits. The wines typically exhibit a beautiful balance between Old and New World stylings.
Drink it with: Braai
More than a dish, braai is an act and event, a mixed grill with plenty of meat cooked over a wood fire. Spicy lamb and sausage take on smoky flavors that complement the wine’s pepper and cedar notes.
Bordeaux
In the grape’s home, it’s typically blended with other grapes and aged in French oak. The results are ageworthy and full bodied yet elegant, carrying hints of baking spice from the oak aging to complement black fruit flavors.
Drink it with: Entrecôte Bordelaise
This boneless ribeye carries a richness to match the wine, but it’s sliced thin so it won’t overwhelm the restrained sip. What makes this dish special is a rich butter sauce made with Bordeaux wine.
Tuscany
Cabernet Sauvignon grown here creates the body behind super Tuscan wines. It tends to have more red fruit than black, but with the grape’s signature roundness, tannin structure and a smoky green pepper note that’s unique to the region.
Drink it with: Bollito Misto
Translated as “mixed boil,” this stew consists of various tough cuts of beef (and sometimes veal and poultry) with plenty of garlic and chile. Like the wine, it’s comforting and hearty with an enticing spice level.
Jump Straight to a Recipe
Entrecôte Bordelaise
Grilled Skirt Steak with Chimichurri
Simple Broiled Flank or Skirt Steak
Tomatillo & Cilantro Chimichurri
1Entrecôte Bordelaise
2Grilled Skirt Steak with Chimichurri
3Simple Broiled Flank or Skirt Steak Recipe
4Tomatillo & Cilantro Chimichurri