Game Birds and Wine

For the more adventurous epicureans, game birds are a welcome delight.  The only problem is their limited availability in restaurants and supermarkets.  Those that have not acquired the taste for our fine feathered friends other than chicken may stumble a little when it comes to choosing the correct wines.  The meats definitely have stronger flavors than that of chicken.

Cornish game hens are the most popular of the game birds and also work well with a broad variety of wines. If you are an initiate into this realm, this is the bird to begin with.  In addition to being fairly lenient with wine pairings it is also fairly readily available.  Depending on the dish you prepare—following the same generalizations for chicken—the ideal whites are Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc and White Bordeaux.   The red wines that set it off well are Chateauneuf du Pape, Burgundy and Pinot Noir.

Quail can be served both individually as an appetizer or in pairs as an entrée. They respond well to simple preparation and if you can possible find them de-boned they are much easier to handle because of their small size.  When served as an appetizer it is best to pair them with a traditional Rosé as you will likely be working into a more tannic wine with your entrée.  When they are served as your main course there is no better choice than a Burgundy or a Pinot Noir.

Duck experienced a serious wane in popularity for roughly a generation, but is making an astounding comeback.  Whether in a traditional French cassoulet  or with an orange sauce over medium-rare breasts, the perfect accompaniments are Pinot Noirs/Burgundies, Chiantis and Cotes du Rhone.  Let the style of the preparation guide you, if it is slightly lighter stay with the Pinots and Burgundies.

A squab by any other name is still a pigeon.  This turns many people off but leaves more of the flavorful birds for those that can fully appreciate the difference between a creature known for urban blight and the succulent and tender meat of the farm raised variety.   Squab loves French wine; from Bordeaux to the Rhone to Burgundy.  A California merlot or Australian Shiraz are also fantastic alongside this unjustly maligned fowl.

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