Boeuf Bourguignon, or as my boyfriend likes to call it, Beef Burgundy (this is less pretentious, he would say), is an old French recipe for what is essentially a beef stew.
There are so many variations that it can be frustrating finding a definitive “right” way to make it. Ironically, the most well-known recipe is by an American, the legendary Julia Child. However, to further frustrate the purists, there are many recipes that claim to be based on her recipe but that are all slightly different. Then, by the time you have settled on a recipe, it will be getting close to five o’clock and you will realise that it will take a minimum of three hours, and you will not be eating before eight at the very earliest. But it really is just a very very good beef stew. What makes it special, and unhelpful if you like to use cooking as an excuse to drink wine, is that an entire bottle of red wine is required, so unless you want to face facts and open a second bottle for yourself, no wine for you.
Depending on which recipe you settle on, you may be cooking with a different wine. There is no right answer, but this is the one time to consider not using your worst bottle, as the sheer volume involved means that if you decide to go for say, a bottle of Autumn Harvest Crackling Red, your Boeuf Bourguignon will taste distinctly of it. Not what most people would call a delightful flavour profile.
This is your fair warning; a boeuf bourguignon can be a bitch. Get the sauce right, and the meat is too tough. Next try, get the meat right, but the sauce is too thin. Just choosing the right wine can be agonising. Most recipes recommend a burgundy (Pinot Noir) but several also recommend a Merlot, a Grenache or a Syrah. After much debate we settled on a bottle of the Paul Cluver Pinot Noir. We first bought it specifically for our boeuf bourguignon but have since kept it in our weekly rotation after realising that it is, in fact, a very quaffable and well-priced wine. Happiness all round.
Every good meal pairs well with a bottle of wine. I’m sure you’ve seen a quote along those lines hanging on the wall at your local dive bar. For this meal, we chose a well-rounded, full bodied, Bordeaux style blend from Hermanuspietersfontein. Their Kleinboet wine holds its own against the rich, slightly fatty stew without overpowering the dish. Lending a beautiful brightness of rich red fruits as well as herbaceous aromatics of rosemary and oregano, the Kleinboet is an elegant wine fit to tousle with some of the best French cuisine has to offer. High praise indeed.
Paul Cluver Pinot Noir is available at most Tops, while the Hermanuspietersfontein can generally be found at Pick n Pay.