Duck breast

Duck breast

Assuming duck breast pan roasted pink with a crisp skin, served with a cherry or plum sauce.

Duck breast brings rich, fatty skin and dense, dark meat, and it is usually served pink with a fruit sauce. The wine needs acidity to cut the fat, enough ripe red fruit to meet the sauce without tasting sour, and tannin kept moderate. A big, heavily oaked red smothers the meat and clashes with the fruit.

Pairs Perfectly. Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, California. Ripe dark cherry and a savoury, spiced edge over fresh acidity and soft tannin, which meets a cherry or plum sauce and cuts through the crisp skin. It has the fruit weight that duck asks for without the heaviness of bigger reds.

Pairs Well. Langhe Nebbiolo, Piedmont, Italy. Cherry, rose and firm acidity, with enough grip to scrub the fat, and lighter than Barolo.

Pairs Well. Valpolicella, Veneto, Italy. Sour cherry and bright acidity at a gentle price, and a natural match for duck with a cherry sauce.

Worth Seeking Out

Fetească Neagră from Dealu Mare, Romania. A dark, plummy native red with a touch of spice and soft tannin, suited to duck with plum or damson.

Avoid

Heavily oaked, high alcohol reds and lean white wines. Oak and ripe alcohol clash with the fruit sauce, and a lean white has nothing to set against the fat.

Failing That

A Pinot Noir from Burgundy, France.

If All Else Fails

Chianti Classico, Tuscany.

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