Skirt and bavette steak

Skirt and bavette steak

Skirt and bavette are lean, loose grained and full of beefy, iron rich flavour, cooked fast and served rare, often with shallots or a green sauce. There is less fat than in a ribeye to soften tannin, so the wine wants supple rather than hard grip, with fresh acidity and a savoury, peppery edge. A big, oaky blockbuster flattens the meat's own flavour.

Pairs Perfectly. Merlot, Bordeaux, France. Plum and cedar over supple tannin and fresh acidity, firm enough for red meat but soft enough for a lean cut, and the classic partner to bavette with shallots. It costs little.

Pairs Well. Syrah, Washington State, USA. Black pepper, dark fruit and bright acidity, with a savoury edge that meets the char.

Pairs Well. Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina. The Argentine partner to grilled skirt, dark fruited and plush, best in its fresher, less oaked style.

Worth Seeking Out

Plavac Mali from Dalmatia, Croatia. Dark, spicy and savoury, grown on sun baked slopes above the Adriatic, with the structure for rare, charred beef.

Avoid

Heavily oaked, very ripe reds and light whites. Heavy oak and jammy fruit bury the beef, and a light white has nothing to set against the char.

Failing That

A Shiraz, Barossa, Australia.

If All Else Fails

Côtes du Rhône rouge.

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