Pairing Guide

Best Wines to Pair with Lamb

From a weeknight chop to a rosemary-crusted rack

Lamb sits in an unusual place: rich enough for a serious red, but gamier and more herbal than beef, which changes what works alongside it. The fat carries flavour differently — it wants either tannin to cut through it or savoury, herb-inflected fruit to meet it halfway. That is why rosemary, thyme and garlic turn up in almost every lamb recipe, and why the wine that suits a lamb chop is rarely the same one you would pour with a ribeye. These four bottles cover the range, from a mid-week chop to a rack you have spent an afternoon on.

1Best Value92 pts • Anderson Valley, California

Goldeneye Anderson Valley Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir • $62

Goldeneye Anderson Valley Pinot Noir is the one people do not expect on a lamb list, and it is the one we reach for most. Its nose splits the difference between fruit and savour — raspberry and plum over leather, anise and a genuine umami undertone — which is exactly the register lamb occupies. The firm, structured tannins are unusual for Pinot Noir and give it enough grip for seared chops without the weight that flattens the herbs.

Buy — $62 Full Review

2The Classic91 pts • Napa Valley, California

Duckhorn Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet Sauvignon • $72

Duckhorn Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is the textbook answer, and it earns it. Cassis and cracked black pepper with a cedar and graphite thread is a profile built for herb-crusted lamb, and the tannins are polished enough to frame the meat rather than fight it. Structured and bold without heaviness is the note we wrote, and heaviness is precisely what ruins a lamb pairing.

Buy — $72 Full Review

3The Upgrade97 pts • Calistoga, Napa Valley, California

Chateau Montelena Estate

Cabernet Sauvignon • $185

Chateau Montelena Estate is slow to unfurl — tobacco leaf, cedar box and dried herbs beneath the cassis — and dried herbs are the whole point here. Against a shoulder cooked long with rosemary, the wine's fresh acidity keeps the fat from coating the palate while the fine-grained tannins hold their shape through a second helping. At 97 points it is the bottle for the meal you planned.

Buy — $185 Full Review

4Top Pick99 pts • Napa Valley, California

Cardinale Cabernet Sauvignon 2021

Cabernet Sauvignon • $295

Cardinale Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 took 99 points from us, our highest score, and wild sage sits right there in the nose alongside the blueberry, graphite and toasted spice. With rosemary-crusted chops that sage note stops being a tasting descriptor and starts being part of the dish. Voluptuously textured with flawless balance — it is an extravagant pairing, and it is the best one on this list.

Buy — $295 Full Review

The Verdict

If you are cooking lamb this week, the Goldeneye at $62 is the interesting choice and the Duckhorn at $72 is the safe one. Both work. Where lamb rewards spending more is in the herbal register: the Montelena's dried herbs and the Cardinale's wild sage are doing something a cheaper bottle simply cannot, because they are meeting the rosemary rather than covering it.

Get our top pick — Cardinale Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 · $295

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Before You Buy

The background on what is in these bottles.

Cabernet Sauvignon→Napa Valley, USA→Full-Bodied Red→

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