Since we are lacking winery participation today, I wanted to throw out a question for all you people in the know.

We are going to marinate some bacon wrapped beef filets overnight tonight and I was wondering if anyone had a suggestion of any wines that would be good for the job (and to drink tonight/tomorrow). I was leaning towards a Pinot Noir or Syrah but am open to suggestion. Feel free to make suggestions based off of my CT as well.

I wouldn't marinate bacon wrapped filets.

Filet is already plenty tender, the bacon already adds a lot of flavor, and if you're cooking them past medium you should switch to a more appropriate piece of meat as filet is horrible overcooked.

mother wrote:I wouldn't marinate bacon wrapped filets.

Filet is already plenty tender, the bacon already adds a lot of flavor, and if you're cooking them past medium you should switch to a more appropriate piece of meat as filet is horrible overcooked.

I know how to cook and my question still applies. I asked for suggestions, not criticism.

Thanks.

If it's a flvourful marinade then I'd try to match the wine to that since you're basically overpowering the natural beef flavour. In that case I'd want to know more about the marinade. If it's something light (e.g. garlic/herbs/oil) then you've still got primarily filet flavours and you can go with syrah, cab, merlot, etc. Some Pinot could do the trick, but for beef I normally think of the bigger style - more Pommard-like or the more oaky versions from CA.

klezman wrote:If it's a flvourful marinade then I'd try to match the wine to that since you're basically overpowering the natural beef flavour. In that case I'd want to know more about the marinade. If it's something light (e.g. garlic/herbs/oil) then you've still got primarily filet flavours and you can go with syrah, cab, merlot, etc. Some Pinot could do the trick, but for beef I normally think of the bigger style - more Pommard-like or the more oaky versions from CA.

I am actually going to use some of the wine as the marinade, I may not have made that clear. I love the flavor of my beef marinaded in a little red wine and some light herbs with some garlic. Then after grilling and finishing in the oven, I take the rest of marinade and make a quick pan sauce/reduction to drizzle lightly over the meat and veggies just bring the meal all together.

I also like to saute some mushrooms and onions on the side and hit them with some sesame oil at very last second to add that great nutty flavor.

And to be even more clear, I typically wouldn't do much in the way of marinade or seasoning on the filet, but I live in an apartment and do not have access to a an actual grill (have to use grill pan/broiler and oven) so I tend to marinate a little since I can don't get a good charcoal or fire-grilled flavor.

North316 wrote:Since we are lacking winery participation today, I wanted to throw out a question for all you people in the know.

We are going to marinate some bacon wrapped beef filets overnight tonight and I was wondering if anyone had a suggestion of any wines that would be good for the job (and to drink tonight/tomorrow). I was leaning towards a Pinot Noir or Syrah but am open to suggestion. Feel free to make suggestions based off of my CT as well.

Only marinate up to a few hours. Anymore is overkill and could ruin the texture of your steak. If you are using the same wine to drink the next day, choose one you prefer to drink with steak. The Syrah would be fine, Pinot should be full bodied to hold up to the steak. Also think merlot, zin or Cabs. Since you just plan to marinate a nice piece of beef, these are fine. If you are making a stew or sauce, then stay away from heavy, high tannin oaked wine. They tend to overwhelm sauces. For that I tend to use a burgundy style Pinot or a medium body blend low in oak.

If you are a fan of Steve Raichlen, here is a recipe I set aside to try this summer. I'm sure it would work fine in a grill pan or under the broiler.

North316 wrote:I am actually going to use some of the wine as the marinade, I may not have made that clear. I love the flavor of my beef marinaded in a little red wine and some light herbs with some garlic. Then after grilling and finishing in the oven, I take the rest of marinade and make a quick pan sauce/reduction to drizzle lightly over the meat and veggies just bring the meal all together.

I also like to saute some mushrooms and onions on the side and hit them with some sesame oil at very last second to add that great nutty flavor.

And to be even more clear, I typically wouldn't do much in the way of marinade or seasoning on the filet, but I live in an apartment and do not have access to a an actual grill (have to use grill pan/broiler and oven) so I tend to marinate a little since I can don't get a good charcoal or fire-grilled flavor.

Sounds tasty! Not sure I'd use the sesame oil, as much as I love the stuff, since it might make it more difficult to go with the wine. Given what you've said, though, I'd go for a Bordeaux-styled wine or a Rhone-style. I think Syrah or a (good) Merlot would work well. But with the Syrah, you run the risk of having it overpower the beef if you get one that's too extracted or powerful. A super-Tuscan or similar would also work.

North316 wrote:I know how to cook and my question still applies. I asked for suggestions, not criticism.

Thanks.

I'm sorry, how should I know you know what you're doing? The only datapoint I had was that you were asking for advice on doing something that would lower the quality of the prepared meal.

My suggestion is that no wine will leave you with a better final product than any wine in your cellar. Ok

Since you are going to marinate anyhow- I would advise you to wrap after marinating (steamed bacon is not yummy) or remove the wrap before serving since you likely won't have enough radiant heat in the pan or oven to render out soggy bacon before the meat is really well done. (Unless you have a massive exhaust hood that can cope with the smoke from a super hot grill pan!)

You can also probably skip finishing in the oven if you're not smoking yourself out of your apartment while searing on the grill pan.

My only suggestion as to what wine to marinate with would be a wine on the flabby side so that it breaks down less of the protein.

If I can make one last ditch attempt at talking you out of it- What about doing a nice wine or wine/balsamic reduction and serving that over the steaks instead? Tis what I do when I'm cooking filet indoors.

mother wrote:I wouldn't marinate bacon wrapped filets.

Filet is already plenty tender, the bacon already adds a lot of flavor, and if you're cooking them past medium you should switch to a more appropriate piece of meat as filet is horrible overcooked.

This is one of the unintentionally funniest responses to a question I have seen for awhile.