Pairing Wine With Shepherd's Pie

Shepherd’s pie, also known as cottage pie is a dish made from cooked minced meat which is then topped with mashed potatoes and finished in the oven. The minced meat is usually lamb or beef mixed with a rich gravy and vegetables.

For this classic dish from the United Kingdom, we would suggest red wines with good acidity, lots of earthiness, low to medium tannins and light to medium body. However we do have some white wine options ready for you which will complement the pie component of the dish.

Wine Characteristics To Pair With Shepherd’s pie

Characteristic	Detail
Sweetness	Dry
Acidity	Medium to high
Tannins	Low to medium
Body	Full bodied white, Light to medium bodied reds
Tasting Notes	White Wine Notes – Citrus Fruit, Green Fruit, Butter Red Wine Notes – Red Fruit, Black fruit, Earth

Sweetness – We’ll be looking for dry wines, with low sugar levels as the dish doesn’t require wines with higher sugar levels.

Acidity – Medium to high acidity levels are necessary to cut through the beef and lamb meat but also to introduce some freshness to the meal.

Tannins – Low to medium tannins will do the trick here as the dish is not too heavy, and this level of tannins will break down the meat in no time.

Body – We would need a full bodied white wine for this delicious dish, however talking about red wines, we would advise not going for full bodied reds and choosing a light to medium bodied wine.

Tasting Notes – For white wines primary aromas of citrus and green fruit aromas and secondary of butter, oak, vanilla and creaminess will enhance the dining experience. For red wines look for primary aromas of ripe red fruit, light black fruit and tertiary aromas of leather, tobacco and earth.

Best Red Wine To Drink With Shepherd’s pie

Red wine is a go to pairing for this dish as it consists of lots of meat, being either lamb or beef. For this reason we need a red wine with a good structure and a nice tannin level to match the texture of the dish and the rich gravy that is added to the mix. In this case, if we get our hands on a wine that expresses a level of butterines due to the malolactic fermentation it will be an even better treat, as it will complement the cheese that is on top of the shepherd’s pie.

To narrow the search down look for a medium to high acidity level, low to medium tannin level, light to medium body and core of red fruit aromas, secondary aromas of butter, cheese or cream and tertiary aromas of earth, leather, tobacco, maybe even a bit of game.

Pinot Noir from USA

Getting a Pinot Noir from California, maybe even better from Santa Barbara County will do the trick for Shepherd’s pie. We’ve got a Pinot with great flavor intensity, bright acidity and a good amount of tannins. Flavors match perfectly with what we need, as we’ve got a core of red fruit, lots of black fruit, savory and earthy at the same time. It will make your dining experience out of this world.

Sangiovese from Italy

A indigenous grape from Italy, grown in Tuscany it is used mostly as a blend in Chianti Classico and this is a great wine to complement your Shepherd’s pie. Blended with Canaiolo and Colorino most often, it produces wines that are rich in fruit flavors and aromas, but also quite earthy and spicy.

Pais from Chile

We’ve got here a true Chilean gem, one of the most planted grapes in Chile. It was previously called Mission, and it produces wines with a medium tannin level, medium body, a bright acidity and red fruit aromas, with just a bit of cured meat flavors.

Best White Wine To Drink With Shepherd’s pie

White wine may not have been the first choice for this dish but if you are a fan of whites, it may well work for your taste buds. If you are looking to pair a white with Shepherd’s pie we would suggest a heavy white with a full body and pronounced aromas to counter the dish but not to overpower it.

What you would want to look for is an oak aged wine with a pronounced intensity of aromas, full body, medium acidity and a creamy mouthfeel. This creaminess will pair well with the crust in the Shepherd’s pie.

Chardonnay from USA

California Chardonnays tend to be full bodied, barrel fermented wines with a medium acidity level and lots of creaminess. California winemakers have taken the Burgundian winemaking methods to another level creating chardonnay with a very rich mouthfeel.

Primary aromas of stone, citrus and tropical fruit complemented with rich buttery, creamy and smoke aromas, these wines will work perfectly with Shepherd’s pie.

Viosinho from Portugal

Grown in Portugal, in the Douro Valley it is often used as a part of blends. The grape itself has a very good acidity level which will help in this case but the wines that this variety is blended in are usually barrel aged and even barrel fermented which gives them a rich mouthfeel and a creamy texture.

Sauvignon blanc from France

More precisely we would recommend having a wine from Pessac-Leognan AOP which is slightly southern from the city of Bordeaux. The wines are usually blended with a touch of Semillon or Sauvignon Gris but they are almost always aged in oak or even fermented in barrel. These wines will give you the same rich mouthfeel but with a higher acidity and more freshness.

Best Wine To Drink With Shepherd’s pie

Below we will put in order our recommendations from the wines mentioned above. The wines have a good structure, lots of intensity and a rich creamy mouthfeel. We hope you will enjoy them with your meal.