What to drink with rabbit stew?

Rabbit stew, a great classic of French gastronomy. "Civet", derived from the French or Occitan word civet, civet: a dish prepared with onions, garlic or chives. But what a wine with a rabbit stew.

The rabbit stew marinade is made with a red wine. Many recommend a Pinot Noir from Alsace or Burgundy, for its slightly spicy and peppery notes. Not false. But if you like more powerful dishes, then another grape variety like a Syrah (Côtes-du-Rhône) will also be very good. The recipes for rabbit stew have evolved a lot since its origins, but today we mainly find as accompaniment: onions, thyme, carrots, potatoes.

There are also recipes for rabbit stew with white wine. More orignal certainly but quite bluffing! Then prefer rather light red wines with a fruity flavour: Beaujolais for example or Loire wines such as Anjou-Villages.

What wine with rabbit stew?

A lightly full-bodied dish but not automatically claiming a wine from the sun at the risk of losing the taste of the meat which is not so powerful. It will still be necessary to have a rather complex wine because the dish will offer several aromas that will have to be balanced.

• Which wine with rabbit stew and red wine marinade: A Sancerre de Loire, Aloxe-Corton de Bourgogne, Santenay de Bourgogne or Pommard de Bourgogne.
• What a wine with a rabbit stew and a more powerful marinade : A Fitou from the Languedoc, a Madiran from the Southwest or a Corbières from the Languedoc.
• Otherwise there is the rule: serve the same wine as the one used for your preparation! One can think of a Côtes-du-Rhône for example as a Saint-Joseph.

Enjoy your meal!

Alexis Proust for Les Grappes