FOOD & DRINKS
When choosing a wine to pair with duck, you should look for a wine with acidity and flavour. Duck has a lot of subcutaneous fat and is served with the skin on, which means that most duck dishes are often quite fatty. In addition, there can also be a lot of fat in the side dishes served with duck. This makes freshness and acidity in the wine especially important.
Distinguish between dishes with and without sweetness
When it comes to wine selection for duck, we roughly distinguish between dishes with and without distinct sweetness. Since most duck dishes are quite fatty anyway, the most important difference will be how sweet the marinade or sauce in the dish is.
Wine for dishes without much sweetness
These dishes are typically Western hot dishes with rich sauces or mushroom stews. Depending on how the duck is cooked, it can be a bit like a rare roast beef, and many might therefore think that red wine is the classic first choice. We divide the recommendation slightly depending on how the duck is cooked and which part of the duck is served.
Wine for duck confit and whole duck
Roast duck and confit are often roasted at such a high temperature that the proteins have lost their ability to remove tannins, which in turn means that a tannin-rich wine can be perceived as drying. Therefore, go for wines with low tannins. Pinot Noir wines provide low tannins, often good acidity and the wines can be aromatic enough to match the duck meat. The most affordable varieties are probably a bit too simple for these dishes, but the wines in the middle tier from Central Burgundy have suitable acidity and complexity - without too much tannins. You can also find suitable alternatives among Pinot Noir wines from coastal regions in California, Oregon in the USA and Central Otago in New Zealand.
See our selection of red wines from Burgundy
See our selection of Pinot Noir
Wine for duck breast
The same recommendations will also work for duck breast, but if you have roasted the meat at a lower temperature (core temperature between 55 and 65 degrees), the meat can tolerate more tannins – which gives you even more options. Good, tannin-rich and Italian alternatives to lightly roasted duck are, for example, Barolo or Barbaresco, which are made from the Nebbiolo grape. Apart from more tannin and a slightly different flavour profile, you will find about the same acidity and aroma intensity as in Pinot Noir. French alternatives can be found west of Bordeaux in sub-districts such as Pessac-Léognan, Saint-Estèphe, Saint-Julien, Pauillac and Margaux.
See our selection of Barolo and Barbaresco
See our selection of red wines from Bordeaux
Wine for dishes with a lot of sweetness
Duck dishes with sweet sauce require wines that can match the sweetness of the food. You can find a lot of sweetness from hoisin sauce in Chinese duck dishes like crispy duck or Peking duck, while the classic dish Duck a l’Orange (duck with orange sauce) also has a sweet flavour profile.
Wine for duck with orange sauce
Here we are looking for a slightly sweet, full-bodied and complex wine with high acidity. The simplest wines can also quickly become too simple to match the dish. Semi-dry or semi-sweet Riesling is a good alternative with aromas that suit the dish's slightly lighter aroma profile. Wines made from the Riesling grape are aromatic, offer high acidity and have a clear profile that does not taste of aging in barrels or sediment. Particularly good is a lavish Riesling from Alsace in France, which has the fullness and complexity required for Duck a l'Orange.
See our selection of Riesling wines
Wine for crispy duck and Peking duck
For crispy duck with hoisin sauce, vegetables and pancakes much of the same applies, but this dish does not require as much body and complexity. Semi-dry German Riesling offers much of the same Riesling from Alsace, but is often simpler and lighter.