Beef Bourguignon on a Stick? Why not!
Fine French Burgundy at the American grill? Why not?!
Favorite Foods “On a Stick”
Minnesota cuisine isn’t usually considered exactly “gourmet”. At the end of summer, we relish our state fair, famous for foods on a stick: corn dogs, pronto pups, chocolate dipped bacon, deep-fried Snickers, even spaghetti & meatballs! Why not take a favorite cool weather dish (beef bourguignon) and twist it up for summer enjoyment on the grill? Beef-Bourguignon-on-a-stick!
Beef Bourguignon is a traditional dish from the Burgundy region, so we’ll pair our meal with a nice Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
Even though we’re cooking at the grill, we’re going to stick with traditional wines for beef bourguignon. You didn’t see any barbecue sauce there, right?! The toned down flavors and earthy aromas will be perfect.
We enjoyed our first course of a roasted beets with herb and blue cheese salad. The Chardonnay paired very nicely with the earthy-sweet beets, the herbs and the blue cheese
Chardonnay and Beet Salad
In the fancier appellations, you may need to spend over $100 a bottle for a top white Burgundy. However, if you look in the Maconnais, a sub-region in the southern part of the region, you can find lots of very reasonably priced, delicious chardonnays. These wines are meant to be enjoyed at the table in a casual setting and they pair well with a wide array of foods. Beets aren’t my favorite food in the whole world, but mix them up with some herbs, dressing and blue cheese and I’ll happily clean my plate. Especially with a nice, lean white wine to wash them down.
Chateau de La Greffiere is located in the southern Maconnais region in Burgundy. Affordable, delicious Chardonnay!
Ch. de La Greffiére Mâcon-La Roche-Vineuse Blanc “Sous le Bois” AOC 2014 ($24 at Sunfish Cellars or online at Balanced Wine Selections)
White wines from Burgundy are nearly always 100% Chardonnay. This wine is from the Maconnais, a sub-region known for producing nice, affordable table wines and this one is no exception.
Eye: Clear, medium lemon yellow
Nose: Clean, medium intensity. White flowers and lemon custard, pears. Nice abundant fruit. No overt notes of oak.
Mouth: Dry, medium- body, medium+ acidity, bright citrus fruit, medium finish. Has a certain softening, perhaps, partial ML. A delicious wine at the dinner table.
Main course: Beef-Bourguignon-on-a-Stick!
The idea for our main dish comes from a fun little paperback cookbook published back in 1995, “Pedaling Through Burgundy Cookbook” by Sarah Leah Chase. Now out of print, you can get a copy used for around $5 delivered to your home. It’s a fun little cookbook with lots stories along with traditional and not so traditional recipes from the region. We’re going to pair our main dish with a very nice red burgundy from the Cotes de Nuits, known as the home of some of the finest red burgundy wines. Our wine comes from Domaine Pierre Amiot et Fils, a winery I had the good fortune to visit on one of our trips to the region.
Red Burgundy = Pinot Noir. Morey-Saint-Denis is a lovely little village in the Cotes de Nuits section of the Burgundy wine region
Domaine Pierre Amiot et Fils Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru Les Blanchards AOC 2011 ($40 euros at the winery, US online here)
Eye: Clear, pale ruby center with a ruby-rose colored edge. Just slightly hazy, I would guess it’s unfiltered.
Nose: Clean, medium intensity, floral & fresh ripe cherry up front, herbal notes and fresh clean earth behind. Nose is so intriguing, you could almost be happy just breathing in the aroma.
Mouth: Dry, medium body, medium+ acidity, low tannins, luscious ripe cherries, nice herbal notes, long lingering finish.
Bacon wrapped sirloin skewers sounds so American, but it’s secretly Beef Bourguignon!
Old world wines rarely work with traditional American barbecue sauces. However, if you morph your beef bourguignon for the grill, a lovely red Burgundy will be a perfect choice. The Pierre Amiot et Fils wine is a premier cru wine, an official classification putting the wine in the top 10% of red wines from the region.
Note: this recipe is basically a red wine & mushroom sauce with beef skewers, so jump right in! Ingredients Red Wine and Mushroom Sauce Beef Skewers Instructions Red Wine Reduction Sauce Beef SkewersBeef Bourguignon-on-a-Stick
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[…] Wine Click serves Beef Bourguignon on a Stick accompanied by the Domaine Pierre Amiot et Fils Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru Les Blanchards AOC […]
foodwineclick 
I love this idea! Not a huge fan of super-sweet barbecue sauce, so this would be a great addition to my summer rotation. And the wines? Well, just yes!
Thanks, Lauren. I, too, look for alternatives to the typical American BBQ approach. Nothing wrong with it, but I like more variety.
LOVE love love this idea! Perfect for grilling season. Can’t wait to make it! Thank you for sharing!
Thanks!
Creative! The recipe sounds great and of course the wines do as well. I prefer BBQ sauce that isn’t sweet – I look forward to making this. Cheers.
Thanks, Michelle. We had fun with this meal.
As someone who lives in Burgundy and runs cooking classes, I can promise you this is not really how the Burgundians make a red wine reduction sauce – the word ‘reduction’ is the key. You don’t need flour if its a reduction as it’s a reduction of the liquid (wine and stock) which gets reduced to about a third of the original amount. That’s probably why your sauce was a bit thick. Bacon is always smoked! The chef for our courses in traditional Burgundian cuisine shows how you can even use red wine that is slightly oxidised. His oeufs en meurette are the best I have ever tasted 🙂
PS – I love your beet salad!
First of all, thanks for visiting and for your comment. And you are 100% correct. I updated the post to remove “reduction”, I think this would actually be a “gravy”! I’ll give it another try as a true reduction. Cheers!