Wine with Corned Beef and Cabbage

Do you want to serve wine with corned beef and cabbage? We discuss the red, rosé, and white wine pairing options and share what wines worked best with our corned beef following several experiments. We also provide some cooking tips. Be sure to check out our Wine Pairing Problems video about Wine with Corned Beef & Cabbage!

Quick wine picks for corned beef

If you are in a hurry and want the cliff notes version, here are the types of wine we have tested with corned beef and cabbage with favorable results. Read through the article for details on the wines that worked, and some that didn’t!

White & Rosés

• Dry Riesling
• Vouvray (Chenin Blanc based white wine)

Rosés & sparkling wine

• Medium/full-bodied rosé (Grenache based from Sin Banderas)
• Dry sparkling wine

Red wine

• Fruit-forward Zinfandel
• Lighter / lower alcohol Pinot Noir
• High-quality Cabernet Franc (e.g. Dineen Vineyards Cabernet Franc)

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• Quick wine picks for corned beef
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• Challenges of wine with corned beef
• White or red wine with corned beef?
• White wine with corned beef and cabbage
• Rosé pairing
• Red wine pairing with corned beef and cabbage
• Sparkling wine pairing option
• Stove top cooking tips
• Slow cooker tips
• Leftover Corned Beef Casserole

Challenges of wine with corned beef

Sure, a pint of Guinness might be the most popular beverage to open to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. I’m sure I’ll have some Guinness between now and March 17. While beer is certainly a good option for your St. Patrick’s Day meal, today we want to explore wine with corned beef and cabbage.

Wine is by far my favorite drink to pair with food. I relish the challenge of finding wine  for foods that pose pairing challenges. Wine with corned beef and cabbage definitely seemed like a good topic to tackle.

Yes, corned beef is of course a kind of red meat. Typically that would have us thinking about a big red wine, maybe a Cabernet Sauvignon. But not so fast, that is not the wine you want with corned beef and cabbage.

Corned beef is rather salty, that is one consideration for picking a wine with corned beef dinners. Boiled cabbage also has strong flavors to contend with picking a wine pairing; and you are likely to be spreading some mustard on the corned beef.

I perused a number of articles about wine pairing with corned beef and cabbage, and yielded a dozen plus possible types of wine to try. Time to start experimenting!

White or red wine with corned beef?

Red wine might seem like an obvious choice for those of us who the red wine for red meat. But there were a decent amount of white wines suggested in my research.

So when I first did this experiment in 2018, I figured I would test one white wine and one red wine with our corned beef and cabbage. I repeated the testing with two different red and white wines with corned beef and cabbage the following year.

One idea I latched upon is that a wine you might choose for Thanksgiving can also be a good choice for a corned beef pairing. I was looking for wines with some fruit, acidity and low relatively low alcohol content. Low alcohol always tends to be good for wine and food pairings, but is particularly helpful when contending with foods that have some strong flavors that can be challenging with wine.

As you will see below, keeping these ideas in mind, we have found pairings that work with corned beef in four categories — white, rosé, sparkling and red wine. But we are going to start by talking about white wine with corned beef and cabbage, because we have found some white wines work very well, even though that might surprise you!

White wine with corned beef and cabbage

The 2016 Champalou Vouvray ($23, 12.5% ABV) was the first white wine that we successfully paired with corned beef and cabbage.

Vouvray is an appellation in the Loire region of France, known for white wines made from the Chenin Blanc grape. An earlier vintage of this Vouvray had been among my Thanksgiving Wine Picks previously, so I thought this white wine with corned beef had promise.

The Vouvray has bright lemon fruit and a soft mouthfeel, along with some underlying minerality. We tested the Vouvray along with a red Burgundy during our first pairing experiment, and the Vouvray was the hands down winner! This white wine cleansed the palate after the salty meat, and also went along nicely with the mustard. There was enough body to stand up to the beef, too.

Based on my initial testing, I had more confidence in white wine as a pairing for corned beef. So the next timeI made corned beef, I picked a bottle of 2016 Ravines Dry Riesling ($18, 12.5% ABV) from the Finger Lakes. Wet stone and citrus on the nose. On the palate, pear fruit along with a bit of petrol and lemon peel. Underlying minerality and good acidity.

The Ravines Riesling turned out to be an excellent pairing. Perhaps this should come as no surprise — the grape with its origins in Germany paired particularly well with the cabbage and mustard on our plate, elements that might be found in many a German dish as well as this St. Patrick’s Day classic.

Rosé pairing

As I started planning for our March 2021 making of corned beef, I realized I had never tried a rosé with corned beef. I had a bottle of the 2019 Sin Banderas Yakima Valley Rosé (13% ABV) on hand, and thought that I would give it a try.

The Yakima Valley rosé is a Grenache based wine. Bright cherry bubblegum on the nose. On the palate, watermelon fruit with a hint of salinity. A light herbal note – thyme I’d say. The wine is medium bodied, well-balanced and pleasant mouthfeel.

This rosé from Sin Banderas is definitely a winner with the corned beef and cabbage (and one I’d like with a lot of foods!). It has a enough substance for the beef, and the bright flavors cleanse the palate after bites of the salty and mustard flavors. This article covers more about the Sin Banderas rosé and the winery.

For a successful rosé pairing, stay away from the lighter pool side sippers. You want something medium to full bodied to work with corned beef. I’m thinking a Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo might work nicely.

Red wine pairing with corned beef and cabbage

Although one might think of red wine first with any dish centered on beef, this is the category that we have found tougher to make work.

I’m going to lead off with our most recent successful experiment, then get into some of our past trials. For our 2022 red wine pairing with corned beef, we opened the 2017 Dineen Vineyards Cabernet Franc ($35, 13.9% ABV) from Yakima Valley. I’d come across suggestions that a Cabernet Franc could be a good corned beef wine pairing, but had yet to test that one.

I get berries on the nose of the Dineen Cab Franc. On the palate, boysenberry and a touch of chocolate, with bright acidity and balanced tannins. A bit of lead pencil and subtle notes of bell pepper. The balance of acidity and fruit made this Cabernet Franc a good pairing for corned beef and cabbage.

The Dineen Cab Franc is definitely a high-quality wine; you don’t want to try a poorly made Cabernet Franc, as they can be funky and too much bell pepper on the palate. Check out our Cabernet Franc Food Pairing article for more ideas.

Dineen Vineyards is a family-owned Washington state winery that we’ve enjoyed getting to know. We covered more about the winery when we paired another one of their reds with our Lamb Ragu Pasta recipe.

Past red wine pairings with mixed results

We opened the 2015 Lucien Boillot & Fils Bourgogne ($30, 13% ABV) for the first pairing experiment with our St. Patrick’s Day meal.

The Burgundy flavor profile, on the other hand, just didn’t mesh well with the salty corned beef and cabbage. The red wine has cedar notes and a touch of coffee, leading to some clashing tastes on the palate with corned beef. I’d say the Burgundy is a fine wine, just needs a different food partner.

For my second round of testing corned beef wine pairings, I asked for a few suggestions for a red wine to try, and Zinfandel was mentioned. Zin had recently worked well during our wine with chili tasting, so I thought I’d try it with the corned beef.

We tried the 2016 Flying Cloud Zinfandel ($19, 14.5%) from Paso Robles.  This Zin has a subtle floral nose, with plum fruit and oak notes on the palate. A more refined Zin than some, it opened up in the glass and worked quite well with the corned beef. The fruit forward aspect of the wine seemed to help make the pairing work.

In 2021, I tested the 2018 Brancott Estate Marlborough Pinot Noir ($12, 13% ABV) from New Zealand along with the Sin Banderas Rosé. I get light violet notes and cinnamon on the nose of this Pinot. On the palate, cherry fruit and baking spices, with a bit of tannic bite on the finish.

The New Zealand Pinot definitely did better with the corned beef and cabbage than the Burgundy we tried previously. I would say the light body and fruit forward aspect of the NZ bottle made it work. Also, moderate alcohol content at 13% is a plus. Look for similar characteristics if you want to pick a Pinot pairing for corned beef.

I have also tested a French Syrah / Grenache blend, the 2015 Les Chemins de Felines Minervois ($11, 13% ABV). Blackberry fruit taste, with some slate in the background. Made with 80% Syrah, 20% Grenache.

The Minervois is good wine for the price, and a better match than the more expensive Burgundy..but not as good a match as the white wines we liked. I’d also go for the Zinfandel or New Zealand Pinot over this bottle.

Sparkling wine pairing option

I probably shouldn’t need a reminder of how versatile and food friendly good sparkling wine can be. But I don’t go for at as much as I probably should. But bubbly proved to be the best option for some recent tricky foods, such as a radicchio pasta dish and when experimenting with Taleggio Cheese Wine Pairing options.

So when thinking about our 2022 wine pairing with corned beef experiment, I figured I should try some bubbly. We had a bottle of the 2009 Westport Rivers Brut Cuvée RJR ($30), a very good local to us sparkling wine from Westport Rivers Vineyard. This bubbly is dry, with apple fruit and a bit of tartness on the palate.

Sure enough, this experiment indicated to us that sparkling wine can be a good pairing for corned beef! Sips of the bubbly cleanses the palate after bites of the corned beef, with the saltiness plus the kick from the mustard. I would definitely encourage you to try sparkling wine with corned beef and cabbage! St. Patrick’s Day is meant to be celebratory, right?!?

Corned Beef with Wine Conclusions (for now!)

We have been quite pleased with the white wine pairings we have tried for corned beef. But of course, not any white wine will work with this Irish meal. The white wine needs to be full-bodied to stand up to the beef, as well as having some acidity to work with the funky aspects of the cabbage.

Our results with red wine for corned beef and cabbage have been more mixed. Pinot Noir tends to be a versatile wine for food pairings, so I was a bit surprised that the red Burgundy didn’t do better in the pairing. The more fruit forward Zinfandel we tried seems to play along well with the corned beef and cabbage flavors, and Cabernet Franc is another option that can work well..

Pinot Noir is typically more earthy than fruity in its characteristics, particularly so from Burgundy. While Pinot’s earthiness works well with many dishes, it didn’t come out a winner with our corned beef and cabbage. Our experimenting suggests you should pick a more fruit forward red wine if you want to serve red with corned beef. So in the Pinot department, go for light and fruit forward, more than earthy characteristics.

Our experimenting with corned beef wine pairings started with testing whether red wine or white wine works better. But recently we have also come to find that you might also want to consider a rosé or sparkling wine with corned beef and cabbage. Both worked very well!

Stove top cooking tips

I don’t have a full recipe for you, but the basic approach is to simmer the corned beef covered for a good 3 hours – for a piece of meat a bit over 3 pounds. You want to start the simmering with water or broth about an inch higher than the meat.

I cooked the corned beef with carrots, potatoes, and cabbage. Those veggies get added in gradually based on cooking times needed. So I added the carrots after about an hour and a half, then potatoes with an hour left in cooking time, and the cabbage with about 20 minutes left. We were pleased with the way it came out!

Slow cooker tips

For our 2018 corned beef and cabbage, I bought corned beef on Saturday morning with plans to make it that evening, then realized I hadn’t planned for the three hours of stove top cooking time needed to make corned beef. It didn’t seem feasible for me to be home for a three hours stretch to watch the corned beef simmer, and eat supper at a reasonable hour.

That led me to look into options for making corned beef in a slow cooker. I began looking into this option too late for the eight hours needed for making corned beef in a slow cooker on low.

My best bet for getting our Irish meal ready for our Saturday supper was to make the corned beef on slow cooker high setting. I won’t post a recipe here today, because this year I followed this Martha Stewart recipe for corned beef in a slow cooker.

Cooking corned beef on the high setting on our slow cooker worked in terms of our timing. I was able to get the meal going, then go out to do the various things I had planned…including up the wine to try with the corned beef! If you have about five hours and can’t be home consistently, corned beef on the slow cooker high setting is the way to go.

I do think the corned beef prepared this way in the slow cooker came out a bit on the dry side, compared to  the stove top versions I have made. Toward the end of the cooking, the high setting does have the corned beef going at a pretty good boil; ideally the brisket beef should be cooked low and slow the whole time.

Quick aside — we also have a good recipe and wine pairing for beef brisket, just the basic brisket cut with the corned beef flavor.

But I’d say our slow cooker result was still tasty. Eaten with a good dousing of mustard and plenty of cabbage and mashed potato, I was still please with the corned beef. Especially with a good corned beef wine pairing in the glass!

For more St. Patrick’s Day meal ideas, be sure to visit our post on Real Irish Food for lots of great recipes.

Leftover Corned Beef Casserole

I will have to put together more detailed recipe instructions next time I make it, but let me at least give you an idea for using your leftover corned beef.

After sharing some of the corned beef with family and friends, we had a modest amount of meat left relative to the potatoes and cabbage. I put the veggies in a casserole dish, along with a scoop of the cooking liquid remaining. Then cut up the remaining corned beef into bite sized bits and stirred it into the dish along with some feta cheese and 2 teaspoons of some good mustard.

I also added a bit of shredded kale to use it up and add some nutrition. Topped the dish off with some pumpkin seeds and shredded Manchego cheese. Baked covered at 400 for 25 minutes, uncovered for another 5 minutes. Quite tasty!