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Leaner than beef, gamier than most venison. Big red, but not a young one.
Syrah from the northern Rhône, an aged Nebbiolo, or a savoury Bordeaux. Savoury rather than fruity, and softened rather than young.
Elk is wild game: very lean, deep red, and more strongly flavoured than venison — iron-rich, faintly sweet, with none of the fat that a farmed animal carries. That combination of intensity and leanness is what makes it interesting to pair, because the two halves want different things.
The intensity says: open something substantial, because a light wine will be buried. The leanness says the opposite: tannin binds to fat and protein, and with very little fat present a young, firmly tannic wine grips your saliva and tastes drying.
The resolution is a wine with structure that has already softened — age, in other words — or one whose tannin is naturally finer. That is why elk suits an older Bordeaux or a mature Nebbiolo better than a young Napa Cabernet, however powerful the latter is.
The iron note in game is worth knowing about too: it sharpens against very tannic young wine, in the same way it does with rare beef.
Syrah from the northern Rhône — Crozes-Hermitage, Saint-Joseph. Black pepper, olive and cured-meat savour, with tannin that is firm but fine-grained. The best match on this page, and it does not need to be old.
Aged Nebbiolo. Barolo or Barbaresco with ten years on it: high acidity to cut through, tannin that has resolved, and a dried-rose and tar character that meets game beautifully.
An older Bordeaux or a Ribera del Duero with some age, if you want something darker and more savoury than fruity.
Because elk is so lean it is usually cooked rare and often served with fat added — bacon, butter, a rich sauce. Whatever fat is added helps the wine, so a sauced preparation takes more tannin than a plain grilled steak of it does.
Juniper, thyme and pepper are the classic seasonings and all point towards Syrah. A berry sauce — cranberry, lingonberry, blackcurrant — adds sweetness, which makes a dry austere wine taste sharper, so lean towards riper fruit or an older, mellower bottle.
What to avoid: young high-alcohol reds with heavy oak. There is no fat to soften them, the iron sharpens them, and the game flavour is savoury rather than sweet, so oak vanilla sits oddly against it.
Elk is very lean, and tannin needs fat and protein to bind to. Without the fat a young firm tannin grips your saliva and tastes drying — and the iron note in game sharpens it further.
Stronger flavoured and even leaner. The same principles apply as with venison, but the case for an older, gentler bottle is stronger still.
Sweetness makes a dry austere wine taste sharper, so lean towards riper fruit or a mellower older bottle rather than something lean and structured.
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