Earthy, filling and almost entirely fat-free — which is precisely why the red needs choosing with care.
A medium-bodied, earthy red: Chianti, Côtes du Rhône, Tempranillo or Montepulciano d'Abruzzo. Savoury rather than sweet, and not one of them expensive.
Legumes contain almost no fat, and that single fact decides more here than anything else. Fat and protein are what tannin binds to; with a steak it has somewhere to go, but in a bowl of lentils it has nothing to grip and simply sits on your tongue as dryness. Cooked pulses are also distinctly savoury, and savoury, umami-rich food makes tannin read harsher and fruit read fainter. Between them, those two facts rule out the big serious red you were probably about to open.
Gentle tannin, not none
None of this is an argument for a wine with no structure at all. A soft, tannin-free red goes limp against a stew; you want a little grip so the wine has some shape next to the spoon. All four choices are medium-bodied with medium tannin, which is the narrow band that works.
What to leave alone: Barolo, young Cabernet Sauvignon, and anything that has spent a long time in new oak. The stew has neither the fat nor the salt to soften them and you will taste the tannin for the rest of the evening. There is a way round it: add chorizo, pancetta or a generous slick of olive oil and the maths changes, because now there is fat in the bowl and a firmer red has something to bind to.
Warm and herbal; south of the Montélimar parallel the appellation demands at least two principal varieties, one of them legally obliged to be Grenache
Plain and brothy — onion, oil, a bay leaf
Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
The softest and darkest of the four, with enough fruit to carry an under-seasoned pot
Day two is a different dish
A lentil stew is better on the second day and it is also a different pairing. Overnight the pulses keep drinking liquid, the pot thickens, and everything dissolved in it — salt, glutamate from the tomato or the parmesan rind, the fond off the bottom of the pan — ends up more concentrated than it was at dinner. The stew gets darker, rounder and considerably more savoury.
Move the wine with it. Whatever suited the fresh pot on Monday will read as thin and sharp against the reduced one on Tuesday, so step across to the softer, riper end of the shelf: Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, a Grenache-led Côtes du Rhône, or an oaked Rioja if there is smoked paprika in there. And taste the pot for salt before you pour. Lentils absorb an improbable amount of it, an under-seasoned stew makes any red taste harder than it is, and a decent pinch does more for the pairing than changing the bottle would.
One note on the cooking
Add the tomatoes late. Pulses started off in acidic liquid have a habit of staying obstinately firm however long you simmer them, so get them tender first and acidify afterwards. It is the commonest reason a lentil stew disappoints.
And buy the lentils properly. Lenticchie di Castelluccio di Norcia, grown on the high plains of the Monti Sibillini in Umbria and IGP-protected since June 1997, have skins fine enough that the specification caps their boiling time at half an hour and asks for no soaking at all. A pot of those with good oil and a glass of Chianti is the version of this dish worth planning a Tuesday around.
A medium-bodied earthy red — Chianti, Côtes du Rhône, Tempranillo or Montepulciano d'Abruzzo. Lentils have almost no fat to soften tannin, so keep the wine savoury and medium rather than big and grippy.
What red wine goes with a vegetarian bean stew?
Côtes du Rhône if the stew is herby and olive-oil rich, Tempranillo if there is smoked paprika in it. Both are medium-bodied with soft tannin, which is what a low-fat dish needs.
Does Rioja go with a lentil stew?
Very well, and best of all if there is smoked paprika in the pot. Oak-aged Tempranillo brings vanilla and leather notes that handle pimentón better than any other red, and its tannin stays soft enough for a dish with almost no fat in it.
Does a white ever suit a lentil stew?
It works if the stew is light and lemony rather than tomato-based, in which case a full-bodied, textured white can match its weight. For a dark, slow-cooked pot a medium red is the better fit.
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