What wine goes with lamb?
Pair with a dish
For the lamb — a red with some years on it
Red
a red with some grip
- Cabernet Sauvignon a Cabernet with structure and a dark coreBordeaux a left-bank claret with some age · Napa Valley a Napa Cabernet, ripe and plush
- Syrah a dark red with pepper in itCôte-Rôtie a Côte-Rôtie, smoky and floral · Barossa Valley a Barossa Shiraz, big and warm
- Tempranillo a red with oak and some years on itRioja a Rioja with some years on it · Ribera del Duero a Ribera, darker and firmer than Rioja
- Malbec a dark, full red
- Grenache a warm red, soft and generousChâteauneuf-du-Pape a Châteauneuf, warm and spiced · Priorat a Priorat, dark and mineral
- Mourvedre a dark, earthy red
- Petit Verdot a deep, firm red
- Aglianico a southern red with firm tannin
- Nero d'Avola a sun-warmed red
- Tannat a red with serious tannin
- Touriga Nacional a dark, floral redDouro a dry Douro red, dark and firm
- Xinomavro a pale red with tannin and some age
- Agiorgitiko a plush, friendly red
- Carignan a rustic red from old vines
- Saperavi a deep, dark red with grip
- Okuzgozu a bright, soft Anatolian red
- Bogazkere a firmly tannic red
- SangioveseMontalcino a Brunello with some age
Why these wines work with lamb
Lamb has a sweetness and a gentle gaminess that young, fiercely tannic reds can trample, which is why the pick here is a red with some years on it. Time in bottle softens tannin and draws out savoury, leathery and dried-herb notes, and those meet lamb’s own flavour halfway. The drink window calculator will tell you whether a bottle has had those years yet.
With a roast leg or a rack
A Rioja that has spent years in barrel and bottle is the classic match for a roast leg with rosemary, and a mature left-bank Bordeaux does much the same for a rack. Lamb is fattier than it looks, though, especially shoulder and chops, so there is still room for structure: Syrah, Mourvedre and Grenache from the south of France, Xinomavro and Agiorgitiko from Greece, or Okuzgozu and Bogazkere from Anatolia, where lamb is the everyday meat and the local reds grew up beside it.
With herbs, garlic and spice
Herbs and garlic push lamb towards wines with a savoury, scrubby edge rather than lush fruit. Spiced dishes such as a tagine or kofta suit a warm, generous Grenache or a Châteauneuf-du-Pape, whose ripeness meets the spice without fighting it.
With slow-cooked shoulder
Slow-cooked shoulder, falling apart after hours in the oven, wants less tannin than a pink-roasted rack; the meat is already soft, so the wine can be too. If all you have is a young, firm red, open it an hour or two ahead and let the air do some of the work the years would have done.
This is the same filter Cellar Book’s Tonight screen uses to pick from what you already own.
More wine tools
- Wine Drink Window CalculatorStyle and vintage in — ageing, ready, at peak or fading out.
- Wine Cellar Value CalculatorCount by tier — total value, average per bottle, replacement figure.