Reds for red: two hearty red wines to enhance even the heaviest meal

South Florida CEO, May, 2005 by Rochelle Broder-Singer

The meaty, charred, slightly buttery taste of a good piece of red meat can only be paired with a strong red wine, says Anthony Maia, the wine steward at Fort Lauderdale-based Brazilian steakhouse Chima. "When you eat the meat and drink a nice wine, you take off the taste of the meat, and the fat," Maia says. He also points out that red meat should be served very hot, and white wine very cold, and the dissonance between the two could ruin your meal.

Maia, who is from a Brazilian winemaking family in the nation's southern gaucho region, clearly loves red meat, smiling shyly as he discusses different cuts. One of his favorite red wines to pair with a filet mignon or Brazilian picanha is Cakebread Cellars' 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon Benchland Select, from California's Napa Valley.

The estate-bottled Cakebread will stand up to large portions of red meat, says Maia. "This is very full-bodied and a little bit strong," he says. "When you drink this wine, if you eat a lot of meat, it feels very comfortable."

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Maia says the very dry Cakebread tastes of cherry, chocolate and cigarettes. "You get a little bit heavy in your mouth, and the finish is a good finish," he says.

Any cabernet, says Maia, should be chilled to around 60 degrees, then decanted (poured into a glass container) 30 minutes before serving. That way, he says, "They show all the flavor they have." The Cakebread is on the menu at Chima for $118 per bottle.

For those who prefer a red wine that is not quite so dry, one of Maia's favorite wines is Miolo Lote 43, a reserve blend of 50 percent cabernet sauvignon grapes and 50 percent merlot. The wine is made in the south of Brazil, in Maia's home region of Vale Dos Vinhedos, in the city of Bento Goncalves. Lote 43 indicates the portion of the Miolo estate on which it is grown. It is on Chima's menu at $56 a bottle.

"That wine," says Maia, breaking into a large, relaxed smile and gesturing with open arms as he holds a bottle of Lote 43, "That wine [has] great flavor: chocolate, cigarettes, blackberries, white berries." He describes it as "a little bit soft; it's not too dry," but still big enough to stand up to the heartiest meats. The tasty blending of the two iconic grapes, says Maia, is unusual and difficult. "When you drink that wine," Maia says, "you feel like you have a chocolate in your mouth."

Still, do not let that feeling lull you, says Maia. When your main course is finished, put the red wine away and switch to a white wine or a dessert wine.