90 pairings
Pinot Noir
Duck breast with Louis Roederer Cristal Rose: Silky red fruit and spice meet the duck.
The short answer
Across 201 duck breast pairings on 201 of our bottle pages, the grapes our editors pour most often are Pinot Noir (90), Merlot (22), Syrah (20) and Grenache (18). For example, Louis Roederer Cristal Rose from Champagne with duck breast: Silky red fruit and spice meet the duck.
By style: red 159, white 20, sparkling 19, fortified 2, orange 1 of the 201 pairings.
The wines that turn up most: VDP.Grosse Lage Mosel, Rheinhessen, AOC Champagne, VDP.Grosse Lage, Mosel Pradikatswein, DO Penedes.
The best grapes for duck breast
22 pairings
Merlot
Truffle-stuffed duck breast with Chateau Cheval Blanc: Earthy truffle amplifies the cedar-tobacco register; duck fat softens the wine's firm tannins.
20 pairings
Syrah
Duck breast with lentils du Puy with Saint-Joseph Rouge: Earthy mineral lentils and duck fat meet the wine's silky fruit.
18 pairings
Grenache
Duck breast with cherry sauce with Chateau Rayas Chateauneuf-du-Pape Rouge: Cherry fruit echoes the cherry and dried rose of old-vine Grenache.
17 pairings
Riesling
Duck breast with stone fruit sauce with Emmerich Knoll Riesling Smaragd Pfaffenberg: Stone fruit in the wine resonates with cherry or plum reductions on duck.
16 pairings
Mourvedre
Grilled duck breast with fig compote with Domaine de la Mordoree La Reine des Bois Chateauneuf-du-Pape: Dark fruit and Mourvedre depth handle duck's richness and the fig's sweetness.
15 pairings
Cabernet Franc
Magret de canard with black currant sauce with Chateau Figeac: Cassis and raspberry fruit echo the sauce; the wine's electric acidity refreshes the rich duck breast.
13 pairings
Cabernet Sauvignon
Roast duck breast with cherry reduction with Reserva Real: Dark-fruited Cabernet meets cherry sauce in matching register.
Bottles to pour with duck breast
The best-rated pairings, one per producer and no more than two from any one region, so the list travels.
Duck breast with cherry sauce
Cherry fruit echoes the cherry and dried rose of old-vine Grenache.
Truffle-stuffed duck breast
Earthy truffle amplifies the cedar-tobacco register; duck fat softens the wine's firm tannins.
Duck breast
Silky red fruit and spice meet the duck.
Duck breast with cherry jus
Sour-cherry notes in the wine echo a cherry reduction directly.
Duck breast with cherry reduction
Red fruit register echoes the cherry while balanced acidity cuts the fat.
Duck breast with fig sauce
Sweet dried fruit and dark cherry in the wine are a natural counterpart to rich poultry and fruity accompaniments.
Duck breast with juniper
The wine's spice and fine tannin meet the duck's gamey flavour while red-fruit register echoes the spice.
Duck breast with lentils du Puy
Earthy mineral lentils and duck fat meet the wine's silky fruit.
Duck breast with stone fruit sauce
Stone fruit in the wine resonates with cherry or plum reductions on duck.
Pan-seared duck breast
Full-bodied spicy Grüner with ripe fruit is a refined match for duck.
Roasted duck breast with cherry reduction
Duck fat meets the wine's polished oak; cherry reduction echoes the dark-fruit core.
Duck breast with figs
The peachy stone-fruit register meets the sweetness of the figs.
Taste the pairing: food and wine in Baden
Food and wine tastings you can book in Baden, one of the regions whose bottles our editors pour with duck breast.
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pairings by region
- Baden: 18 pairings, Baden food and wine pairing
- Rheinhessen: 18 pairings, Rheinhessen food and wine pairing
- Mosel: 16 pairings, Mosel food and wine pairing
- Rhone Valley: 16 pairings, Rhone Valley food and wine pairing
- Bordeaux: 15 pairings, Bordeaux food and wine pairing
- Loire Valley: 14 pairings, Loire Valley food and wine pairing
- Penedes: 13 pairings, Penedes food and wine pairing
- Beaujolais: 11 pairings, Beaujolais food and wine pairing
- Languedoc: 10 pairings, Languedoc food and wine pairing
- Alto Adige: 8 pairings, Alto Adige food and wine pairing
- Provence: 8 pairings, Provence food and wine pairing
- Rheingau: 8 pairings, Rheingau food and wine pairing
Wine with duck breast, FAQ
What wine goes with duck breast?
Across 201 duck breast pairings on 201 of our bottle pages, the grapes our editors pour most often are Pinot Noir (90), Merlot (22), Syrah (20) and Grenache (18). For example, Louis Roederer Cristal Rose from Champagne with duck breast: Silky red fruit and spice meet the duck.
Red or white wine with duck breast?
Most often red: of the 201 duck breast pairings, the split by style is red 79%, white 10%, sparkling 9% and fortified 1%. The bottles below show which of each work and why.
Which wine regions are best with duck breast?
The regions with the most duck breast pairings on our bottle pages are Baden, Rheinhessen and Mosel.