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Veal is best enjoyed with light, fruity red wines (Pinot Noir, Beaujolais). For veal in sauce or cream, choose a rich white wine such as a Burgundy Chardonnay. Discover our selection of red and white wines to accompany veal and enhance your meals. A pan-seared cutlet and a veal breast braised in a Dutch oven aren't served with the same wine. On Avenue des Vins, reds and whites are sold to you by the people who make them, and further down this page you'll find the cuts of veal one by one.
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At the butcher's, good veal shows pale pink flesh and firm, satiny white fat. To keep its fine grain, Interbev, the French meat and livestock board, recommends cooking it medium or leaving it barely pink, never rare and never overdone. Its fifteen-plus cuts don't all cook the same way.
Veal cutlets are sliced from the leg muscles (top round, bottom round or knuckle) or from the rump. Chops come in four kinds, from the shoulder end to the loin, and grenadins are cut from the tenderloin.
To stay juicy, cutlets and chops should be seared over high heat and then finished over low heat, in a skillet rather than on the grill. Pull them from the refrigerator shortly before cooking, and let them rest as long as they cooked.
For pan-seared veal, Interbev suggests supple, fresh reds or round whites. A red Touraine made from Gamay, fruity and low in tannin, leaves room for the delicate meat. A round white, such as a lightly oaked Chardonnay, works just as well. Sauces and sides are covered in our article on veal escalope.
For the oven or a Dutch oven, Interbev names the loin, the tenderloin and the shoulder. A rack is a set of rib chops left joined and roasted in one piece; a roast can also be cut from the leg muscles, like cutlets. Let these large cuts rest for about half their cooking time before carving.
Interbev groups roasts with pan-seared cuts: the same supple, fresh reds and round whites. A Pinot Noir from the Hautes Côtes de Beaune goes well with a loin or rack carved at the table. Our veal roast article runs through sides and sauces.
Neck, shoulder, breast, flank and shank need long, gentle cooking. A blanquette combines at least two cuts: a lean one such as shoulder or neck, and a marbled one such as breast or flank. Shank, cut into thick bone-in slices, is what makes osso buco; for a sauté, Interbev points to shoulder or bottom round.
For these dishes in sauce, Interbev recommends dry, full-bodied, powerful whites. A white from the southern Rhône Valley, such as a Cairanne, has the breadth to stand up to a cream-thickened sauce or the reduced juices of a braise. If you'd rather pour red, keep it supple and low in tannin, as with the quick-cooking cuts.
With veal tartare or carpaccio, pour a crisp, dry white served well chilled, so the delicate flavor of the raw meat comes through. Interbev advises a light hand with seasoning, such as mild condiments or hazelnut oil, and an oaky or powerful wine would cover the dish.
With braised veal breast, choose a full-bodied dry white, as with other slow-cooking cuts. Sliced thin into côtes parisiennes, marinated and grilled gently on the barbecue, it also welcomes a supple, fresh red.
With veal grenadins, choose a supple, fresh red or a round white. These thick slices cut from the tenderloin and wrapped in fat are the veal version of a beef tournedos; cooked barely pink, they don't take well to firm tannins.
You can buy wine for veal direct from the winemaker on Avenue des Vins. Every wine’s page lists its grape varieties.
See also: Which French wine to drink with Italian dishes? - What wine should you drink with suckling pig? - What wine should you drink with quenelles?
