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Hare stew in red wine with Niepoort Late Bottled Vintage

On the plate are pieces of hare that have spent a night in red wine and then more than two hours in a low oven, in a dark sauce with thyme and cloves. Opposite, the port is a late bottled vintage, whose tannin is softened by the braising liquid.

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From the shelf

The bottle

Niepoort is a Dutch-Portuguese port house founded in Porto in 1842. This late bottled vintage comes from a single harvest, with grapes from old vines in Cima Corgo that yield little per hectare. The wine matures for four to six years in oak casks and then continues in bottle. It stands at 19.5 percent alcohol and comes in 75 centilitres. According to the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto that is the rule for this class: an LBV matures for four to six years in wood, in large casks where the wine evolves slowly with little oxygen. For ruby-style port the institute gives 12 to 16 degrees.

Niepoort Late Bottled Vintage

The combination

Why this works together

Hare is dark, lean game with a lot of connective tissue, and the pairing leans on what happens to it in the pot. Over a good two hours at 140 degrees the collagen turns into gelatine, and that gelatine remains on the tongue as a coating. Tannin binds to proline-rich salivary proteins and makes them clump together, so that saliva loses its lubricating effect and the mouth feels dry; Zanchi and colleagues described this. The protein from the stew catches that tannin, so the LBV feels round in the mouth. There is also a second connection: the sauce is reduced red wine with clove and thyme, and an LBV, after years in wood, has its own spicy, slightly peppery note that fits it. The acidity of the wine in the pan keeps the whole thing upright.

At the table

The dish

  • For 4 people
  • Ready in 3 hours, plus overnight marinating
  • Type main course

What you need

  • 1 tenderloin of about 1 kg, in pieces
  • 1 onion, in rings
  • 1 medium carrot, sliced
  • 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 cloves
  • 3 sprigs of thyme
  • 30 ml cognac
  • 600 ml red wine
  • 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1.5 tablespoons flour
  • 3 tablespoons chopped parsley
  • salt and ground black pepper

How to make it

  1. Place the pieces of hare in a dish with the onion, carrot, garlic, bay leaf, cloves, thyme, cognac and red wine. Cover and leave in the fridge overnight.
  2. Preheat the oven to 140 degrees, or 120 degrees fan.
  3. Let the hare drain and pat it dry on kitchen paper. Strain the marinade over a dish and keep the liquid, the vegetables and the herbs separate.
  4. Heat the oil and the butter in an ovenproof casserole over medium-high heat. Brown the pieces of hare all over and season them with salt and pepper.
  5. Stir in the reserved vegetables and herbs and fry them along for a few minutes. Sprinkle everything with the flour and stir well.
  6. Pour in the marinade liquid, stir and bring everything to a gentle boil. Cover with aluminium foil and put the lid on.
  7. Put the pot in the oven for 2 to 2.5 hours.
  8. Spoon the hare into a dish, strain the sauce over it and leave the vegetables and herbs behind. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

In the glass

Serving

Serve this late bottled vintage at 12 to 16 degrees. Use a tulip-shaped glass and do not fill it beyond a third. Stand the bottle upright for a few hours and decant it gently when you see sediment in the neck; with a fined LBV that is not necessary. An opened bottle of LBV keeps well for four to five days according to the institute. After that, stand it upright in a cool place with the cork in.

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