Black truffle is not something that we eat every day. A delicacy, we need equally special wines to pair with dishes that contain this wonderful fungus.

While each of the following pairing ideas have been carefully chosen for how they would marry with a dish flavoured with black truffles, it goes without saying that the wines change depending on what accompanies this prized ingredient.

Truffle with shellfish and crustaceans

There are numerous recipes that unite truffle with scallops or lobster. A dish like this lends itself to a well-structured, rich white wine like those from the best Burgundy premier crus or even the region’s grand crus. Wines like Meursault and Puligny-Montrachet spring to mind for scallop dishes and the Montrachet family (Bâtard-Montrachet, Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet, Bienvenue-Bâtard-Montrachet and Chevalier-Montrachet) and from a bit further north, Corton-Charlemagne for lobster.

White Hermitage and white Châteauneuf-du-Pape from the Rhône Valley offer pairings that would enchant your tastebuds. A mature vintage (a wine that is at least 10 years old) would make for a better companion than a youthful wine. A magical pairing would be a vintage bottle of Champagne. Opt for a Blanc de Blancs or blend that is dominated by Champagne. Here again, an older Champagne (one that is over 15 years old) will create a partnership that’s out of this world as, in case you didn’t already know, fine Champagnes, like all fine wine, have an ageing potential which never ceases to surprise wine lovers … and they develop mushroom notes as they age.

Truffle with poultry

This is an area where we have greater choice. Depending on the poultry chosen and the accompanying stuffing (if added to the dish), we could choose one of the powerful white wines mentioned above. Or we could move onto red wine, which would be the preferred option for most dishes. The first choice given the poultry’s fat and the strength of truffle’s flavour would be a fine Pinot Noir from Burgundy, which offers brilliant acidity. Opt for a Côte de Beaune, which is more delicate that a Côte de Nuits. We would go for the best premier crus from Volnay, Pommard or Beaune as well as the only fine red from this area of Burgundy, Corton. And also favour a mature vintage over young ones.

If you wanted to have a wine from outside of France, Nebbiolo from Italy’s Piedmont region offers wines that have similar qualities to Pinot Noir. This would be the moment to bring out a mature Barolo or Barbaresco.

Truffle with red meat

Here, there is no choice other than a mature fine red wine. A powerful Pinot Noir from a grand cru in the Côte de Nuits (there are many possible options: Chambertin and its cousins, as well as Musigny, Bonnes-Mares, Clos de Tart, Clos des Lambrays, Echezeaux, Clos de Vougeot and the whole Vosne-Romanée family with Romanée-Conti in the lead) will be perfect.

If you’re looking for a wine that could have truffle flavours of its own, a mature Pauillac or Pomerol as well as the other appellations on Bordeaux’s left and right banks would make a lovely pairing. The Rhône Valley, both the north and south, offer wines that marry perfectly will truffle-infused red meat dishes. Côte Rôtie, Hermitage, Cornas, Gigondas and Châteauneuf-du-Pape are where you need to look.

Just a little something to note before we let you try out these pairings: Here, we’ve only put together suggestions for black truffle. White truffle does not have the same flavour profile so would require different wine pairings, more on that another time…