Keenan 2022 Zinfandel
Spring Mountain District, Napa Valley
Vermont Wagyu Steak Tartare
Sirloin Flap · Steamed Sugar Beet · Pomegranate Reduction
“The rulebooks say red wine only pairs with cooked steak. Well, nobody told this Zinfandel. Black pepper, savory beef jus, seared sage—I’m not reading you a wine tasting note, I’m describing the magic on this plate. The rules are officially broken.”
— Van Potts, King Street Kitchen
Why This Cut. Why This Wine.
THE STORY
They say necessity is the mother of creation. That’s exactly how this dish came to be.
Michael Keenan sends me a few bottles of his Napa Zinfandel with a wild challenge: “Create a steak tartare that’s 50% steak and 50% beets — oh, and a pomegranate syrup to marry the dish to the Zin!” Talk about a tall order. Michael is a hell of a chef and an absolute tasting savant, so the pressure was on.
When my deadline didn’t line up with shipping times for the syrup, I had to pivot — fast. Next up: finding the absolute perfect beef.
Mission accomplished. A Keenan wine with a Vermont Wagyu.
THE CUT
The sirloin flap — bavette, if you want the French of it — isn’t the cut most home cooks reach for. It should be. Long muscle fibers, generous intramuscular marbling, and flavor that doesn’t need rescuing. On a Vermont Wagyu animal, that marbling runs deep enough that the cut works completely raw.
This is the MWIN principle in practice. Spend money where it shows up on the plate. A tartare has nowhere to hide — no sear, no reduction to mask a second-rate piece of beef. The cut is the whole argument. Vermont Wagyu sirloin flap wins it.
THE BEET
Michael’s 50/50 challenge wasn’t arbitrary. Sugar beet, steamed and diced to match the beef, brings an earthy sweetness that sits in the same register as the Zinfandel’s dark fruit — and it’s the same color family as the beef itself, so the tartare reads as one unified dish on the plate rather than two ingredients sharing space.
Steam it, cool it completely before dicing, and don’t rush that step — warm beet will turn the chilled tartare lukewarm fast.
A WORD ON SAFETY
Do not use ground beef for tartare — not pre-ground, not hamburger from the case. Commercial grinding blends meat from many animals and pushes surface bacteria into the interior, the opposite of what you want raw. When you start with a whole, intact muscle cut that’s been frozen solid, you’re dealing with the cleanest canvas possible. Hand-mincing it myself on a pristine board with a sharp knife meant total control over the plate. Absolutely zero guesswork.
Buy the freshest flap you can find, chill your tools, keep everything cold — because health and safety are every kitchen’s #1 priority.
THE WINE
2022 Zinfandel, Napa Valley
Spring Mountain District & Calistoga
93
James Suckling · September 2025
Blackberries and black pepper, beef jus and seared sage, with cedar, bay leaf, tobacco and wood char in support. Moderate tannins, robust structure. A wine built with savory, meaty flavors already inside it — not added by the kitchen, found by the kitchen.
| Alcohol: | 14.3% |
| Acidity: | 0.62 g/100ml |
| pH: | 3.83 |
| Residual Sugar: | Dry |
| Blend: | 56% Estate Zinfandel(Spring Mtn. Dist.)44% Zinfandel(Calistoga) |
| Production: | 437 Cases |
WHY THIS PAIRING
Conventional wisdom says big red wine wants a hot pan and a char-marked steak. That rule was written for tannin — tartare has none of the fat-rendering, Maillard-built flavor a tannic wine usually leans on for contrast.
The beauty of this pairing is that the Zinfandel does the heavy lifting before you even touch a knife. Think about those tasting notes: savory beef jus, black pepper, seared sage. The wine is already carrying those rich, meaty flavors on its own. Raw beef doesn’t ask the Zin to change — it just asks it to show off.
The pomegranate reduction is the hinge: its dark-fruit sweetness sits in the same register as the Zinfandel’s blackberry core, restating the wine on the plate instead of competing with it.
Moderate tannins, full fruit, a savory backbone. This Zin was built for raw beef — it just didn’t know it yet.
A note on buying: 437 cases is not a large run. This Zin rewards a few years in the cellar but drinks beautifully now. Six bottles is a floor. Twelve is a commitment.
The Method
Hand-Minced Sirloin Flap · Steamed Sugar Beet · Pomegranate Reduction
INGREDIENTS — SERVES 4
THE TARTARE
| Vermont Wagyu sirloin flap | ~7/8 cup minced, 6 oz |
| Sugar beet, steamed & cooled | 7/8 cup, small dice |
| Shallot, finely minced | 1 medium, ~1.5 Tbsp |
| Fresh chives, chopped | 1.5 tsp+ |
| Extra virgin olive oil | 1.5 Tbsp, high quality |
| Worcestershire sauce | 1.5 tsp |
| Dijon mustard | 1.5 tsp |
| Kosher salt & black pepper | to taste — don’t be shy |
| Cayenne pepper | optional, a pinch |
| Flat-leaf parsley | garnish |
THE POMEGRANATE REDUCTION
| Pomegranate juice, 100% pure | 1.75 cups |
EQUIPMENT
| Steamer basket or insert | for the beet |
| Sharp chef’s knife | clean — mince, don’t grind |
| Cutting board | dedicated, sanitized |
| Small saucier | for the reduction |
| Disposable gloves | for hand-mixing |
| 1/3 cup measuring cup | plating mold |
| Small scoop or offset spatula | packs the mold tight |
Vermont Wagyu sirloin flap, raw — the marbling that makes this cut work without ever touching heat.
Trimmed and ready for the knife. This is what you’re looking for at the counter.
THE METHOD
1. STEAM THE BEET
Peel the sugar beet and slice into 1/2-inch discs. Steam 12 minutes, until just tender. Remove and let cool completely to room temperature before handling.
2. HAND-MINCE THE BEEF
Slice the sirloin flap thin, then mince into small, even pieces by hand. Work on a clean, dedicated board. This is not a job for the food processor — you want texture, not paste.
3. PREP THE REST
Once the beet has cooled, dice it to match the size of the minced beef. Finely mince the shallot and chop the chives. Have the olive oil, Worcestershire, and Dijon measured and ready.
4. SEASON AS YOU GO
Combine everything in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper — generously; this is where the dish either comes alive or falls flat. Add a pinch of cayenne here if you want it; it plays beautifully against the Zin and the pomegranate.
5. MIX THOROUGHLY
Glove up and combine by hand. When you think you’re done mixing, keep mixing. A fully integrated mix is what holds its shape on the plate and carries flavor evenly through every bite.
6. CHILL — AT LEAST ONE HOUR
Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of one hour, longer if you have it. The flavors need that time to meld. This is not a step to rush.
7. REDUCE THE POMEGRANATE
Add 1.75 cups of pure pomegranate juice to a small saucier over the lowest possible heat. Do not boil it — you can’t rush this. Let it slowly reduce to 2–3 tablespoons of syrup, then pull it from the heat. It will continue to thicken as it cools.
8. PLATE
With a small scoop or offset spatula, pack the chilled tartare firmly into a 1/3-cup measuring cup — tight, no air pockets. Invert over the plate and tap the bottom to release cleanly. Drizzle with syrup, garnish with parsley, serve immediately, well chilled.
VARIATIONS
Balsamic reduction: a reduced aged balsamic works in place of the pomegranate syrup for a different, more savory finish.
Heat: cayenne is optional but recommended for anyone who wants the “zip” — it sharpens the contrast against the sweetness of the beet and the syrup.
Vermont Wagyu Tartare · Steamed Beet · Pomegranate Reduction · Parsley.
Nutrition & Producers
KEENAN WINERY
Keenan Winery sits at 1,700 feet on Spring Mountain above St. Helena in the Mayacamas range. Michael Keenan and his son Reilly farm estate fruit, including the Zinfandel at the heart of this pairing, in rocky, gravelly soils above the fog line — a contrarian mountain site most of the wine world overlooked for decades.
| keenanwinery.com | |
| (707) 963-9177 | |
| St. Helena, California |
VERMONT WAGYU AT SPRING-ROCK FARM
Dr. Sheila Patinkin raises full-blood and American Wagyu at Spring-Rock Farm in Springfield, Vermont — a sourcing relationship built on the same principle that runs through every plate in this series: know the farm before you know the cut. The sirloin flap used here is American Wagyu, USDA inspected and passed, processed and packed in-state.
This is not a commodity grinder cut. It’s a single, traceable muscle from a single known producer — the only kind of beef that belongs in a raw preparation.
| vermontwagyu.com | |
| (802) 885-7812 | |
| Springfield, Vermont | |
| Spring-Rock Farm |
NUTRITION PANEL
Per Serving — 1/3 Cup (Serves 4)
Figures reflect the tartare and reduction as plated. Salt added to taste is not fully captured below — season with intention.
| MACRONUTRIENT | GRAMS | % CALORIES |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | ~244 kcal | — |
| Protein | 9.4g | 15% |
| Total Fat | 15.1g | 55% |
| Carbohydrates | 19.2g | 30% |
Macro percentages sum to 100% of calories; the balance of mass not shown above is water and trace minerals, standard for a fresh, unprocessed dish like this one.
| NUTRIENT | AMOUNT | % DV |
|---|---|---|
| Vitamin B12 | ~0.6 mcg | 27% |
| Zinc | ~1.5 mg | 14% |
| Iron | ~1.2 mg | 7% |
| Folate (beet) | ~30 mcg | 7% |
MWIN — METABOLIC NOTE
Fear of fat on quality protein is misguided, and full-blood and American Wagyu both make the case better than any chart can. The fat here isn’t excess — it’s flavor, texture, and the thing holding the tartare together. There’s no need to trim it away.
Building the dish around beet and beef together, rather than beef alone, is metabolic intention in practice — real food, real volume, without padding the plate with anything processed.
On salt: don’t be afraid of it here either. A properly seasoned tartare needs real salt to taste like something. The fear of sodium on whole, quality food is a separate conversation from the sodium found in processed food — don’t let one inform the other.
Source matters — not just ethically, but metabolically. Buy the farm and the farmer first. Then the cut and the bottle second.
“Source the Best. Cook the Truth. Serve the Soul.”