The Working Person’s Steak & Wine Dinner
What wine goes with a Wagyu chuck eye steak? Keenan 2021 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Cabernet tannin is built for fat, and the chuck eye — the same muscle group as the ribeye, at a fraction of the price — brings plenty of it. The full reverse-sear method is below.
Keenan 2021 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, paired with a Vermont Wagyu chuck eye. Full flavor, delicious luxury, a fraction of the price.
Wine with food
Two of the best kept secrets in wine and food
Cut from the same Wagyu muscle group as the premium ribeye, the chuck eye delivers the same legendary, buttery marbling at a fraction of the price. Lock in the juices with a low-and-slow reverse sear, then finish with a sizzling crust.
To unlock its full potential, pour a glass of the Keenan 2021 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Like the chuck eye, this Cabernet is a masterclass in hidden value, punching well above its weight with the structure and dark fruit needed to cut through that marbling. Together it is a steakhouse experience at home. The only secret ingredient is a little patience and some know-how.
The steak
Vermont Wagyu chuck eye (Delmonico), medium, roughly 10 to 12 ounces. Kosher salt for the dry brine, and be generous. Beef tallow for searing, about a tablespoon. A generous knob of Beurre d'Isigny AOP, for finishing only. Vermont Wagyu heirloom finishing salt, at the plate.
You will want a wire rack over a rimmed sheet pan, a temperature probe, a cast iron skillet and tongs.
The reverse sear, step by step
**Dry brine.** Pat the steak dry. Season aggressively with kosher salt on every surface, top, bottom and edges. Set it on the wire rack over the sheet pan and refrigerate uncovered overnight. Two hours is the minimum.
**Low and slow.** Heat the oven to 225°F with the rack and pan inside. Cook until the internal temperature reaches 100 to 105°F. Time varies with thickness, so expect 35 to 55 minutes, and use the probe rather than guessing.
**Rest.** Take it out, tent it loosely with foil and rest it for at least fifteen minutes. This is a good moment to make a side. Broccoli with a compound butter adds another layer.
**Sear.** Heat the cast iron over the highest heat until it smokes. Add the tallow. Sear 60 to 90 seconds a side, edges included. You are building crust here; the oven has already done the cooking.
**Plate.** Finish with the heirloom salt and a generous pat of very good butter. The pyramid flakes catch the light, deliver a burst of texture and wake up the Wagyu fat on the first bite. The melting butter adds another layer again. None of this is decoration. It is architecture.
Why the pairing works
Cabernet tannin is built for fat, and the Wagyu chuck eye brings plenty of it. The marbling softens the wine's firm frame while the dark fruit cuts through the richness, and the heirloom salt finish bridges the two.
Keenan 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
Spring Mountain District estate fruit (73%) with Pope Valley (27%). One hundred per cent Cabernet Sauvignon, 14.3% alcohol, dry, 2,445 cases produced, bottled 3 August 2023.
Estate fruit was harvested between 7 and 14 September 2021, de-stemmed, fermented for 10 to 14 days and barrel aged 20 months in 33% new French and American oak. The estate grapes carry the concentration and structure; the Pope Valley fruit adds aromatic complexity and mid-palate balance.
James Suckling scored it **93 points** in March 2024, finding dark berries, dried herbs, bark and undergrowth on the nose, firm tannins on a serious frame, a chalky center palate and a powdery, compact finish, with cellaring potential well beyond 2026.
Nutrition, per serving
Steak with finishing butter runs to roughly 50g protein and 47g fat, no carbohydrate and no fiber, at around 625 calories. That is about 32% of calories from protein and 68% from fat. Notable micronutrients include zinc at roughly 12mg, iron around 5mg, B12 around 4.5mcg, selenium around 38mcg, choline around 120mg and phosphorus around 380mg.
Estimates are derived from USDA data for full-blood Wagyu beef, and actual values vary with the exact cut weight and preparation.
A note on salt
There are two applications of salt here, the overnight dry brine and the heirloom salt at the plate. Neither is excessive and both are deliberate. The fear of salt on quality protein is a relic of dietary advice that confused table salt on processed food with kosher salt on a farm-raised steak. They are not the same conversation. Salt the steak.
The producers
Vermont Wagyu at Spring-Rock Farm
Springfield, Vermont, with Dr. Sheila Patinkin as proprietor, raising 100% full-blood Wagyu. The chuck eye, also called the Delmonico, is a forward extension of the longissimus dorsi, the same muscle that forms the ribeye, with additional connective fascia from the shoulder. On a full-blood Wagyu animal that fascia renders down during the reverse sear and becomes depth of flavor rather than toughness. You are buying the farm, the farmer and the genetics, not the name on a menu.
Keenan Winery
Spring Mountain District, St. Helena. Michael Keenan is second generation; Reilly Keenan is third. Keenan has farmed Spring Mountain since the 1970s, a 236-acre estate with 58 acres planted and the rest left wild, at elevations reaching 1,700 feet. Cool nights, volcanic soils and mountain air produce Cabernet with structure you can age.
Small farms and small-production wineries sell out. To secure an allocation, call us on (707) 963-9177 or visit the winery at 3660 Spring Mountain Road, St. Helena.
A note from Keenan Winery
We believe the finest bottles do not belong tucked away for rare occasions. They belong at the center of a life well lived. Our long-time friend, colleague and Eastern U.S. brand ambassador Van Potts, president of Preston-Layne & Partners, is every bit as obsessed with the art of the table as we are.
Straight from Van's King Street Kitchen, this is what he calls the Working Person's Steak & Wine Dinner. It is a masterclass in culinary insider tradecraft: pair a hidden-gem Wagyu cut with our 2021 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and you have mapped a five-star steakhouse experience at home. You do not need a large expense account to enjoy complex, luxurious layers. You need the know-how to find them before the rest of the world catches on.
