Holiday food shlep is a whole sport. The cooking is love, the shlepping is cardio, and somehow you're still the one remembering the pomegranate seeds!

Quick answer

Pour a dark-fruited Syrah with sweet and sour meatballs. I reach for Galil Mountain Yiron Syrah: dark plum, blueberry jam and warm cocoa, with enough structure for sweet, tangy, spicy food.

So here's my version of sweet and sour meatballs, with a little spicy twist.

Ground beef, grated onion, chopped green herbs, breadcrumbs and a dark red spice in a steel mixing bowl
Golden-brown meatballs searing in a red Dutch oven on a gas stove
A wooden spoon stirring dark, bubbling pomegranate sauce in the red Dutch oven

What wine goes with sweet and sour meatballs?

And the wine? Galil Mountain Yiron Syrah. Dark plum, blueberry jam, warm cocoa, and enough structure to stand up to all that sweet, tangy, spicy goodness.

The pairing

Sweet and sour pomegranate meatballs&Galil Mountain Yiron Syrah

The pomegranate in the dish and dark fruit in the glass just make sense together.

Anne's hand holding a 2019 Galil Mountain Winery Yiron Syrah, with the bowl of pomegranate meatballs behind it

Tasting notes

2019 · Upper Galilee, Israel

  • Mevushal No
  • Passover Kosher for Passover
Nose & taste
Dark plum and blueberry jam first, then warm cocoa.
Structure
Enough to stand up to sweet, tangy and spicy, all on one plate.
  • Tanninthat drying grip on your gumsFirm
  • Bodyweight on the tongueMedium-full

Watch the reel

Anne at her kitchen counter raising a glass of red wine over a bowl of pomegranate meatballs, a cork and corkscrew beside it

Watch the full reel on Instagram @oyveyrose.

In the kitchen

Close-up of browned meatballs in glossy pomegranate sauce, topped with fresh pomegranate seeds in an orange bowl

How to Make Sweet and Sour Pomegranate Meatballs

  • Meat

Ingredients

For the meatballs

  • 2 lb ground beef
  • 1 small onion, grated
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 egg
  • ½ cup breadcrumbs or matzah meal
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • Oil for searing

For the sauce

  • 3 Tbsp pomegranate molasses
  • 2 cups stock
  • 2–3 Tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • ½–1 tsp chili flakes
  • 1–2 Tbsp cornstarch mixed with cold water
  • ½ cup pomegranate seeds

Method

  1. Mix the beef, onion, garlic, egg, breadcrumbs or matzah meal, salt, pepper and paprika, then roll into meatballs.
  2. Heat the oil in a heavy pot and sear the meatballs until golden.
  3. Add the pomegranate molasses, stock, brown sugar, paprika and chili flakes, and simmer the meatballs in the sauce.
  4. Lift the meatballs out and stir the cornstarch mixture into the sauce to thicken it.
  5. Add the meatballs back in.
  6. Finish with the fresh pomegranate seeds.

More from my kitchen: crispy kosher chicken Kyiv with Covenant Lavan Chardonnay and Tashkent meat samsa with a peppery Syrah.

L'Chaim!