I have no idea what made Eric Ripert so mad.

Here's what I had written: "Try the 1995 Krug Champagne for $240, a perfect match for steak tartare."

I was reporting on the new restaurant Landmarc, in New York's Time Warner Center.

The steak tartare is excellent there. The 1995 Krug is excellent anywhere, but at $240 per bottle, it's a steal on a wine list. Yes, sometimes a $200 bottle of wine can be a bargain.

Right after writing that I got a telephone call from Ripert, chef and co-owner of Le Bernardin in New York. He said I was wrong. He claimed Champagne was too delicate to match with steak tartare, which is highly seasoned, chopped raw meat.

Generally, I don't like to argue about food with chefs. They know more than I do. But Ripert is the chef of a seafood restaurant. He prepares fish 99 percent of the time, and he drinks red Bordeaux with everything. I will concede that he is one of the best chefs in the world, but there is no way that he knows more about what wine to have with meat than I do.

We arranged a challenge.

He would prepare steak tartare.

I offered to bring the Champagne.

He said, "I don't want the bad corked wine you have in your cellar in my restaurant."

He was sure in an ugly mood. That's what can happen when you always drink red Bordeaux with fish.

Came the day.

He brought out his steak tartare.

Despite the contention, I will be gracious. I concede that this fish cook had created the best steak tartare I've ever had in my life.

I didn't expect that. I knew he'd get the seasonings right. He's good that way. But I never expected him to be brilliant with raw meat. In many ways his steak tartare was typical: filet mignon, capers, cornichons, red onion, parsley, Tabasco, Worcestershire, Dijon mustard, and so on. But I'd never tasted steak tartare so silken and so layered with flavor. He said the meat was hand-cut. Nice, but that couldn't have been the answer. Then he said he had added a secret ingredient: The fat from foie gras. Genius.

He claimed the tartare with a delicate non-vintage Champagne didn't work—the meat overwhelmed the wine. He was right. Then we tasted it with a rosé, which has more body, and he conceded that it matched up well. He even admitted that the high acidity of the wine was mouth-cleansing, as I knew it to be.

I asked him to simply admit that I was right.

It was hard for him. He managed to say, "You can say that you are not wrong."

He said the steak tartare required a bigger, richer Champagne than the rosé. I asked him what that might be.

As though he had just come up with the idea, he replied, "I think 1995 Krug would work well."