Beef: Understanding Your Choices
At D'Artagnan we believe in choices, especially when it comes to beef. Some swear by
grass-fed beef, relishing its leanness and extolling its nutritional value. Others prefer their
beef with a pale network of fat marbled throughout, adding flavor and succulence. Still others prefer a truly luxurious beef experience like
Wagyu beef with glistening veins of pure fat. We have them all – and a cut of beef for every palate.
Read on to learn about the different types of beef that we offer.
Angus Beef
Our marbled and flavorful Angus beef comes from cattle raised exclusively for D’Artagnan by a cooperative of ranchers committed to strict protocols of humane animal husbandry.
Just imagine if you could raise steer in your own backyard, eating grass and locally-grown alfalfa hay, barley, and corn for a few months. That’s exactly what our ranchers do – but in a 10,000-acre backyard.
No antibiotics, hormones, or steroids are ever used, which means the cattle take a little longer to come to market, but that’s fine with us. A stress-free lifestyle produces tasty results.
Many fans of beef have found that once they try our pasture-raised and grain-finished beef they simply can’t eat any other beef. Explore our Angus beef cuts and find a new favorite. Explore our Angus beef cuts and find a new favorite.
Grass-Fed Beef
D’Artagnan is the exclusive U.S. purveyor of this 100% grass-fed beef from Australia, where the cattle graze on pastures in remote areas. The stress-free, pristine environment and clean air contribute to the flavor and quality of the beef.
Raised without the use of antibiotics or growth promotants, this beef is Certified Humane and the ranches are fully committed to sustainable and ethical practices.
The cattle all have Angus lineage and are selected for genetics to produce consistent high-quality beef with rich, full flavor and lush texture. They age on the hoof, eating nothing but grass, and are grown out for at least 5 years - twice as long as the average cattle.
That’s why this unique vintage beef develops naturally rich flavors and complex marbling with a golden hue, along with all the nutritional benefits of grass-fed beef. Find your favorite cut of grass-fed beef.
Wagyu Beef
Wagyu cattle are an extraordinary breed, native to Japan, where they developed in isolation with a unique genetic propensity to high marbling. The Japanese have evolved special feeding programs for these cattle to put fat in all the right places.
At D'Artagnan, we work with ranchers who raise Wagyu cattle in the Midwest and Texas, combining Western ranching know-how with traditional Japanese techniques. The emphasis of the program is humane treatment and a low-stress environment for the cattle throughout their lives.
Our cattle begin on pasture and are then introduced to a gradual feeding system in the Japanese style, with seven different feed variations, which include grain, rice plant, and corn, free-choice minerals, and fresh water.
And, like their Japanese cousins, the strictly followed diet rotation is the secret to the development of the characteristic marbling, delicate texture, and superb flavor. Raised until the age of 30 months, the cattle are fully monitored at every stage of their growth.
Centuries of breeding, decades of ranching experience, and our commitment to excellence all come together in this marbled, delicately-textured, and richly flavored Wagyu beef.
Japanese Wagyu Beef
For years it was impossible to get authentic Japanese Wagyu beef in the U.S. Happily, we can now import this extraordinary beef in limited amounts for beef connoisseurs to enjoy.
Our A5 Wagyu beef is raised by a network of farms in southern Japan using traditional methods. Many of the farmers raise only four Black Kuroge cattle at a time - to exacting specifications. These Japanese beef masters have developed protocols which, like many things in Japan, have been taken to the level of art.
The farmers provide a stress-free environment, and never use antibiotics, hormones, or growth stimulants. The cattle are humanely raised for close to three years, first on grass and then on a proprietary diet devised by the individual farmers, with incremental amounts of barley, vegetables, greens, and silage. The diet builds on the breed’s natural propensity to complex and abundant marbling.
Our exquisite A5-graded Wagyu beef is the result – the best of the best.
