Coq au Vin With Estate Cabernet Franc
February 14, 2011 by Colleen
Filed under Blog, Wine & Recipe of The Month
A classic French dish, Coq au Vin originated in Burgundy but we have used our lush and generous Cabernet Franc grown on our Yountville Estate in this recipe. The cherry and sweet raspberry flavors of the wine pair perfectly with this hearty dish ideal for this time of year. Better yet, the recipe is easy to make but remember that a half bottle of Cab Franc goes into the dish so you might want to pickup 2 bottles in our online store.
Ingredients:
Organic chicken parts – 2 bone-in breasts, 2 drumsticks, 3 thighs
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
4 slices applewood smoked bacon, cut into lardons
1 cup mushrooms, thickly sliced
1 yellow onion, sliced
2 shallots, minced
1-1/2 cups Goosecross Cabernet Franc
1/2 cup port
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1/2 cup veal demi glace
1 teaspoon thyme, minced
Directions:
Heat oven to 450 degrees. Combine salt, pepper, paprika, and flour in a bag and shake chicken parts in the mixture to lightly coat. Heat the olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat and sauté the chicken until brown, about 5 minutes. Flip the chicken over and add the bacon lardons. Cook until the chicken and bacon is brown, about more 5 minutes.
Add mushrooms, onion, & shallot and continue to sauté until soft, 5-7 more minutes. Add the wine, port, tomato paste, and demi glace then stir well. Sprinkle with thyme. Cover and bake in oven for 35 minutes.
Serve with basmati rice and sautéed mushrooms garnished with thyme.
Basmati Rice
1 teaspoon butter
1 teaspoon olive oil
3/4 cup basmati rice
1-1/4 cups chicken broth
Melt butter & olive oil in saucepan over medium-high heat. Add rice, stir to coat, and cook until fragrant and sizzling. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until all broth is absorbed, approximately 25 minutes.
Discover more great recipes in Colleen’s Kitchen
Purchase the 2007 Goosecross Yountville Estate Cabernet Franc in our online store.
Vintage 2010 Report
3.58 million tons of wine grapes were crushed in California.
We never would have believed it based on the various doomsday reports that were running rampant around the Internet in 2010.
2010 but came in significantly higher than industry experts had projected but average prices for the red and white wine grapes were down 7 percent from 2009.
Goosecross Featured on KTVU News At Noon
We were happy to welcome a news crew from KTVU in Oakland recently for a nice profile story. Click on the photo below to watch the video on their website featuring our winemaker Geoff Gorsuch:
Estate Cabernet and Short Ribs With Coffee Cocoa Sauce
January 6, 2011 by Colleen
Filed under Blog, Wine & Recipe of The Month
Happy New Year! All of us at Goosecross wish you a happy and healthy 2011!
On these cold winter days we always turn to comfort food – the kind that warms us from the inside. Colleen developed the recipe for these slow-cooked short ribs to warm your kitchen and your heart. The fork-tender short ribs with their deep, smoky flavors, ancho chiles and rich cocoa sauce paired with a glass of our rich, fruity Napa Valley Estate Cabernet Sauvignon are all you need to chase away the winter chill.
Ingredients:
2 dried ancho chiles, stemmed, seeded
1-1/2 cup boiling water
1 small onion, quartered
2 cloves garlic, quartered
1 tablespoon finely chopped canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
1 teaspoon adobo sauce
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 tablespoon lime juice
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
3-1/2 pounds beef short ribs
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 cup brewed dark roast coffee
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Soak the ancho chiles in the hot water until softened, about 20 minutes, then drain in a colander set over a bowl. Reserve the soaking liquid for braising.
In a food processor, chop the ancho chiles, onion, garlic, chipotle chiles with sauce, syrup, cocoa, lime juice, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Pat the ribs dry and sprinkle with the pepper and the remaining salt. Heat the oil in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the ribs on all sides then remove to a plate.
Turn the heat down to medium-low, then carefully add the chile puree to the skillet and cook stirring, 5 minutes. Add the reserved chile soaking liquid and coffee and bring to a boil.
Return ribs to skillet, the liquid should come about half way up the sides of the meat. Cover tightly and braise in oven until very tender, 3 hours. Serve ribs over polenta.
Basic Polenta
4 cups water
1 cup polenta
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
Directions: In a medium saucepan, bring the water and salt to a boil. Gradually add polenta, stirring constantly until thickened, about 20 minutes. Blend in the butter. Serve with short ribs.
Serves 4
Discover more great recipes in Colleen’s Kitchen
Purchase the 2007 Goosecross Estate Cabernet Sauvignon in our online store.
Our Top 8 Stocking Stuffers for your Favorite Wine Geek!
Don’t you just love gleefully emptying out your stocking to see what kinds of fun goodies are hidden inside on Christmas morning? To me, it’s the best part of the whole gift-giving extravaganza
And, isn’t it really hard to figure out how to fill up your love-one’s stocking? We’re here, to the rescue!!
Many of these things are available here (surprise, surprise)! Come see us! And those that aren’t can probably be found at your local wine shop or just Google the item.
Here goes with our top 8 suggestions for the wine geek on your list:
8. Champagne stopper(s) You can never have too many of these because they’re always getting lost (don’t ask me how – just do what I do – blame the cat).
7. De Long’s Wine Grape Varietal Table This is a really fun poster with info about at least a zillion varieties. If you recognize every grape on this chart, seriously, you need to get a life! Great for your cellar or wine-storage area. We have it (tasting room only) – come see us! Or try Amazon.
6. Wine Away This stuff really works! Never go wine-tasting without this magic potion that takes the stains out of your poor, Syrah-spotted shirt! We have it here – come see us!
5. There’s also a wine-away, of sorts, for your teeth. It’s called Wine Wipes. We have them here (tasting room; or call us to have them shipped – soon!) – c’mon in and stain your teeth royally with our Cab. Then use the wipes and dazzle everyone with your brilliant smile!
4. Private Preserve This is another thing you’re always happy to have around (spray it into your unfinished bottle so it doesn’t spoil). It works! We have it !
3. Foil Cutter(s) Every time I have to remove the foil with the old waiter’s corkscrew, I wish I had one of these in my pocket. We also have a corkscrew with a built-in foil cutter in our tasting room and online wine shop!
2. Deal of the century! Gift certificate from Goosecross at a 25% discount! You’ll appear to be even more generous than you are 
Just call 800-276-9210 to get a $100.00 certificate for only $75.00. Oh! You can get larger (but not smaller) amounts, too, also at a 25% discount. No expiration on these babies. Very cool!
Drum roll…
The #1 stocking stuffer for 2010: An actual bottle of delicious wine! This will, of course, fill up the stocking, but you’ve accomplished two good things:1) solved your problem 2) made someone really happy
Happy hunting! And stuffing! And, to quote friend, Diane, “I wish you the loveliest of Christmas memories and pray that our New Year will bring the world as many miracles as possible”.
5 Tips for Pairing Wine with Chocolate
‘Tis the season to be decadent! And what could be more decadent than pairing wine with your chocolate?
Warning! It’s not a slam dunk. Most of the time pairing with and food is really easy because wine’s structure makes it a natural partner. But, serving dry wine with sweet food takes a little thought because the sweetness of the food can make the dry wine seem sour. Think chocolate cake with lemonade – yuk!
But, the pairing is definitely do-able and when it comes together right, it’s really quite wonderful! So, here are some tips:
1.Chocolate and dry wine: If you want to pair chocolate with dry table wine, like a good Cab, Merlot or Zin your best bet it to go with dark, bitter and bittersweet chocolate with a high cacao content. Bitter nuts, like walnuts and hazelnuts help. So does espresso or coffee. And, berry fillings if they aren’t too sweet. And, in this day of chocolates with unorthodox fillings, I’ll recommend black pepper — maybe it’s out there, and its bitterness is a great bridge builder.
2. Chocolate and sweet wine: Now, this is MUCH easier! Because chocolate is a strong flavor, red dessert wines like late-harvest Zinfandel, Port and Banyuls wine are a good way to go but you won’t have any sourness problems with other choices like Sauternes, sweet Madeira (Malmsey) or Tokaji. Or, even a sweet Muscat, like our Muscat Canelli.
3. Nuts are a great thing! Nutty fillings are delicious with nutty, sweet Sherry (Pedro Ximenez), tawny Port and Madeira.
4. When caramel is in the mix: Keep in mind caramel is very sweet, but it also presents a luscious opportunity: Vin Santo, tawny Port and Madeira have wonderfully caramelized flavors and will be yummy partners!
5. Have you ever seen a whole bottle of wine, dipped in a 1/2 pound of chocolate??? Talk about decadent! Great Christmas gift! We have them! Cheers!
Wine Trivia du Jour
A newly planted vineyard is usually ready for harvest within:
a) 6 months
b) 1-2 years
c) 3-4 years
d) 5-6 years
What do you think? Two ways to find out:
1: Come for a visit and ask us!
2: Play our Wine Trivia game!
5 Tips for Buying Wine for Thanksgiving
#1: Don’t stress! There’s no “right” wine to go with all of the crazy flavors we have on our plates – theoretically, you’d want a different wine for the candied yams than you would for the spicy stuffing, so don’t even try! Plus, no matter what, Aunt Martha only drinks red and Uncle Cyrus just likes whites, right? So just put out some of each!
#2: Whites are most versatile if they’re crisp and low oak: Sauvignon Blanc, sparkling wine, our Chardonnay, Gewurtztraminer, Riesling
#3: Keep the reds relatively low alcohol and low tannin (Pinot Noir, Tempranillo, Cabernet Franc, Gamay, Beaujolais Nouveau, lighter Zins (check the alcohol before you buy)
#4: Don’t overlook rosé wine – very versatile, especially when it’s dry!
#5! Buy it on sale! Guess what – we’re having one!
Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Goosecross!
Harvest the Savings from Goosecross!
Stock up for the Holidays on your favorite Goosecross wines including:
- Sauvignon Blanc
- Chardonnay
- Viognier
- Chenin Blanc (dry) – new!
- Chenin Blanc (semi-sweet)
- Muscat Canelli (sweet)
- Pinot Noir – new!
- Merlot
- Cabernet Franc
- Tempranillo – new!
- Syrah
- Napa Cabernet
- Howell Mountain Cabernet
- Petit Verdot – new!
Select your discount: 3 ways to SAVE!
10% off Wine purchase of 1-12 bottles
Use coupon code [coupon code="10HARVEST10" /]
15% off Wine purchase of 13-24 bottles
Use coupon code [coupon code="10HARVEST15" /]
20% off Wine purchase of 25+ bottles
Use coupon code [coupon code="10HARVEST20" /]
Shipping is included with all 12-bottle case purchases
(mix & match)
For additional assistance, pricing, and information about our wines call us at (800) 276-9210
Offer expires November 30, 2010
Cannot be combined with any other offers including regular wine club
discounts MA & NJ: Order by November 4th for Thanksgiving delivery
All other states: Order by November 21st for Thanksgiving delivery
Wine Trivia du Jour
This one can spark quite the debate! Meritage is pronounced:
a) Merit-tahzh
b) Like “heritage”
