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New Recipe: Duck Breast with Black Mission Fig Sauce
The incredibly concentrated, luscious 2006 ÆROS® has just been shipped out to our club members and, as always, we celebrate with food! Colleen united the savory with the subtly sweet when she dreamed up this delicious recipe for Duck Breast with Black Mission Fig Sauce. Needless to say, it’s fabulous with a glass of the ’06 ÆROS (what wouldn’t be???). Makes me hungry just thinking about it! Enjoy!
Open That Bottle Night Strikes Again!
You know who you are. You’re one of those people who’s hording a very special bottle of wine for reasons known only to you. Maybe it has sentimental value. Maybe it cost so much that you’re afraid it has you outclassed 
Whatever… The point is that this beverage has been placed on a such a lofty pedestal that there’s simply no occasion good enough for it.
Enter my favorite wine columnists, Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher. They’re here to help you. On February 26, 2000, they established what has become a marvelous tradition, and great excuse to over-indulge, called “Open That Bottle Night”. Marching orders: Don’t be silly! It’s just wine, after all… Have yourself a fabulous meal and pop that baby open!
Now, maybe you’re one of those who likes to save the good stuff for yourself, like Nixon, which calls for an extremely intimate dinner party of one. Brings to mind the sad image of Miles, in Sideways, drinking that Ch. Cheval Blanc out of a paper cup all by himself.
Or, instead, you’re the person who, once he realizes he has permission to indulge, can’t wait to trot that coveted wine out and share it with his nearest and dearest. Imagine the potential Bacchanalia if each of those loved ones brings a special bottle of his own. Whoo-hoo!!!!
In any case, it’s just over a week away, so get busy! Get thee to thy wine storage area, pluck that special bottle down from its celestial perch and have yourself a blast on Feb 28! Cheers!
More Comfort Food n Cab Franc!
Maui onions, sour cherries, heavy cream, almonds – who needs chicken? Just give me the sauce and I’ll disappear into my room for awhile…
Another great pairing for the Cab Franc! My guess is the cherries are the clincher… Better try Colleen’s recipe for Cream Cherry Chicken! What a perfect project for a cold, cloudy weekend! YUM!
New Recipe: Coq au Vin!
Mmmm… with smoked applewood bacon, mushrooms, shallots, fresh herbs, lots of wine… Just thinking about the Coq au Vin makes me ravenous!
Yes, it’s comfort-food time as the days get shorter and shorter and the nights colder and colder. And, Colleen has come up with her own special take on a classic – the perfect hunker-down, satisfying dish to warm you from the inside. And it’s an incredible match for our newly released 2006 Cabernet Franc (sorry – only 575 cases, so it’s for Wine Club only). I’m going to go out on a limb, here, and suggest that it’s probably going to be pretty-darned tasty with the earthy flavors of our Syrah or Merlot, too!
In any case, any time you want something truly delectable and a recipe that’s been tested and re-tested go to Colleen’s Kitchen. Of course, they’re all paired with wine! Bon appetit!
Equal time: David’s menu request for Father’s Day
I hope some of you enjoyed the great menu that Colleen, our proprietor, created for Mother’s Day. In the interest of equal time, she’s developed yet, another, incredible menu to treat David for Father’s Day. This one has an Italian theme! She managed to put together four dishes that are all delicious with our Zinfandel! Enjoy!
- Italian Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette
- Pasta Con Pesto
- Grilled Italian Sausages
- Balsamic Strawberries with Cracked Pepper & Crême Fraiche
Serve with Goosecross Zinfandel
Here’s to Dad on his special day! There are over 100 delicious recipes (paired with wine of course!) in Colleen’s Kitchen.
Colleen’s Special Mother’s Day Menu
If you don’t know Colleen, or at least her recipes, you really should! She’s always in the kitchen coming up with something new and delicious. She knows we’re all busy, so she keeps it simple, yummy and always tests each recipe personally. And, she and David painstakingly take the time to taste and make the wine pairing that they agree is the most delicious with each recipe!
She’s created a memorable, mouthwatering menu for Mother’s Day, so enjoy!
- Bibb Lettuce & Asian Pear Salad with Lemon Shallot Vinaigrette
- Chicken Breasts in Orange Sauce
- Asian Style Cold Noodles served with Lemon Ginger Sauce
Perfect with Goosecross Chardonnay
A gorgeous dessert that’s delicious with Goosecross Chenin Blanc
Happy Mother’s Day! Here’s to you, Mom!PS: For over 100 recipes, paired with wine, just go to Colleen’s Kitchen.
8 Hours On Olive Oil…
My Mom laughed when I told her I was going to an all-day olive oil symposium.
At that moment I didn’t notice because I was too busy chirping on and on about how the speakers would include experts from the University of Florence, Milan, our own University of California at Davis, Darrell Corti, a crack group of experts. But after we hung up, I realized that if you step back a bit it might strike the average person, who’s not in the food industry, as pretty-darned funny that someone would want to listen to technical people talk non-stop about olive oil for a whole day. Perhaps I should think about getting a life??? Actually, the symposium was 2 days, but I just went to the second day, so I guess I have half a life.
Anyway, this was all thanks to our good friend Diane DeFillipi of Let’s Go Cook Italian and her olive-oil maestro Paolo Pasquali of Villa Campestri in Tuscany.
I’ve been to enough seminars on wine that the agenda felt like home, except it was about olives and oil instead of grapes and wine. Folks of various expertise discussing irrigation, varieties, marketing, health benefits… But since olive oil and wine have differences in addition to similarities, most of this was new information and it seems that the biggest consumer issues were those of finding ways to regulate quality and concerns about lack of consumer understanding, even among professional consumers such as chefs.
Perceived areas of confusion:
1. Since most of the oils we use have little or no flavor, we’ve expected olive oil to be bland too. If it’s any good, it isn’t. It tends to be grassy and peppery in flavor and quite often bitter. Darrell Corti referred to “3-cough” oil as being a desirable trait (when you taste a little of the oil by itself, the pungency makes you cough). And when it came time for tasting, by golly, I coughed! He pointed out, of course, that when you put it on your salad or pasta it’s diluted by other flavors and contributes flavor of its own to the mix rather than making you cough. That’s a relief!
2. All the different names are very confusing (pure, virgin, extra virgin, light). True. Cut to the chase: always buy extra virgin and hope that’s what it really is. Inexpensive extra-virgin olive oil is suspect, because good olive oil is expensive to produce. Unscrupulous producers may cut the olive oil with cheaper oils (misrepresentation was a topic that also came up that day). By the way, “light” olive oil isn’t lower in calories. It’s just been processed to be bland.
3. There are different styles of extra-virgin olive oil ranging from light fruity intensity to intensely fruity and pungent. Typically, the greener the color, the greater the intensity. Much like wine, mild oil is best with subtle foods like butter lettuce and the pungent oil is a great flavor addition to finish your pasta dish or drizzled over flavorful, ripe tomatoes (Mmmmm… Caprese salad – bring it!)
4. We don’t realize it doesn’t keep forever. We should use it up within about a month’s time or move it to a smaller container to eliminate the head space to keep it longer. Just like wine, air is the enemy once the bottle is open.
5. We don’t know how to store it. Bill Briwa of the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) Greystone campus in Napa Valley told an amusing story about his days as a student at the CIA in Hyde Park, and how little was and is, even now, not understood by professional chefs. The instructor/chefs kept large cans of olive oil sitting by the hot stove for months on end. Must have been pretty yucky stuff, but they didn’t know any better. Just like wine, the olive oil is sensitive to heat and light, so we should keep it in our wine storage area or at least a cool closet or cupboard.
A few hours were dedicated to why olive oil – really extra-virgin olive oil – is so good for us. This was a very technical discussion -lots of charts, graphs and molecules – directly following lunch. But my chemistry-challenged, siesta-inclined pea brain managed to absorb a little something. The anti-oxidant phenols in extra-virgin olive oil may be “heart smart” and also may inhibit the initiation and progress of cancer. Sound familiar?
Claudio Peri, of the University of Milan, has spear-headed the founding of an organization called TREE (3 E’s: Ethics, Excellence and Effectiveness) to guarantee the quality of the olive oil to the consumer, sort of like an international appellation controlee system for olive oil. Members will have to adhere to certain standards. This organization is so new that I can’t locate their website, and it’s much too soon to know how beneficial this will be, but it’s always great to have folks trying to raise standards and help us to know what we’re buying.
We capped off our day with a beautiful, multi-course dinner and each course, even the dessert, was made with extra-virgin olive oil. Yummmm… Diane and I have both been to plenty of wine-centric, “winemaker dinners”, in our time, that detail the virtues of the wine served with each course. Of course, there’s never any mention of the olive oil used in preparing the various courses. Well, we were bemused to find that the shoe was on the other foot here. This was an “Extra Virgin Olive Oil Menu” and the origin, brand and style of each olive oil featured was placed prominently on our menus. But, the menu made no mention of the delicious wines served with each course. Nada. Ask the server to show you the label or remain ignorant. It was a great reminder that there’s a context for everything and in this case, for once, wine wasn’t the center of the universe. Can that be possible????
So, I very gratefully feel a smidgen more knowledgeable about the world of olive oil than I did before and, of course, when you get down to basics it’s like great cuisine and wine. The quality is as good as the ingredients that make it, provided you don’t make a mess of it during production. Salute!
He “Hates Wine and Food Pairing”?
Well, it’s a fun read, as always with St. Vini, but I don’t entirely agree with this post or think he’s helping anyone this time. I’m OK with his big picture: “Don’t get hung up on these silly notions of wines and food being required to go perfectly together. Open a bottle of something tasty and drink up!” Agreed. Wine is hard enough already and the last thing we want to do is imply that there’s a wrong way to do things. It just puts people off. And optimum pairing is just as personal as food preferences… but it should be fun and easy. For example, Colleen’s Kitchen offers many recipes and wine pairings that are easy to make and tough to beat.
But, let’s not throw the proverbial baby out with the bath water. There’s quite a distance between just paying attention and getting “hung up” on the wine and food combination. It’s not hard to create a good, or even wonderful, pairing so why not go for it? How could someone like St. Vini, with all he knows and loves about wine, really believe all of what he’s saying in his heart? Gosh, do you think he might be the first-ever blogger to go a little overboard to make a point??
Partial rebuttal:
1. No one should be looking around to see if someone else disapproves of his pairing choice. That’s just pathetic.
2. If people are so concerned about getting the food and wine pairing “correct” that they’re paralyzed into ordering beer (lager or stout?), then we’ve got a problem, but really. Are there grown-ups that insecure? Get thee to a therapist! Or just order the house white!
3. Some combinations are yucky (of course, yucky is in the eye – or palate – of the beholder). Cheese can be kinda tricky.
4. As many responded, if you’re going to put some effort into the meal preparation like getting fresh herbs from the Farmer’s Market or making your sauce from scratch, why is it so hard to put a little thought into your choice of wine? It’s part of the meal, after all.
I wonder what St. Vini would think about the Tim Hanni theory: “if the wine you really want to drink with your cottage cheese, sweet-and-sour shrimp, asparagus, Thai food, pasta, or anything else tastes bitter, less fruity and generally too strong with your meal, put a touch of salt and little squeeze of lemon on the food. The food will taste better to you and the wine will become smoother and more pleasant.” I’ve tried it and, much to my surprise, it seems to work, but it also seems geared towards solving problems rather than increasing pleasure. I don’t know everything there is to know about his approach, but it doesn’t seem to encompass the quest for those magical food and wine combinations we come across from time to time. I’m all for solving problems but, given a choice, I’ll always shoot for pleasure.
So much of it is common sense. Most wines and foods taste pretty good together, and the best combinations are personal. And, a so-so combination is usually preferable to no wine at all – uh, oh – am I in trouble here??
Some easy-to-remember alternative pairing theories:
1. Match weight for weight: a hillside Cab will probably out-shout a poached filet of sole.
2. It’s not so much the choice of protein; it’s what you did to it: Did you poach it, roast it or grill it? Those techniques create progressively deeper flavors and may call for increasingly bigger wines.
3. Is there a sauce? Same story as #2: it’s what you did to it. Is it a rich reduction or a light, citrus-based sauce? You could go for a complement: butter sauce with buttery Chardonnay; or create a contrast: the richness of the butter sauce is cut by a crisp Sauvignon Blanc.
4. Try putting some of the wine in the sauce to seal the match.
5. Look for a complement: earthy Pinot or Merlot with wild mushroom risotto.
6. Or go for a fun contrast: hot, spicy food with a cool, crisp Riesling, Gewurztraminer or un-oaked Chenin Blanc.
7. Acid warning: if the food is tart, the wine should be at least as high in acid or it will seem flat.
8. Hot and spicy warning: spicy foods bring out bitterness and astringency in wine, so avoid the big tannic reds and go for a fruity, low tannin red or a light, fruity white.
Natalie MacLean was kind enough to forward this pairing tool to us. I checked it out and clearly, she’s not the fan of sparkling wine with food that I am (eggs and Champagne – YES!), but the suggestions are good and it’s definitely worth bookmarking.
Plus, it’s situational! Have you ever enjoyed a meal with your loved one when you’ve been arguing? Or, if you suddenly find yourself with an unexpected afternoon off and sharing a picnic with your sweetie in a beautiful park, you’ll probably be in such a good mood that some Kraft singles and a bottle of White Zin somehow become remarkably tasty. OK – now I’m the one going too far to make a point, but we should never underestimate the influence of frame of mind on appreciation of music, art, food or wine.
That’s not so tough, is it? These are kind of basic guidelines that you can use as a springboard to reach higher and higher heights of wine and food pairing pleasure. And so many people seem to want to know more about this.
St. Vini suggested that to the question “What should we serve with the salmon ravioli?” the answer should be “Whatever you like.” Absolutely! But what’s wrong with having an informed opinion of “Whatever you like”? Is the salmon smoked? Does it have a cream sauce? It’s not about trying to be “correct”. It’s about exploring and having fun with it. In my experience, when people bother to inquire about how to pair wine with their meal it’s not because they want to bore their friends with their mastery of a bunch of rules. It’s because they love wine and food, love to entertain, and want to have a deliciously wonderful time at the dinner table. Hard to argue with that!
Open That Bottle Night?
I feel so totally out of the loop. Within a one-week span I received an “Ask Our Educator” question about what to serve with our Sparkling Rosé© on “Open That Bottle Night” (OTBN) and some delightful people who came for a tour said they were thinking of bringing a bottle of 1997 Howell Mountain Cab to the next OTBN. Reply from Wine Educator: “Great! It’s drinking just beautifully right now. But, what the heck is “Open That Bottle Night”? They couldn’t believe I’d never heard of it.
This is so embarrassing. You don’t have to look far to learn that it’s been going on since 1999 and was the brainchild of two of my favorite wine writers, Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher of the Wall Street Journal.
So, in case I’m not the only one who was completely in the dark, here’s the deal: Gaiter and Brecher are smart cookies and also very thoughtful. They know that most of us who love wine have a few bottles tucked away that are so special to us that no occasion ever seems good enough for them. So, these wines just sit there getting older and eventually, tragically, become too old. Quel dommage! Should never happen. OTBN was designed to give you an excuse to pop that baby open! Get your wine down off of its pedestal so it can meet its intended destiny – to be opened and shared with friends over a terrific meal!
The set up is that Gaiter and Brecher declare a date and coordinate with readers and restaurants to celebrate OTBN. Their efforts have been rewarded with numerous heart-warming stories from wine and food lovers from all over the world about what wine they opened and why – including a story about some folks whose house burned down. Only after retrieving some special bottles that survived the fire did they truly get the message that wine is meant to be opened and enjoyed, not coveted in a dark cellar forever. After all, as they said, what if the house burns down? I think our buddy Tim, at Winecast, can relate, huh?
And it doesn’t have to be an expensive cult wine. Certain bottles become important to us for our own reasons. The point is to crack open the memories as much as the wine itself.
Anyway, no doubt this dynamic duo is pleased and proud that people don’t necessarily wait for them anymore. They just get together with friends and set a date of their own! Retailers are in on the act too – no surprise there.
So, how did this phenomenon get by me? Is this not a California thing? Or, in my daily surfing for wine news am I just reading the wrong stuff? Guess it doesn’t matter because a good idea is a good idea. And if it ain’t happening here, it oughta be. Usually we Californians are first in line when in comes to the self-indulgence department.
Don’t know when the next official OTBN is scheduled, but why wait? Get together with some friends, cook up a fabulous meal and open that bottle!!!
Super Bowl Sunday: Junk Food and Wine-O-Rama!
Well, it may not be all-American yet but, as Beau said, before long it could be that hot dogs and wine will be as American as apple pie (and wine)
So, what to have with your junk-food binge on the big day? Well, here I am to give you the same old advice. When in doubt, pick out some good, crisp bubbles and you can’t go wrong! Fizzy wine is particularly useful for the greasiest, most disgusting choices you make, for instance fried pork rinds (must you??). The acid will help cleanse your palate after that revolting assault. Nice, grease-laden onion rings too. No question about it (yummm).
Chicago sommelier Alpana Singh made a good point, so I’m going to get all nationalistic here for a minute (good for sales, you know). Football is an all-American game and a lot of the foods are American icons like hot dogs and hamburgers, so let’s keep it American, folks. And when you think red, think Zinfandel! Besides the fact that America made it famous and it has been uniquely ours up to rather recently, it actually works surprisingly well with a variety of these delectably-toxic foods! If you pick out some Zin that’s big on fruit and low in tannin and oak you’re not going to have too much difficulty with salty or hot, spicy foods. If it’s really hot food, like hot salsa, serve it with a hefty dose of citrus to build a bridge to the wine. Try to find Zin that has a reasonable alcohol – unless, of course, you don’t really enjoy football. ;-) OK, you don’t want to read a bunch of prose, so down to brass tacks:
- Popcorn and potato chips: Sparkling wine, of course (especially if there’s onion dip!) Or, another high-acid white.
- Mixed nuts: Nuts seem to be very wine-friendly in general, so drink your fave. If you like wines that are big on the oak, the toastiness is a complement. If they’re super salty, then careful of the alcohol and oak. Maybe go with something a little sweet (salty and sweet – mmm!)
- Burgers: It has to be Zin!
- Hot dogs: High-acid white or light-bodied red.
- Chili dogs: Light to medium bodied red. If it’s 5-alarm chili, whatever it is, go easy on the alcohol and tannin. Go to a light-bodied, virtually no-tannin red like Gamay, a high-acid white, a slightly sweet white – or maybe a dry rose! If it’s a searing-hot chili that brings tears to the eyes and sweat to the brow you might have to give up and have a beer (I didn’t say that.)
- Pizza: It really depends on the toppings, but if it’s traditional red-sauce pizza, of course you must have Zinfandel (or American Primitivo)!
Well, this starts to become repetitive – you see the pattern. High acid whites and light-bodied, low-tannin reds (and acid’s good for them too) are the most versatile, so stock up! And perhaps, since this is subjective, you have other ideas. Bring ‘em on!! But whatever you do, don’t let me catch you drinking beer!PS: Let’s hope this isn’t one of those years when the commercials are the most entertaining part of the game… And get your cholesterol checked!
