This Sunday I told my wife I would be cooking dinner for her. The pork chops were defrosted and marinated in a garlic and sage paste and would be served with a side of polenta and roasted broccoli. The wine would be this month’s red selection, Rockbridge’s 2007 Pinot Noir. I was bolstered by the fact that there was a recent episode of “Top Chef” based on pairing pork with pinot, plus the recipe in this month’s tasting notes called for pork as well! I opened up the pinot as the polenta and broccoli went into the oven and tasted it to see what I was getting this month.
To be honest, the pinot tasted young and not quite ready for drinking yet, much as the tasting notes warned us. So I aerated the wine using a decanter and had it sit for about 45 minutes before serving it with dinner. Normally I don’t decant, but I think it was needed to help mellow out the tight mouth feel and nascent tannins I tasted in the wine at first sip—and well...we wanted to use the new decanter we got as a wedding present. The wine opened up and became much more accessible throughout the evening
Unfortunately, dinner did not turn out as well as I hoped. I should have used fresh sage instead of dried, and I overcooked the chops a bit. The polenta was premade and didn’t have the feel or taste I was hoping for; and while the broccoli turned out ok, that was far from my mind by that point. The wine alas, was not the best pairing with the grilled chops. My wife thought the Pinot more appropriate for a steak, as in its youth it almost had the feeling and body of a cabernet. While cleaning up, I had an inspiration: I dipped my finger in the pork drippings and then took a sip of the pinot...Success! The wine picked up the fatty pork jus and amplified it, adding a fruity bouquet and taste to the richness of the pork drippings. If only I had served the chops with a gravy or a sauce.
In settling down for the night, my wife decided she wanted some chocolate. She pulled out a candy bar with cherry filling and offered me some to have with the wine. This was by far the best pairing of the night, as I was finally able to identify the fruit notes in the wine...they were cherry flavors. The wine, chocolate, and cherry sauce were simply delicious together. Now if only there was a recipe to combine that with the pork...
Not coiciendentally enough, the Black Forest Pork Tenderloin recipe offered this month features a sauce made of...wait for it....pork drippings and cherries. I passed on the recipe when I first read it because I was worried how the pork would work with the cherries and the wine. Now I think it’d go well together. Ah well, maybe next month.
Sometimes, you just need to keep it simple. This month, I received Rockbridge Vineyard’s White Riesling and had all sorts of plans to open it in a new and exotic locale. I got married on October 3rd and took the bottle with me on my honeymoon. My wife and I had it in our refrigerator all week long planning to have it on a picnic, in a hot tub or some other location...and well...it just didn’t work out. We got distracted. Yes, let’s leave it at that.
So the honeymoon has passed and we have returned to my now parents-in-law to pick up gifts left for us there (Thank you again everyone!) and we’re asked to stay for dinner. I grabbed the now well traveled bottle of riesling and brought it over as our contribution to the meal.
My mother-in-law set a simple table for an al fresco Sunday dinner. She made chicken soup and had some Italian bread with butter served along side of it. The afternoon was a little cool and the homemade soup lifted our spirits after a week of overindulgent honeymoon food. The wine did not disappoint either. It was clean and simple and was cool and crisp in contrast to the warm and salty taste of the chicken broth. While the label calls it an “off dry white”, the 2% residual sugar indicated on the back label, and the sweet crisp taste that lingers in your mouth said otherwise to me. It was a big hit with my sister-in-law, who loves rieslings and sweeter wines. It was definitely one of the sweetest wines I’ve ever had through Virginia Wine of the Month, who usually does a much drier white selection for the majority of the year.
However, while the pairing with chicken soup was good, the pairing with the bread and butter was amazing. The sweetness of the wine went with the creaminess of the butter and was just delicious to eat together. While this wine would make an excellent aperitif, I think if you served it with bread and butter before a meal, you’re in for a big hit with your next party. I had a little bit of wine left in my glass, and out came the homemade apple pie for dessert. It was another nice pairing with the sweetness of the apples being complemented by the wine.
Finally, I think something should be said about the screw top bottle. Some people have this “shame on you” moment like there is something wrong whenever a wine is served in a screw top bottle. My wife and I personally don’t care how a bottle is sealed so long as the wine inside is delicious, and this wine certainly is a wonderful fine wine to share with anyone. In fact, for this outside meal, the screw top was simple and nonthreatening, just like the wine itself. My only complaint is that my wife and I keep every cork from every bottle we drink together, and this one wouldn’t be added to our collection. All in all, a minimal sacrifice.
Here’s to hoping you enjoy these last few warm days of the year with good wine and good company. Cheers.
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend one of Virginia’s newest wine festivals, The Wine & Polo Festival at The Plains. Actually a combination of an older wine festival and the Commonwealth Cup, this event featured live polo matches and great wines in the beautiful setting of Great Meadows, home of the Virginia Gold Cup.
I waited until Sunday to visit the festival, as I was looking forward to seeing the Commonwealth Cup XXIV
that afternoon. This annual event is touted as a “USA vs. England” match, with the US Military Combined Services team competing against the British Forces Foundation team. As a horseback rider myself, I was very impressed with the skill and coordination required of the riders. The game seemed to pass very quickly, with the US winning 8-6!
Of course, the afternoon was made even better because I was sipping on a sipping on a glass of wine. The festival – much smaller than Vintage Virginia or the like – included a great variety of established Virginia favorites, as well as newer wineries. Many favorites were pouring great wines, including Pearmund Cellars, Gabriel Rausse, and Breaux Vineyards. However, it was two newcomers that stood out as my favorites.
The first, Aspen Dale Winery at the Barn, stood out for their consistent quality and surprising concentration and flavor for young wines. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to talk to the owner/winemaker, Shay, and hear all about Aspen Dale Winery. The winery, located in Delaplane, is on a Thoroughbred horse farm with a tasting room in a 200-year old barn – a must see on my next trip out that way! The winery was pouring all five of their wines at the festival, and two really stood out to me. The first, the 2008 Hildersham, is a Sauvignon Blanc with nice delicacy. Not nearly as grassy as a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, nor as fruity as many California versions, I found its light fruitiness and citrus character to be very pleasant. I also really enjoyed the 2007 Rockawalkin’, a Cabernet Sauvignon. Although young, I could see the quality of the grapes that went into the wine. Unlike many Virginia Cabs, this wine was not at all herbal – instead, it had great berry flavors and a nice touch of spiciness.
While the wines at Aspen Dale very traditional, I was also impressed by the experimentation going on at Castle Gruen, with some great results. This small winery in Locust Dale grows all its own grapes and isn’t afraid to use different varietals and blends. My favorite was the 2007 Traminette, which I first tasted back the
Governor’s Cup in February. While I have had a few other Traminettes from Virginia, none have been like this. Fermented in stainless steel, this wine is stylistically like a Gewurztraminer – rich, fruity, bold, and spicy. I also found the 2007 Norton to be intriguing. Again, I was lucky enough to speak with the owner, and he explained how his Norton stands out, as he makes in more in the style of a Pinot Noir than a Cabernet. While still exhibiting the classic high acidity of Norton, the overall impression on the palate was much lighter, with the cherry notes standing out. Maybe not enough to make me a Norton convert, but a great rendition of the grape!
There was one more wine that stood out to me, as it seemed to be the perfect “festival” wine – Breaux Vineyard’s 2008 Jennifer’s Jambalaya. Not too sweet, but with just a touch of residual sugar. Generally, I prefer my wines to be bone dry, but I could see drinking this wine at a picnic on a warm day. The wine is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Chardonnay, Semillion, Seyval Blanc, Vidal Blanc, and Muscat – what a mix! It smelled sweeter than its 0.5% residual sugar, and on the palate, reminded me a lot of Cardinal Point’s 2006 Quattro. Try this one (or those from Aspen Dale and Castle Gruen) if you are going to the Virginia Wine Festival at Bull Run Park this weekend!
Photographs by Tyler Nichols
It had been a pretty long week for both my fiancée and I. We're at less than a hundred days till we get married and already things are swirling about with plans, schedules, purchases and tons of other small things to be done. Frankly both of us were looking forward to Friday, where nothing more was planned than sitting down to a bottle of wine and a movie.
I am sure the recipe provided by Veramar is delicious. I love piccata chicken and have even made it a couple of times, but to be honest I was not in a state of mind for trying a new recipe. Katie and I made the admittedly lazy decision and dined on garlic chicken pizza from our grocer's freezer. The pizza had several of the same ingredients as the piccata chicken, and more importantly for that Friday, simply required opening up the box and baking it on a cookie sheet. That was precisely the amount of time needed to fish the bottle of Chardonnay out of the refrigerator, pop the cork and let it breathe for a little bit. We sniffed the cork and smelt the oaky notes right away. Ding! There's the timer for the pizza! Katie fished it out while I poured the wine.
In smelling the oak, I got a bit nervous, as Katie usually prefers chardonnay made in steel barrels over oak. I meanwhile, prefer them a bit oaky, as long as it doesn’t feel like I’m drinking fermented tree bark. This wine provided to be an ideal compromise for us, with a definite oaky smell that I mentioned beforehand, but a subtle oaky taste. Katie enjoyed the wine and got an apple taste on her initial sip. I got the honey overtone mentioned in the Wine Club tasting notes and tasted the oak the wine was aged in. It's almost sweet at first taste, followed by the classic chardonnay taste as you finish the sip.
The Chardonnay is truly versatile, pairing well with the pizza, enhancing the garlic and olive oil tastes in addition to going well with the parmesan cheese on top. After the pizza, Katie and I made some post dinner popcorn for the movie. We found the butter in the popcorn went nicely with the creamy flavor from the malolactic fermentation and in a surprise moment, even paired well with the movie for the night, Mama Mia! The sunshine of the Greek isle featured in the movie reminded me of the sunny color of the wine and its mix of sweet and dry harmonized with the songs about love and the drama captured in the film.
Enjoying a good wine after the end of a long week, I could feel my troubles melting away, and a mood of contentment sweeping away the grind of the work week. Both the bottle and the movie ended well, the only shame is that we didn’t have another one to act as an encore.
Congradulations to the Virginia wineries who recently received awards at the Decanter World Wine Awards! Check out today's coverage from the Washington Post:
'Virginia Makes Wines?' Yes, and London Likes Them
Decanter World Wine Awards 2009
- Barboursville Vineyards Cabernet Franc Reserve 2006
- Monticello, Virginia, United States
- Barboursville Vineyards Cabernet Franc Reserve 2007
- Virginia, United States
- Barboursville Vineyards Octagon 2005
- Monticello, Virginia, United States
- Pearmund Petit Verdot 2007
- Virginia, United States
- Pearmund Viognier 2007
- Virginia, United States
- Rappahannock Cellars Cabernet Franc 2006
- Virginia, United States
- Rappahannock Cellars Meritage 2006
- Virginia, United States
- Veramar Vineyard Chardonnay Reserva 2007
- Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, United States
- Veritas Ken-mar 2006
- Monticello, Virginia, United States
- Veritas Viognier 2007
- Monticello, Virginia, United States
- Williamsburg Gabriel Archer Reserve 2006
- Virginia, United States
- Williamsburg Vintage Reserve Chardonnay 2007
- Virginia, United States