Summer Reds to Help You Chill

Thoughts of quenching summer heat are usually followed by thoughts of Pinot Grigio, Chablis, or a light sparkling wine. Our wine group gathered to taste four reds perfect for picnics: Pinot Noir, Garnacha, Barbera d’ Asti, and Sangria.   

Pinot Noir has different styles ranging from light-bodied to rich and earthy. One of my favorites in Oregon was a small production Pinot that poured almost like a rose out of the bottle, then became darker and more complex as it sat. Pinot Noir is an ancient grape, with known references dating to the first century. It’s a tricky grape to grow and likes cooler temperatures, such as the Burgundy region of France and the Willamette Valley in Oregon. Many California Pinots tend to be fruitier than their Burgundy counterparts because of the warmer growing temperatures.

For summer pairings, salmon is a classic with Pinot Noir and is especially good when the wine has some oak. Cherries and strawberries are also good with Pinot, and I paired our tasting bottle, Estancia Stonewall Vineyard (California) with fresh cherries and goat cheese with honey. Tasters found this wine smooth and “plummy” with a little chamomile on the nose and just a bit of oak.

Garnacha, or Grenache, also has a range of styles that could span the seasons. It’s one of the most widely grown grapes in the world but prefers dry, hot climates like Spain, southern France, and parts of Australia and California. Its most notable flavors are raspberries and strawberries, but with finesse, the wine can develop more complexity, richer layers, and darker flavors.

Our tasting group’s Garnacha, Honoro Vera, was a lighter Spanish red with black pepper on the nose and flavors of plum and cherry. Good with charcuterie and barbequed pork, I served this Garnacha with jamon (a cured Spanish ham, like prosciutto) and Manchego cheese.  

Barbera d’ Asti is a drier medium-bodied red, which, per regulation, must have at least 12.5 percent alcohol. The Piemonte region of Italy is believed to be where the grape originated, probably around 1200, and the Barbera grape is grown predominantly in Italy still, though other countries have been adding it to their production. California has some nice Barbera wines.

The Araldica Albera Barbera d’ Asti that we tasted had a toast aroma and smooth, plum and blackberry flavors with some spice and a dry (“like vermouth”) finish. Tasters did prefer this wine with the salt and pepper cashews and the salmon dip. This is another good wine for charcuterie and cheeses and for pizza and pasta with red sauce.

A favorite summer refresher, Sangria is a blend of wine (usually red,) fruit juice, liqueur, and fresh fruits. It’s served cold from a pitcher or punch bowl and is light and easy to drink. Depending on the type of wine used, it can be dry or sweet, but can always be blended to taste. Sangria’s origins are in Spain around 300 years ago. It’s a great picnic wine drink that pairs well with casual foods like burgers, baked beans, and pasta salads.

For our tasting, I used Ed Hardy’s Red Sangria, a premixed red wine blend, and I added peach schnapps, blueberries and strawberries. I served it with watermelon slices, chocolate dipped shortbread cookies, and a Pinot Noir and fruit granita.

To keep the Sangria cold without watering it down, fill suitably sized plastic storage containers with one part water and two parts wine, add fruit and freeze completely. Place the blocks in the pitcher or punch bowl when mixing up the Sangria.

So red wine lovers, take heart and save your Syrah for cozy fall days. There are some lighter-bodied reds that refresh and fit right in with summer fare.

Article and all photos by Glynis Valenti

A Wine for Comfort Foods

It has been way too long since I've written for this site. There has been much going on, and I'm embarking on some new adventures, too--including a new "wine club!" I am currently writing a wine column for Rochester South Wedge newspaper, The WEDGE. Since its circulation is local, I'll post articles here. The paper is available online, though, at www.swpc.org. 

The calendar says "March," but the temperatures are in the teens, and there is a winter storm warning in effect for Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Still plenty of time for hot soups, mac and cheese, meatloaf, and other comfort favorites. If you are looking for an all-around everyday, easy-going, "comfortable" wine, keep reading.

First, there are no culinary police ticketing for having white wine with spaghetti and meatballs, but thoughtful wine and food combinations can complement favorable flavors and elevate the dining experience even if it’s served on TV trays after work.

Rochester winters mean comfort food—usually “stick-to-your-ribs” dishes, served hot, with an element of nostalgia that brings back fond memories or makes one feel better. Perennial favorites include chicken soup, pot pies, meatloaf and mashed potatoes, stews, macaroni and cheese, corned beef with cabbage, and grilled cheese sandwiches. One red wine pairs well with several of these dishes and is inexpensive enough to drink with everyday fare: Beaujolais- Villages.

Many people, thanks to good marketing in the 1980s, associate Beaujolais with Beaujolais Nouveau, a light-bodied, fruity wine drunk within a few weeks of harvest that kicks off the holiday season. However, Beaujolais, a region in eastern France south of Burgundy, west of the Cotes du Rhone, and north of the city of Lyon has been producing a wider range of better quality wines for centuries.

Around 98 percent of grapes planted in Beaujolais are Gamay noir. Research indicates that this Gamay—because there are many different varieties planted throughout the world--is probably a cross between Pinot Noir and Gouais, an ancient grape the Romans brought to the area 2000 years ago. The Romans were the first to cultivate vineyards here, and during the Middle Ages Benedictine monks tended the vines.

Wines created with this dark red grape are fruit forward with low to moderate acidity and moderate tannins. Red berries are present on the nose, and flavors include tart cherry, raspberry, and cranberry, but also, depending on what area of the Beaujolais region the grapes are grown, there may be flavors of violet, earth, or smoke. It should be served slightly chilled, around 57 degrees, and drunk within two to three years of bottling.  

There are Cru Beaujolais wines that are fuller-bodied and have individual characteristics stemming from terroir. These can be difficult to find and more expensive, upwards of $20 per bottle. Beaujolais Nouveau is young and unpredictable and not usually a food wine. Beaujolais-Villages, however, is wine that is fairly consistent, comfortable with food, and priced under $15.

Regional cuisine includes Coq au Vin,”chicken with wine,” cooked with mushrooms, bacon and herbs and an excellent choice for Beaujolais-Villages. Other regional dishes that would pair well with this wine include rabbit dishes and locally made sausages and charcuterie.

Closer to home, the medium-bodied Beaujolais-Villages is a good match for pot pies, grilled cheese sandwiches, and bacon. The wine’s acid and tannins balance the fat in these foods, for instance the pie crust and gravy and the gooey cheese. Chicken and bacon are not heavy meats like steak and venison, so they will not overpower the wine. Even macaroni and cheese, with or without ham or hot dogs, is a good match for this wine. In addition, Beaujolais-Village is also appropriate to serve with the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day favorite, corned beef and cabbage.  

This wine could be paired with chicken, beef, or vegetable stews and soups. Spicier stews like chili need a fuller-bodied red to stand up to the flavors and textures. Comfort foods like meatloaf and mashed potatoes, pot roast, and cassoulet would also overpower Beaujolais-Villages. Better choices for pairing might include Zinfandel, Syrah or red Bordeaux. 

While eating a regular diet of comfort foods with or without wine could not be considered healthy, more studies have shown that sipping a glass of red wine with heavy foods actually aids digestion, helps protect the body from arterial damage, and lowers bad cholesterol.

There is more winter weather coming, so when macaroni and cheese sounds like the perfect dinner while listening to the wind and snow plows, open a bottle of Beaujolais-Villages to make it even better.

Wine Pick of the Week: March 16, 2016

Young Sommer Winery Lemberger NV (New York)

Young Sommer Winery is a working fruit farm in Williamson, NY, along the Lake Ontario Wine Trail. Their Lemberger is a pretty versatile wine that’s good for a cool evening sipper and paired with foods.

Lemberger’s traditional and official name is Blaufrankisch, or “blue Frankish (a variety of German grape.)” The first record of the grape’s use was in the mid-1800s. However, researchers believe it was most likely grown in Germany as early as the Middle Ages and is native to that region. Today it’s grown throughout the world and, in the United States, in Washington, New York and Ohio.  

The nose on this bottle is cherry and some oak, then a wisp of tobacco. Taste is fruit-forward cherry to an almost buttery feel. It transitions to the tobacco and hint of leather, then plum and a dry finish.

Pair this with corned beef, Italian sausage, charcuterie, and, as we did at a wine dinner, with a hearty minestrone.  

Wine Pick of the Week: February 4, 2016

Pasqua 2011 Passi Mento (Italy)

This week and next, I’ll feature romantic wines for Valentine’s Day, and, since I’m featuring Italian food on the “Soul” page, the wines will be Italian, too. First up is this red blend from Verona with the intriguing label.

Verona, as you may know, is the setting for William Shakespeare’s tale of Romeo and Juliet. There is a house there, La Casa di Giulietta, said to be where the real Capulet family (and Juliet) lived. A tradition developed of people writing their beloveds’ names on the wall outside, believing that by doing so the love would be everlasting. Awww.

Pasqua has made this wine a tribute to their hometown attraction and named it for the “appassimento” process by which it’s made. The process leaves hand-harvested grapes to dry in wooden trays for one month, reducing the water content and concentrating the sugar.  This wine is 40 percent Merlot, 30 percent Corvina, and 30 percent Croatina.

The 2011 has a deep purplish color and a rustic sense. The nose is blackberry and cherry with chocolate and coffee. There are red cherries to start on the taste, a little earthy spice, then that coffee and a little tobacco. It’s off-dry and slightly acidic, but softens and sweetens as it lingers in the glass.

It isn’t a terribly complex wine—there’s a blast of flavors, then it finishes with red fruit. Passi Mento is dry enough yet sweet enough to handle the cured meats and hard cheeses of antipasti. It would also be good with pasta and red sauce, pizza, bleu cheese and a burger with grilled onions and mushrooms.  

Next week, prosecco with dessert. Molto ben. 

Wine Pick of the Week: January 28, 2016

La Merika 2012 Pinot Noir (California)

Pinot noir is a versatile wine. The grapes are tricky to grow, needing just the right climate, but once in the bottle the wine produced is compatible with a variety of foods. Quality pinots are not one or two-dimensional, but have the ability to complement and enhance many food flavors.

The La Merika 2012 Pinot Noir comes from Central Coast grapes, earned a gold medal in the 2014 Los Angeles International Wine Competition, and fits in the comfort wine price range ($10-12.)  

It’s a ruby color with just a hint of brown appearing around the rim. The nose gives off an initial slight earthy/oaky wisp, then goes to red berries and cherry. The immediate flavors are fruit and a little oak, mellowing quickly to cherry, then tobacco and coffee or cocoa. This has medium body with soft tannins that transition to a soft mouth for a nice balance. The finish is fruit and a coffee/leather.

I like a Burgundy style pinot noir with less fruit and a little more body than most California offerings. However, Burgundies and Oregon pinots are not, for the most part, budget friendly. This one is a good, affordable option for that style.

The macaroni and cheese pairing brings out spice in the wine, and the fats in the cheese eliminate the tannins. This pairing also softens the fruit and enhances the coffee/leather-type flavors. While true Burgundies could stand up to heavier dishes like beef stew, the lighter California pinots would probably pair better with beef, vegetable or French onion soups. Pair the La Merika with cherries, lighter beef dishes (like beef au jus or beef on weck,) tuna steak, eggplant, goat cheese, bacon, prosciutto.   

Next week, the first wine in the “amore” posts, a romantic wine for St. Valentine’s Day.

Wine Pick of the Week: January 21, 2016

Maison Duhard Baron des Chartrons 2012 Bordeaux (France)

When it comes to value—and who doesn’t need a little break in January?—look for Bordeaux blends. There are many around the $10-12 mark that have characteristics of the larger houses and are good, solid reds for casual dinners and winter fare.  

The Maison Duhard Baron des Chartrons 2012 Bordeaux (Saint-Emilion) is a dark, dark ruby blend of 60 percent Merlot and 40 percent Cabernet Sauvignon. It has a fruity nose with blackberry and leather.

I get the blackberry and a slight taste of cherry at first. It’s a little dry with some heat/spice, then flavors of tobacco and coffee. There’s a little earth in the middle somewhere, too. It makes me think of a library or den or the French countryside on a blustery evening.

This bottle is not a complex Bordeaux, which makes it a good choice for casual fare: burgers, stew, and, yes, grilled cheese. When I tasted this with my grilled cheese sandwich the spice came forward, as did the cherry and blackberry. It’s warm going down, and the tannins cut through the fattiness of the cheese, smoothing everything out. Try it with a burger with bleu cheese and mushrooms. Cab is a classic pairing with bleu cheese, and the mushrooms will bring out some of the spice and earth.

Hungry for grilled cheese?  Check out the “Soul” page here for this month’s “Comfort Food” series. 

Wine Pick of the Week: November 25, 2015

DAOU 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon

Well, isn’t this pretty? The last in the Paso Robles series is a young Cabernet Sauvignon by DAOU Vineyards (www.daouvineyards.com.) This winery sits atop a Paso hill overlooking vineyards and a lot of other beautiful hills. DAOU was the dream of two brothers who grew up drinking fine wines from Europe. The brothers hit it big in Silicon Valley, sold their company and decided to realize that dream of creating Bordeaux-style wines in California. The vineyard practices sustainable farming, hand picks the grapes and uses the free run process to extract the juice. Free run allows the juice to flow naturally via gravity rather than using a press. DAOU wines are truly handcrafted.

On this bottle, I could smell the fruit upon opening it. The nose gives you blackberries and oak, then vanilla and red berries. It’s a little tannic and would probably benefit from a year or two in the cellar. Allowing it to sit in the glass or a decanter for half an hour calms the tannins a bit. Flavors include blackberries at first, transitioning to plum, oak and some black pepper.

Whether it’s the climate or the terroir, this isn’t a northern California wine. It’s more rustic—like Paso Robles. It’s been fun revisiting this month. For information on Paso’s history and other wineries, click here for a feature article I wrote for the Times Leader.  

Wine Pick of the Week: November 19, 2015

Clayhouse 2011 Malbec  (California)

This is another “crowd-pleasing” wine and not quite as dry as some of the Mendoza Malbecs I’ve tried. Red Cedar Vineyard, the estate, supplies all the grapes for the Clayhouse and Adobe labels. The farm is certified sustainable, and hosts 600 owl boxes for natural pest control.

For our tasting in the park, my friend noted that it both smelled and tasted “fruity” right off the bat. It’s very dark, purple, as is typical of Malbec. The nose is dark fruit with a very light touch of smoke.

Both of us got blackberry and other dark berries, and I detected a bit of leather. This isn’t a complex wine with layers, but it would pair with a mild pepperoni pizza—not too spicy. Something like beef stew or mild chili may also be a good pairing.

Next week, a Paso Cab with a story.  

Wine Pick of the Week: July 27, 2015

DaVinci Wines 2013 Chianti

Maybe Chianti isn’t the quintessential summer wine, but this weekend was the local Italian festival, and my friend Diane Conroy took first place in two categories, “Red Sauce” and “Meatballs.”  She’s awesome.

Anyway, I wanted to drink something Italian besides Prosecco and am revisiting this book I read years ago on creative thinking. The DaVinci Chianti was on sale, so there we go.

Chianti is a dry wine produced in central Tuscany, this near the town of Vinci. In the mid-1800s, Baron Bettino Ricasoli, who later became prime minister of the Kingdom of Italy, determined the recipe for Chianti should be 70 percent Sangiovese, 15 percent Canaiolo and 15 percent Malvasia Bianca, but today’s Chianti is made with a far lesser percentage of white grapes, if any at all. It must, however, include at least 80 percent Sangiovese.

This DaVinci (www.davinciwine.com) is made with 90 percent Sangiovese and 10 percent Merlot. The cooperative Cantine Leonardo da Vinci is made up of 200 local growers, many of which are multi-generational farmers. This offering has cherries on the nose, and I get a sense of leather books. Tasting is fruit up front—more cherries, slight tobacco, hint of leather. It’s hearty and ends with plum jam.

While this bottle isn’t the most complex of wines, it’s nice and is meant to stand up to Italian red sauce pasta dishes and pizza and salumi and country stews of the region. Yum. On a cool fall night, I can see myself sipping a glass in a villa den, surrounded by walls of books, curled up in a chair by the fireplace. 

Wine Pick of the Week: May 10, 2015

Karmere 2012 Kade du Rhone (California)

This is one of my favorite wines of the year. I tasted it at the Amador County winery in November and brought back two bottles with the intention of ordering more.  Karmere’s Kade du Rhone is a GSM—Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre. The ruby color is beautiful, and the nose evokes the berries in the Grenache and Syrah. The Mourvedre comes through with a hint of earth and chocolate. It has just enough sweetness.

Flavors include the berries, plum and raisins going to tart cherry and finishing with black pepper and a breath of oak. It has a nice, full body, is slightly tannic and is dry on the center of the tongue.

I think of beef steak on the grill when I taste this wine. It would also go with Italian sausage, salami and not-too-sweet dark chocolate. 

Wine Pick of the Week: March 29, 2015

Estancia 2011 Stonewall Vineyard Pinot Noir (California)

As a Pinot Noir, this is a naturally versatile wine. It was a nice sipper as my Friday “happy hour” choice, and I decided to pair it with a pasta dish for dinner this evening. It’s grown in central California and is fuller-bodied and heavier than many of the Oregon Pinots.

Just after opening on Friday, it showed a lot of berry and some spice with a hint of oak. Two evenings later, the purple tinge has developed into ruby color. Flavors have developed into ripe berries with spice to black pepper. Tonight there was more pronounced spice which went back to fruit (plum,) and a bit drier finish.

I paired it with vegetable pasta (made with zucchini and spinach) in a simple sauce of pureed butternut squash, cream, Herbes de Provence and black pepper, topped with some grated Pecorino Romano.

The food smoothed out any tannins and brought back more fruit. The black pepper in the solo wine diminished into rosemary herb toward the finish.

With this Pinot other successful pairings would include lean beef (not too well done,) grilled tuna, grilled lamb, mushrooms, eggplant parmesan, vegetable lasagna.     

Wine Pick of the Week: March 15, 2015

Black Sheep Vineyard Dark Continent NV (Ohio)

Preparing for St. Patrick’s Day, I found this little bottle in my cellar. Local winery Black Sheep used Marechal Foch to craft a rustic and somewhat intense red table wine. Deep burgundy color with a tinge of brown, the nose begins with cherry aromas and a little oak, then a bit of chocolate. Plum flavors turn to cherry and a semi-dry finish with a hint of leather. It’s slightly acidic and would stand up to the fats and heaviness of corned beef and is sweet enough to work with slow roasted carrots, onions and cabbage.  

Black Sheep is available online and in some of the local grocery stores.