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 3^rd 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.

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

My fiancée’s father has a saying, “Assumption is the mother of all mistakes”. Well, he doesn’t use the word “mistakes” but for a family friendly column it’s the best word to employ. Admittedly for the Gabrielle Rausse’s Bianco wine in the August shipment I assumed, and it didn’t quite work out.

After last month’s article (Lake Anna’s Bellhaven Chardonnay) of valuing my own pairings over that of the wine maker’s, I decided this month I would follow their advice as closely as possible. So when I got my bottle of Bacon Hollow Sunset from Stone Mountain Vineyards, I wrote to Chris Briener and asked him for some recommendations.   Mr. Briener echoed his sentiments in the tasting notes, that while the wine is 100% Cabernet Franc, this is a red with training wheels and is great with Italian foods. As for a movie to pair it with (you all know I love pairing wines with movies), he recommended his favorite film, The Fugitive with Harrison Ford. 

So on Sunday, my fiancée and I prepared some spaghetti with meatballs. Nothing fancy about the meal, sauce from a jar, noodles from a box, though we did make our own meatballs from ground turkey with some spices. I chilled the wine per Mr. Briener’s suggestions while the pasta was boiling (about 12-15 minutes), served them all up and hit play on the DVD.

Fellow club members, this wine is unlike any Cabernet Franc I have ever tasted. The steel tank fermentation gives a totally new experience to the varietal that I have never come across before. It is one of the mildest Francs I’ve tasted, with no heavy tannins nor even that distinctive “franc-y” smell that characterizes the grape. I got a mix of cherry/plum fruit when I tasted it and sat back to enjoy one of the lightest bodied reds I’ve had in a long time. It was sublime with the tomato sauce, a perfect pairing with the acidity of the sauce and the spices therein. I thought it went great with the turkey meatballs as well, but I can equally see it fitting in with “Chris’s 3-Day Casserole”, or any dish with tomatoes.

We enjoyed dinner and the film together with the wine; and the wine, in its own way, reminded me of Harrison Ford’s character. After escaping, Dr. Kimble shaves his beard and infiltrates a hospital where he comes face to face with a state trooper. Oh no! Will he get caught right out of the gate? The trooper pauses to question him....

State Trooper: Hey, Doc! We're looking for a prisoner from that bus-train wreck a couple of hours ago, might be hurt.
Dr. Kimble: Uh, what does he look like?
State Trooper: 6'1, 180, brown hair, brown eyes, beard. See anyone like that around?
Dr. Kimble: Every time I look in the mirror, pal - except for the beard, of course!

The Bacon Hollow Sunset is the Cabernet Franc “disguising” itself in the steel barrel. The color, the underlying taste, is pure Franc, but in using the barrel it makes itself appear different to the palette and could pass right under the nose of the unaware.

Here’s hoping you all enjoy the Bacon Hollow Sunset, be it in front of a TV or on a porch with a sunset of your own.