As much as I hate to say good-bye to the summer, I have to admit that autumn always seduces me with cozy evenings in, cool, crisp fall walks, warming comfort food, and bigger, bolder wines. And as flavours on the plate as well as in the glass get heartier, we often are asked by clients about how to choose wines to pair with some of the more unusual ingredients available to us, including game meats and fowl.
So just in time for the season, I’m happy to share with you an article that was recently published in Alberta Outdoorsmen Magazine. I hope it contains some tips and ideas that you can use in your kitchen this autumn.
Stacey’s picks: Cono Sur Viognier ($9.95, LCBO 64287, Chile)
A medium to full bodied white with juicy, ripe tropical fruit flavours and a mouth-filling texture. Pair it up with grilled scallops topped with Niagara peach salsa.
Freixenet Brut de Noirs Cava Brut ($12.95, LCBO 352369, Spain)
A rosé bubbly that’s crisp, refreshing and food friendly. Perfect for welcoming guests, or pair it up with chorizo sausage or other simple tapas and charcuterie.
Candidato Oro ($7.95, LCBO 523811, Spain) A blend of Tempranillo and Grenache creates an easy-drinking, spicy-fruity red wine that’s medium in body and a great match for grilled burgers, sausages, or spiced chicken or pork.
Rod’s picks: Marques de Riscal Rueda Blanco ($12.35, LCBO 36822, Spain)
Made from Verdejo grapes, this white is fresh but full of ripe fruit flavour - a great choice for summertime. Pair it with seafood paella, light tapas, or grilled chicken with lemon and herbs.
Remy Pannier Rosé d’Anjou ($11.95, LCBO 12641, France)
Intense strawberry flavour, refreshing acidity, and light body combine in this rosé from the Loire Valley in France that is delicious on its own as well as with any manner of grilled fare - Rod even enjoys it with steak!
Montalto Nero d’Avola/Cabernet Sauvignon ($9.95, LCBO 621151, Sicily)
Big body, big flavour, and perfect for your grilled red meats this summer. Nero d’Avola is a grape native to Sicily that creates spicy, full-bodied reds that are often priced to provide incredible value.
Camping truly is one of the best ways to get back to the basics – spending time with nature, leaving behind modern conveniences, and cooking over a fire. But that doesn’t mean you have to skip a delicious meal with the perfect wine pairing, does it? Not if you ask me!
The most important thing when organizing your camping meals is to plan ahead, packing your cooler wisely with solid ingredients that have lots of flavour. An easy way to make your campsite dinners taste great is to make a versatile, flavour-packed barbecue sauce in advance that can be stored in a jar and used to season whatever you throw over the fire. This recipe has a tasty balance of sweet, spicy and sour – perfect to dress up a simple chicken breast , flank steak, or pork tenderloin. Add to that the intense, smoky flavour of cooking over a campfire and you’ve got yourself a gourmet main course without even trying!
Now to pick the perfect wine. Since you could use the sauce on just about anything, what you want to focus on is the sweet-spicy-sour flavours of the barbecue sauce. Because the sauce is tomato-based, you need a wine that has lots of acidity to balance that out, and you definitely need something that has ripe, fruity flavours to stand up to the sweet and spicy elements. A smooth, fruity, medium-bodied red wine would be perfect. Try something Spanish made from Tempranillo or Grenache grapes, or Nero d’Avola from Sicily. Canadian Gamay, Pinot Noir, or Merlot are also great choices. These will be a perfect contrast to the smoky flavour from the campfire too. And don’t forget – please, please, please don’t drink your red wine warm! A slightly cool red wine, especially when fruity and low in tannins, will taste much better than one that’s been sitting in the sun all day. If you’re short on cooler space, try lodging your bottle underwater in the lake or river for an hour or so to bring the temperature down a bit – just make sure it doesn’t float away!
Here are a few more tips to keep in mind when choosing your campsite wines:
Go for fruity, easy-drinking styles of wine with low to medium alcohol levels – light to medium bodied reds and fuller styles of white that will quench your thirst and satisfy your palate without being overwhelming.
Look for convenient packaging – screw-top bottles make opening and resealing easy and there are loads of great quality wines under screw-cap available. You can also find a good selection of wines in alternate packaging that is lighter than glass bottles, including tetra pak, plastic bottles, and cans.
Don’t break the bank! Camping is about keeping things simple and remembering how to enjoy the basics. Great value wines abound in liquor stores, you just need to experiment to find ones that you’ll love. Look for fantastic values from countries such as Argentina, Chile, Spain, Italy, and of course, locally-produced wines. And here’s a tip – wines made from grapes that are lesser known (e.g. NOT chardonnay, shiraz, or cabernet sauvignon) can be some of the best hidden values on your liquor store’s shelves.
Please read on for some of our summertime wine picks and enjoy the season!
BEAUVIGNAC VIOGNIER 2008 VINTAGES 525295 | $14.95 | Southern France
This is juicy, mouth-filling goodness with aromas and flavours of peach, apricot, honey, lime, and floral notes. Pair it up with grilled crab legs with chili-lime butter, smoked scallops with mango salsa, or simple grilled shrimp skewers.
ST. HALLETT SEMILLON/SAUVIGNON BLANC 2008 VINTAGES 57687 | $14.95 | South Australia
This is a classic white Bordeaux blend, but the Aussies do it up in their own style with a mouth-watering, fruit-forward punch. The Sauvignon Blanc adds zesty, citrusy acidity, while the Semillon balances it with softer nectarine and pineapple flavours, along with a medium-full body. Pair it up with grilled freshwater fish or seafood done simply with lemon and herbs.
LEIRA ALBARIÑO 2007 VINTAGES 115816 | $18.95 | Rias Baixas, Spain
This wine was made for seafood - a perfect balance of ripe fruit flavours like citrus and pear with mouth-filling texture and refreshing acidity. A great pairing for a fresh summer salad topped with grilled seafood, as well as any manner of tapas off the grill.
PLANETA ROSÉ 2008 VINTAGES 111856 | $16.95 | Sicily, Italy
Made from 100% Syrah grapes, this rosé is summertime in a bottle - fruity and juicy but also crisp and refreshing, this wine is bursting with ripe strawberry and raspberry with just a touch of spice. Pair with a grilled asian beef salad with ginger and chilies, cedar-planked arctic char, bbq chicken wings, or smoked pulled pork on a bun.
LE BARON RANCH THREE SISTERS ZINFANDEL 2006
VINTAGES 119966 | $22.95 | Sonoma County, California, U.S.A.
Zinfandel is California’s signature grape. This one could prove to be your favourite bbq wine of the season – medium to full in body and bursting with juicy, ripe, mouth-filling flavours of plum, blueberry, toasty vanilla, and smoke. It’s crowd-pleasing and food friendly with enough acidity to balance out the juicy, jammy fruit. An excellent pairing for bbq meats of any kind, especially spicy, saucy back ribs or homemade sausages from The Piggy Market (www.thepiggymarket.com).
PARÉS BALTÀ MAS PETIT GARNATXA/CABERNET 2006
VINTAGES 114264 | $14.95 | Penedes, Spain
We’ve had the good fortune of visiting this winery, run by a group of amazing people who look after their land sustainably in order to produce the quality organic fruit used to make these wines. They even have a full-time beekeeper and shepherd to manage the bees and the sheep who help them with vineyard management. Garnatxa is Catalan for Grenache, and it provides intense, juicy fruit flavours and a supple mouthfeel that make this wine perfect for grilled red meats like beef, lamb, or game. Try it with some elk from our local Elk Ranch in Kanata (www.elkranch.com).
Looking for ways to entertain friends, colleagues or clients this summer? Contact us for a few ideas.
As Canadians, I think we all feel the same way when it comes to our fleeting summers - take advantage of the nice weather while we can! So in my family, that means outdoor cooking whenever possible. At Groovy Headquarters, we love our barbeque for grilling, smoking, slow-cooking, and we cook anything we can on it, from fresh produce to seafood to meat. The question is though, what are the best wines for barbeque? I know the answer!
There are a few important things to consider.
First, I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again - seasonings, sauces, and cooking method are more important than the protein itself. Because cooking on the bbq adds its own smoky flavour to food, I find that most seasonings and sauces used are bolder and spicier to stand up to the cooking method so that’s really important to consider when choosing your wines. Delicate, light-bodied wines are generally not what you’re looking for. But at the same time, bbq usually also means that it’s hot outside, so you want something refreshing to the palate as well. In most cases, the answer is juicy, fruity wines that are medium to full in body, whether they’re white, red, or rosé.
In the white category - and for these I’m thinking grilled or smoked seafood and fish - some of my go-to choices are Viognier, Grüner Veltliner from Austria, Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon blends, and Spanish Albariño. When it comes to reds, I adore Grenache (and Grenache-based blends), Spanish reds, California Zinfandel, and fruit-forward New World style Pinot Noir. Notice a trend? These are all wines that are medium to full in body, are fruit-forward, have some soft but well-balanced acidity, and for the reds, have medium to low tannins, meaning that they are smooth in the mouth. All these characteristics are important for pairing foods with lots of spice, and with sauces that are sweet, tangy, and/or spicy. These fruity, juicy wines are also a great contrast to the smoky, charred flavour of bbq food.
Of course, I’d be amiss if I neglected to sing the virtues of rosé when it comes to bbq. If you read our newsletter on a regular basis or have attended our tastings, you already know that we try to convert all you non-rosé-drinkers any chance we get, and summer is the perfect time to try once again. If you think that all rosés are made in the same style as White Zinfandel, think again! Most pink wines on the market are dry, crisp, refreshing, and filled with berry fruit flavour - the absolute perfect wine pairing for grilled or smoked food. Like red wine in white wine’s clothing, rosé offers the aromas and flavours of a red wine, in a lighter, more refreshing format that is served chilled to make it even more friendly for al fresco dining. Trust me, if you haven’t tried a rosé yet with your summertime cooking, please do, your taste buds will thank you!
One more piece of advice for you - tasting is better than reading! Join us on July 14th at the Urban Element for a tasting of 8 different bbq-friendly wines, along with some appropriate fare to match. Wine has gone casual for the summer season at the Urban Element, and that means that this tasting will be hosted in a relaxed, cocktail-style format, with food stations set up for grazing, and an Urban Element chef out at the bbq with tips for grilling. Special summertime pricing is also in effect … we hope to see you there!
The summer season puts us all in a festive mood, and with Olympics almost here, we have another great excuse to host our favourite people in our homes for a celebration. One of the great things about summer entertaining is that we can bring the party outdoors and enjoy the warm weather – this makes for a more casual setting, plus it gives us more space to have people over. Take advantage of this once-every-four-years opportunity and plan your Summer Olympics party today! Right click here to download our Olympics Party Planning Guide.
If you haven’t already visit www.goldmedalplates.com to learn more about the culinary competition that kicks off October 15 2008 in Ottawa.
A friend just sent me a link to an interesting article about wine and music. Have a read, there are some great suggestions for music that will enhance a wine when paired. Thanks for the link Tony!
A friend recently passed along this great article about an experiment Harvard researchers completed on obese mice. Seems that red wine helps to reduce their weight and live longer. Now they are trying to create links to humans… In case you need a reason to drink red wine - read on.
Region vs. Grape
Just to keep us all sufficiently confused, sometimes winemakers label their wine by the region and sometimes by the grape. Generally speaking, many Old World countries (think European countries like France, Italy, and Spain) label their wine based on region, whereas most New World countries (like Australia, Chile, and the United States) label by grape. Read the rest of the article I wrote for Foodtv.ca.
Ask for Help: If you’re not sure what you’re looking for, ask for help. A good store has staff trained to know about the products they sell and should be able to help you out, and if yours doesn’t, find yourself a new wine store. Read the rest of this article I wrote for Foodtv.ca.
As much as I hate to say good-bye to the summer, I have to admit that autumn always seduces me with cozy evenings in, cool, crisp fall walks, warming comfort food, and bigger, bolder wines. And as flavours on the plate as well as in the glass get heartier, we often are asked by clients about how to choose wines to pair with some of the more unusual ingredients available to us, including game meats and fowl.
Stacey’s picks:
Rod’s picks:
in. Add to that the intense, smoky flavour of cooking over a campfire and you’ve got yourself a gourmet main course without even trying!
As Canadians, I think we all feel the same way when it comes to our fleeting summers - take advantage of the nice weather while we can! So in my family, that means outdoor cooking whenever possible. At Groovy Headquarters, we love our barbeque for grilling, smoking, slow-cooking, and we cook anything we can on it, from fresh produce to seafood to meat. The question is though, what are the best wines for barbeque? I know the answer!
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