Fork and Cork Divine

The forkandcorkdivine “Vintage 2012 Dinner” is now history!  We wined and dined our way across five continents and two hemispheres in just one evening.  Seems like we should all get frequent flyer miles for that accomplishment.

In addition to some outstanding foods prepared by our winelover foodie friends, we had the opportunity to taste nine wonderful examples of 2012 wines from United States, France, Italy, South America and Western Australia.  Armed with some research and wine notes from the recent “What’s in a Vintage?” article, forkandcorkdivine.com , we took on the challenge.  Here is the menu and wine list from that dinner.  You can find lots of information about each winery in my previous Vintage article; therefore, this article is more geared to the actual wine and food pairings.  And of course I wouldn’t be a true “foodie” without pictures!!!!

Vintage 2012 Dinner :  “A Tour of Two Hemispheres and Five Continents”

Northern Hemisphere – Europe – Lombardy, Northern Italy

Barone Pizzini Brut Rose Franciacorta (89 pt WE)

We usually welcome our guests with a sparkling wine which makes the occasion even more festive.  In my opinion, it is hard to get more festive than with a Barone Pizzini Rose Franciacorta especially since this one was a vintage 2012!  The crisp acidity and creamy texture with notes of red berries, tangerine and spice made for a perfect aperitif.  (Naples Wine Collection $48)

Northern Hemisphere – Europe – Marche, Central Italy

Pievalto Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Riserva San Paolo (90 pt AG; 89 WE)

Sweet Pea Pancakes with Crab and Red Onion Crème Fraiche 

This Verdicchio was light and fresh with a typical sweet almond characteristic,  apples, tangerine zest and a hint of honey.  The pairing of this wine with the pea pancakes and crab topping was a marriage made in heaven.  The green peas were blanched, pureed with heavy cream, flour added and delicately fried into little pancakes.  The lump crab meat was mixed with creme fraiche, red onions and very thin slices of fresh sugar snap peas.  Drizzle with some EVOO and it is delicious!  You can find the recipe at alwaysravenous.com/verdicchio-paired-with-the-flavors-of-spring.  The wine was purchased from Naples Wine Collection $30.

 

Southern Hemisphere – Africa – Stellenbosch, South Africa

Tokara Director’s Reserve White Bordeaux Blend (74% Sauv Blanc/26% Semillon)(91 pt RP)

Sauvignon Blanc Steamed Mussels with Garlic Toast 

Chuck and I haven’t been drinking many wines from South Africa for a number of years.  It always seemed that there were so many others that we enjoyed much more.  My mission for this dinner was to prove that viewpoint wrong!  I certainly did just that – at least for me.  I so enjoyed this White Bordeaux Blend from Tokara.  The nose was quite complex with intense green fruit, passion fruit and toasted almonds.  It was oaked just right and had a long crisp finish.  It seemed to me that the perfect pairing would be fresh seafood cooked in more of the wine.  I sauteed fresh mussels in a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc (not Tokara, sorry!) and dressed them up with a buttery garlicky shallot sauce, a side of freshly grilled garlic bread and got rave reviews from the guests!  I used a basic recipe from Grace Parisi at Food and Wine Magazine, “Sauvignon Blanc-Steamed Mussels with Garlic Toasts”.  It was quick and easy and cooked while our guests finished off their first course.  I purchased the Tokara from wine.com for $40.

Northern Hemisphere – North America – Sonoma, California

Peay Vineyards Elanus Estate Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast (94 pt CT)

Mushroom Goat Cheese Galette (prepared by Anita)

The Peay Elanus was a crowd pleaser for Pinot lovers and non-Pinot lovers alike. And rightfully so – only 3 barrels were made and was just available to those of us on the mailing list at that!  I consider myself very lucky to have one more bottle tucked away.  We experienced the “smoked cherries, seared duck fat aromas, fruit floral earth flavors with herbal and pepper accents”.  Can’t leave out the dried needle and forest floor quality that you get in all of Peay’s Pinots.  Our foodie guest Anita prepared this pairing – a rustic galette filled with leeks, mushrooms, asparagus, peas and goat cheese.  It was delicious! We found the recipe on the website of www.merryedwards.com/food-wine/recipes.  Merry makes sensational Pinots herself just down the Sonoma Coast, so she really knows what food goes well with them.  Forget buying the wine!  I bought it from the winery for $86/bottle and I imagine it is long gone.

Northern Hemisphere – Europe – Campania, Southern Italy

Mastroberardino Radici Taurasi Aglianico (93 pt WE, WS, JS and 91 pt RP)

Beef Braciole with Olive and Rosemary Focaccia 

Mastroberardino – I don’t think I have ever had one of their wines that I did not like!  This 2012 Taurasi received 91 – 93 points from everybody who is anybody in the wine critic corner (that includes me).  We decanted it for several hours before serving, and it was elegant and superb.  The underbrush, red fruit, licorice, black pepper and tobacco was all there as promised.

Chuck made beef braciole for the first time and it was another perfect pairing.  Very thin slices of beef were topped with Parmesan, garlic, golden raisins, pistachio nuts and bread crumbs plus a thin slice of Prosciutto.  Everything was then wrapped up in a neat little package, seared until brown, then cooked for several hours in a red wine tomato sauce.  Oh my, it was outstanding!  I made focaccia bread for the first time and topped it with olives and fresh rosemary.  It was perfect for sopping up that red wine tomato sauce!  I can’t recommend a recipe because unlike me, Chuck usually makes his up as he goes along.  The wine was purchased from Naples Wine Collection $60/bottle.

(On a side note, how is it that I think my pairings are perfect?  All part of the prep work.  I research research research all of the recommendations that I can find and then make the final selection based upon all of the other courses and pairings on my menu.  The menu development and how it all works with the wines, the order of service, the difficulty of preparation and time involved all demand consideration.  It is like a work of art!)

Southern Hemisphere – South America – Maipo Valley, Chile

Clos Quebrada de Macul “Domus Aurea” Cabernet Sauvignon (94 pt RP and 92 pt WE)

Chilean Beef  Empanada with Chimichurri Sauce ( prepared by Mariann)

Domus Aurea Cabernet from Chile has been receiving scores of 90 – 96 points from wine critics around the world since the owners started making it in 1996.  We could see why!  It was dense deep dark purple with notes of cherries and black currants, spices, cigar box, hints of leather just like the winemaker told us to expect.  It was very well balanced and quite pleasant drinking.  We paired it up with some Chilean style beef empanadas made by Mariann and Al.  The filling was made from very tender beef brisket wrapped up in a flaky pastry and was  further enhanced with chimichurri sauce.  I purchased the wine from wine.com for $58/bottle.

Southern Hemisphere – Africa – Stellenbosch, South Africa

Rust En Vrede Stellenbosch Estate Red Bordeaux Blend

(93 pt WE, 92 pt WS and 91 pt RP)

Cheese Plate: Aged Cheddar, Gruyere, Asiago and Manchego

Continuing on our whirlwind journey across the continents, we headed back to the Stellenbosch area of Southwestern South Africa to visit a winery that is “old school” there and has been making wines for over 320 years.  The Engelbrechts have been making wine at Rust en Vrede since 1977.  Their wine has landed on the Wine Spectator Top 100 list a number of times, but this 2012 Bordeaux blend was the fifth time!  This particular vintage rewarded us with a deep crimson red color, notes of cedar, cumin, cigar box, tobacco, blackberry, plum, leather, and violets.  Rounding out our menu, a cheese course consisting of cheddar and other aged cheeses seemed to be a classic Bordeaux blend pairing.  This was another wine.com purchase for $50/bottle.

 

Northern Hemisphere – Europe – Bordeaux, France

Clos Cantenac Petit Cantenac St Emilion (91 pt CT & 88 pt WE)

Black Currant Panna Cotta Verrine (prepared by Linda)

I had this bottle of Saint-Emilion tucked away for a few years and was especially happy to discover it was a 2012.  The Petit Cantenac is a classic right bank blend of Merlot with a little Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. We tasted the dark fruit with some leather, licorice, spice and vanilla. In need of desserts to round out my menu, I discovered this fabulous panna cotta recipe on the en.vins-saint-emilion.com/taste/pairing-wines-food website and decided they should know a thing or two about pairing up my Petit Cantenac.  This was probably the most delicious and decadent panna cotta I have ever eaten.  Aside from the fact I was so worried that my first time use of gelatin sheets was not working, it set up just right!  That is one of those very happy moments for a foodie/home chef.  The black currant coulis looked just like the picture after I ran it through a fine sieve.  I even had some cute little tasting “verrine” glasses straight from Pier 1!  Make this recipe and serve it with a Saint-Emilion wine please.  I bought the wine from the Underground Cellar on line back in 2016 for $32/bottle.

Southern Hemisphere – Australia – Margaret River, Western Australia

Leeuwin Estate Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon (97 pt JS and 92 pt WE)

Dark Chocolate Cake with Cabernet Sauvignon Glaze (prepared by Debbie)

As I already said, Australian wine was really off our radar!  But wanting to be adventurous and see how wine fared back in 2012 on five continents, I discovered that we just may be missing out on a really good thing.  I became intrigued with the story of Margeret River wine and found a bottle of 2012 Leeuwin Art Series Cabernet wine that seemed to more than meet our needs.  James Suckling scored it at 97 points (called it the Mouton-Rothschild of Australia) and Robert Parker at a lowly 91.  This 100 % Cabernet has been receiving scores like that since 1997, so I could not wait to taste it!  It was dark ruby red with lots of dark fruit, anise, cocoa, black olive and earthy flavors.  The graphite, metal shavings, tobacco and savory spices helped to round it out.  It was easy to see why the critics love Leeuwin Cabs.  The menu from the estate award-winning restaurant featured bittersweet dark chocolate paired up with their cabs plus a dark chocolate cake with a cabernet glaze.  Sounded good to me as you can’t go wrong with chocolate dessert on a wine pairing menu.  Debbie eagerly agreed to take on the cake baking challenge and used this recipe for Dark Chocolate Cake with Cabernet Sauvignon Glaze from the www.ste-michelle.com website recipe listings. (Couldn’t locate the recipe from Leeuwin.) If you don’t care for bittersweet chocolate, this is probably not the cake for you, but for the rest of the world that does, this cake with the Leeuwin cab was outstanding!  I also purchased this wine from wine.com for $64/bottle.  

Northern Hemisphere – Europe – Veneto, North Central Italy

Maculan Torcolato Dolce Breganze (92 pt WS) Vespaiolo 60%, Tocai 20% and Garganega 20%

Salted Caramel Chocolates

Sadly we were unable to cross the finish line – the  Maculan bottle still awaits opening for another day.  The chocolates won’t be around then, but luckily at least they are not a special order!!!!!  I have tasted Maculan before and know to expect honeysuckle and spice notes with rich accents of apricot and salted caramel thus making it an excellent accompaniment to salted caramel chocolates.  (Naples Wine Collection $42/bottle)

Before pictures of the wine all ready for service.

The after math – We persevered right up to the Maculan!

Oh my………the behind the scenes prep work that only a fellow foodie can appreciate!  The vintage article for forkandcorkdivine.com took weeks too numerous to mention from the beginning of the vintage dinner concept to the actual event. This is all part of my “prep work” before every event of this kind.  It is truly a labor of love.  What’s the next wine dinner or tasting event?  I’m not quite sure, but there are several very intriguing ideas spinning around in my mind.  Guess you will have to check back later to see what it is!

7.24.18

LFRakos@gmail.com