Grilled New York Strip Steak Garlic Foam and Garlic Sauteed Beets Paired with 2008 RdV Vineyards Virginia Rendezvous

This pairing is a celebration of grilling season.  Well, to be quite honest, I tend to grill all year long, but at the moment, we are quickly approaching Memorial Day in the U.S. which marks the unofficial beginning of summer and a traditional grilling weekend.  I tend to side with the Aussies, who I have learned through some good Aussie friends, take their grilling very seriously.  It is not just a cliche.  As the stories have unfolded over a couple of drinks milling about the grill, Aussies approach grilling with the same dedication as rugby - it is a full contact sport.

One evening in Abu Dhabi, I was at the home of my good Aussie friend Steve as he was preparing kangaroo loin on the grill.  Don’t ask how he was able to get kangaroo in the U.A.E., that is another story.  As Steve was carefully grilling the kangaroo, I asked about the barbecue culture in Australia and heard the stories that support the commonly held belief that Aussies love to barbecue.  One story that supported the “full contact” version of Aussie grilling is the favored pass time of standing around the hosts grill and critiquing his work.  It sounded much like the trash talking that commonly occurs on playing field.

As you honor our U.S. grilling tradition this weekend, here is a tasty, garlicky approach to making your steak something special.  I would only add that maybe some potato salad would be a nice addition.

First we will start with the steak and my full proof method for perfectly medium rare steak with nice surface texture.  Start with a trip to a good butcher and have your steaks cut between 1 and 1/2 inches thick.  Avoid freezing - fresh is always more flavorful.

Before grilling, leave the steaks at room temperature for one hour.  If you are using a gas grill, bring it up to full temperature.  High heat is important to getting a good seer.  Set your timer for two minutes and put the steaks on the grill.  If you are using charcoal, place the steaks just off center of the heat.  When the timer chimes, take a sip of wine, and make your way back to the grill...don’t be in a rush.  Rotate the meat 90 degrees, take another sip of wine and start the timer.  Repeat the process flipping the meat on the next turn, and a final 90 rotation to get the hallmark grill lines.  In total, the grill time should be about 10 minutes.  To test for medium rare, pinch your thumb and forefinger together and feel the pad on your palm just below the thumb, this is what a medium rare steak should feel like.

This pairing featured the much anticipated RdV Vineyards 2008 Virginia Rendezvous.  I had not previously tasted the Rendezvous, but it came highly recommended not only from friends, but from neighboring wineries.  We were not disappointed.  The wine is exceptionally well balanced - a complete wine with a strong French influence.  Rendezvous is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot.  The nose is slightly soft but foretells the wonderful subtlety of the wine.  With a firm foundation of earthy flavors and well rounded tannins, the wine presents pleasing flavors of dark berries, black cherries, coffee and a hint of leather.  A further hint of oak brought this wine back to its roots as a fine Bordeaux style blend.  This full rich wine was begging for a bite of the steak.

The pairing was heavenly.  With perfectly matched body, the flavors of the wine were free to play joyfully with the perfectly grilled steak and mild garlic presented in the garlic foam and garlic sautéed beets.  Other reviews of this wine have noted the strength of the tannins.  When paired with the rich steak, this was not a problem for our dinner party as the tannins brought a healthy structure that worked well in combination.  However, if you plan to simply sip and enjoy this wonderful wine, I would recommend decanting for an hour or so to let it open up.  For our purposes, we decanted, but only for about 30 minutes - more than sufficient for our meal.

Recipe

Garlic Foam

Ingredients

• 5 cloves roasted garlic halved
• 1 pint heavy cream
• 4 ounces cream cheese

Preparation

1. Simmer in sauce pan for 15 minutes.
2. Strain, allow to cool for at least 30 minutes.
3. Pour into ISI foamer and discharge. If you don’t have a culinary foamer, add a tablespoon of Lecithin to the simmer and when cooled, create the foam with an immersion blender.

The beats were prepared in sauté pan with garlic and butter.  Peel and slice the beats, heat the butter and minced garlic, and sauté until tender.

Slow Smoked Pork Shoulder with a Barbecue Rag Sauce

Hello friends.  Today we are going a little off script.  No photos, no wine pairing (although I will offer some suggestions).  Yesterday, Chef Sue smoked a pork shoulder basted with a barbecue rag sauce that was absolutely heavenly.  Although we did not intend this as one of our normal wine pairings (and therefore no photos and no wine pairing assessment), the smoked pork shoulder was just too good to keep to myself.

If you decide to try this preparation, there are a number of wines that I would recommend.  Here is my list of potentially good choices:

• Pinot Noir
• A red Bordeaux or a Bordeaux style blend
• Syrah/Shiraz
• Cabernet Franc
• Chenin Blanc
• Chardonnay
• Sauvignon Blanc

Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 bone-in Pork shoulder
• 2 cups cider vinegar
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon coriander
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper for rag sauce
• Salt and pepper for seasoning the pork shoulder

Preparation

1. Preheat smoker to 200-225 degrees
2. Generously season pork shoulder with salt and pepper and place in smoker.
3. Combine all non-pork ingredients to make a basting sauce also known as a rag sauce (the masters of BBQ often apply their basting sauce with a new clean rag mop or kitchen rag – hence a rag sauce).
4. Every half hour, brush basting sauce over the pork shoulder with a basting brush or your choice of clean rag.
5. Continue cooking in smoker until you reach an internal temperature of 170 degrees.  Plan on approximately one hour per pound.
6. Allow pork shoulder to rest, covered with a towel, for ½ hour.
7. Serve with any leftover rag sauce on the side.

In vino veritas, buen provecho.

Craig

Barrel Tasting at Delaplane Cellars

On Saturday, 10 March, I had the pleasure of being invited to Delaplane Cellars for a barrel tasting.  The event was hosted by owner and winemaker Jim Dolphin.  The guests included a group of local wine bloggers...great idea, invite some wine writers, introduce new wines, and let us run off to say nice things.  This idea matched perfectly with my cardboard sign I use while working the intersections in DC -  “Will work for food...with a nice wine pairing...a Bordeaux blend is preferred.”  Jim came through with a grand slam on the Bordeaux blend - so I am working.

This was my first opportunity to sample wine in a barrel tasting format.  Quite honestly, I did not know what to expect.  Would the tasting foretell of wonderful things to come (but not quite ready)? How would the wine taste in comparison to bottled wine?  Along with answering these questions, I learned a great deal at this event.  My number one takeaway was that Delaplane Cellars will soon be bottling wines that not only live up to the wonderful wines that have preceded them, but are pressing forward with releases that exceed past performance.

Here are the wines we tasted:

• 2010 Delaplane (Merlot 50%, Cabernet Sauvignon 33 13%, Cabernet Franc 16 ⅔%)
• 2010 Williams Gap (Cabernet Sauvignon 31%, Merlot 30%, Cabernet Franc 27%, Petit Verdot 12%)
• 2010 Springlot (Cabernet Sauvignon 29%, Cabernet Franc 40%, Merlot 17%, Petit Verdot 14%)
• 2010 Syrah
• 2010 Tannat (with a special appearance by the 2009 Tannat for comparison)
• 2011 Petit Manseng Late Harvest

Each of the Bordeaux blends (first three) were exceptional.  However, both Chef Sue and I were in unqualified agreement that the 2010 Williams Gap was the star of the show.  If Jim had offered to accept my grossly overburdened credit card, I would have pre-ordered a case on the spot.  When Delaplane Cellars releases this wine, I encourage you to race to the winery and make your purchase.  Once the word gets out, this wine will sell quickly.

I have a couple of bottles of the 2009 Williams Gap in my cellar and am quite pleased with it.  However, the resemblance between the 2009 and 2010 Williams Gap ends at the name.  In my opinion, the 2010 is a far superior wine and a real pleasure to drink.  As I was enjoying it, my mind was already wandering to food pairing.  This wine is exceptionally food friendly with deep, silky rich flavors and well balanced acidity...a food pairing dream.

Another standout of the tasting, and quite possibly an equal to the Williams Gap (althought completely different flavor profile), was the 2010 Tannat.  I recently tasted the Delaplane Cellars 2009 Tannat and found it to be a wonderful wine.  However, with tannins still running a bit strong, I decided to let it cellar for a couple years with the promise of something spectacular.  The 2010 Tannat features more restrained tannins and is drinking well now.  Like its older brother, the 2010 will likely mature nicely over the next few years - if you can resist the temptation of a wine that is drinkable today.

In addition to tasting and learning about the upcoming wines from Delaplane Cellars, I learned a good deal from my fellow wine writers.  As we were chit-chatting and getting to know each other (and our slices of the wine pie) I found that I was in good company, but held a slightly different view of wine.  Most of the attending wine writers were honest-to-god oenophiles. Their depth and breadth of knowledge regarding Virginia wines, vintages, challenges, specific vineyards, aspect, alliances, grudges, politics, climate, etc., far exceeded my own and was quite impressive.  

In complement to their devotion, understanding, and reporting on the details of the Virginia wine industry, I focus on pairing.  While I certainly enjoy and appreciate this depth of understanding, my focus is that of finding great wines to pair with great food.  Don’t get me wrong, I love wine for its solitary beauty, but my holy grail is discovering the perfect match that sums to a combination greater than its parts.  Gratefully, my fellow writers appreciated my approach to wine as much as I appreciated their impressive knowledge.  They were each exceedingly pleasant and offered to assist in my search for the best of Virginia wines.  Stand by, I will be introducing my new friends in future posts.

Toward the end of the evening, I had the pleasure of spending a few moments talking with Betsy, Jim’s partner in crime and self proclaimed kitchen honcho (she used another term, but I have enjoyed some of her work, and will not let her get away with such self-deprication).  During our brief conversation, I mentioned to Betsy my appreciation of the seriousness they apply to their wine making - one aspect of which is reflected in an elegant and understated label.  Little did I know, but this minor compliment sparked a lengthy discussion of the difficulties associated with labeling.  I will avoid all the bloody details, but I learned a great deal of the difficulty in producing a wine label that adheres to the standards of integrity at Delaplane.

In short, all of Delaplane Cellar’s wines are named and labeled with the vineyard that produced the fruit.  This stands in stark contrast to wineries that do not make clear the source, or possibly even import fruit or juice from around the country or the world while not informing the consumer.  Delaplane cellars also labels with the percentage of each varietal used in their blends...not a common feature (particularly for those who have something to hide).  I came away with a new appreciation for the difficulty (mostly regulatory) in producing a wine label with the standard of integrity at Delaplane Cellars.  I appreciate the cost and effort, and hope the regulators will mature into a reasoned approach that allows Virginia wineries to be forthright with consumers while not imposing undue burden.

Finally, I would like to thank Jim and Betsy Dolphin (and of course Jacqui!) for a wonderful evening.  It was educational, fun, and most of all, very tasty.  Thank you.

In vino veritas, buen provecho.

Craig