I recently shared a post about a wonderful lunch I attended at Hanna Winery as part of the 2017 Wine Bloggers Conference.

During the course of that lunch, it became very clear that owner Christine Hanna is interested in wine pairings and cuisine almost as much as she is in wine. We attendees were even gifted a copy of her cookbook The Winemaker Cooks: Menus, Parties, and Pairings. It is full of elegant yet simple recipes that are organized into seasonally appropriate menus. Along the way, she offers wine recommendations for each recipe, as well as insights, info, and wine tips throughout the book. As soon as I saw the book, I was excited to dive in and cook from it. Moreover, I was really interested to chat with her about her winery, experiences, and of course, wine pairing. (Check out  my email conversation with Christine here.) Hanna actually only has about 10 acres of Malbec total, and makes 600 cases of their Flagship version, and 300 cases of their Reserve.

Before we all sat down to eat lunch that day, we had a chance to taste some barrel samples of upcoming releases. I was intrigued by their Malbec, not the least because you still don’t see a ton of it in California. According to Christine and Jeff Hinchliffe, the winemaker at Hanna, this has at least partly to do with Malbec’s tendency to shatter (aka coulure)–essentially this is when grape clusters fail to develop into maturity. (Check out this article on VinePair if you’d like to know more. If the grapes don’t grow, the yields on plantings will be lower than ideal.

Since I was tasting it from the barrel, the wine was still a bit rough around the edges. Nonetheless, it had a lot of dark fruit notes that were rich, but nonetheless, very bright. There were plenty of tannins, but even at that stage they were starting to smooth out. I decided to buy a bottle of an earlier vintage to bring home. In the lead up to this post, I asked Chris to make a recommendation on a pairing from her book.
 

Hanna Winery Malbec Alexander Valley Red Ranch 2013

THE PAIRING

Chris suggested her recipe for Pan-Seared Hanger Steak with Porcini-Merlot Reduction as a good match for the Hanna Malbec Alexander Valley Red Ranch 2013 (SRP $34). This seemed perfect to me–Malbec and steak are such a classic combo.  

I followed the recipe pretty closely to how it is written in the book, with a couple of small adaptations. My local grocery store was all out of porcini mushrooms and hanger steaks, so I swapped in shiitakes (recommended as an alternative in the book anyways) and skirt steak instead.

The hanger and skirt cuts actually both come from the diaphragm of the cow, but the skirt steak is a little less flavorful and a little tougher. Given that, I decided to tenderize the meat a bit by pounding it with a meat mallet (always a great way to get out stress), and then let it spend some time in a simple marinade.

If you’d like to make the recipe as prepared in the book, simply use hanger steak and skip step one; just remember to salt and pepper the steak.

I decided to make this steak feast for a group of friends. In fact, we were celebrating our friend Toni’s birthday (check her out at ToniSicola.com and CultivatedWellBeing.com), so it seemed like a perfect time to try this recipe out. Since it was a fairly large group, I doubled the quantities given here. (Actually, I made about 5 lbs total of steak.)

To make it easier to serve for a party without getting stuck in the kitchen the entire time, I did everything (mostly) ahead of time through the mushroom prep in step 3 below. When we were about ready to eat, I reheated the mushrooms and returned the steaks to the pan for the final 2 ½ minutes per side, working in batches.

Alongside the steak I served roasted veggies–carrots, yellow squash, and potatoes–individually roasted at 425°F with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, herbs, and a little squeeze of lemon on the carrots and squash to finish things off. I also served some sautéed collard green with garlic and topped with bacon.

The combo was a crowd-pleaser. One friend commented, ‘I can’t pick it apart, but they do go really well together.’ I’ll go ahead and pick the wine apart a bit. The wine had all that rich fruit I recalled–lots of boysenberry, blackberry, and raspberries–with light hints of licorice spice, pepper, smooth tannins, and that bright streak of acidity I had found so appealing. (Note: Hanna is out of the 2013 Malbec tasted, but do currently have a very few cases of the Reserve 2014 Malbec. The 2015 Flagship is available as well.

In the book, Christine recommends Cabernet Sauvignon to pair with this dish–which makes sense as Cab and steaks are also a classic combination. Since we were a large group, one bottle of wine with dinner was not going to be enough, so we had a chance to try a few more wines with the steak. Among them was a Cab and a really rich Merlot, both from California, and both definitely also went really well. However, what I particularly liked about this Malbec was that while it had plenty of rich, ripe fruit and enough body to match the weight of the steak, it also had a streak of orange peel freshness that was really uplifting to the palate and kept it all from feeling heavy.

Pan-Seared Skirt Steak with Shiitake-Wine Reduction

Adapted from The Winemaker Cooks by Christine Hanna. Serves 6.

INGREDIENTS

2 lbs to skirt steak, trimmed of any extra fat or silver skin
1 to 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp shiitake mushroom powder
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
4 to 6  oz shiitake, porcini, or cremini mushrooms, or a combination
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
½ cup red wine (Chris recommends Merlot in the book. )
¼ cup beef stock

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Lay out the skirt steaks on a cutting board and pound with a meat mallet to tenderize. Place the steaks in a bowl and top the Worcestershire sauce, shiitake mushroom powder, and sprinkle pinch of salt and pepper. Rub the mixture into the steaks and allow them to marinate for at least an hour.

2. In a large, heavy sauté pan or frying pan, heat the oil until medium-high heat until shimmering. Remove the steaks from the marinade and pat dry if necessary. Working in batches if necessary, add to the steaks to pan and sear in the hot oil until browned, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to plate.

3. Add the mushrooms to the pan and return to medium-high heat. Add the garlic and stir to combine. Add half the wine, deglaze the pan, making sure to scrape up any browned bit of meat. Cook the mushrooms for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the remaining wine and the beef stock. Return the steaks to the pan, cover and cook for 2 ½ minutes on each side for medium-rare. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve the steaks drizzled with the pan sauce and mushrooms.

Photo credit on all pictures: Greg Hudson

This month the Wine Pairing Weekend Crew is celebrating women winery owners and winemakers. We’ll be discussing our discoveries on Twitter on Sat. Feb. 10. Join us by following the hashtag #WinePW between 11-12 EST / 8-9am PST. 

Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla brings the bubbles with > The Effervescent Nicole Walsh Dishes On Ser And Being a Woman (in Wine) & Sparkling Rosé of Nebbiolo + Fusion Street Tacos. 

Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm shares > Women Winemakers~~Introducing Burgdorf Winery. 

Jane of Always Ravenous is > Celebrating Merry Edward's Winemaking Journey with a Winter Feast 

David from Cooking Chat brings us > Tuscan Kale Pasta with Elisabetta's Vernaccia. 

Susannah at Avvinare shares > Crociani Rosso di Montepulciano and Turkey Chili For A Cold Winter's Day 

Gwendolyn from Wine Predator explains > We're with WALT: owner Kathryn Hall, Winemaker Megan Gunderson Paredes. 

Lauren at The Swirling Dervish is running with the wolves for > Donnachiara Montefalcione - Five Generations of Wine, Wolves, and Women in Campania. 

Plus a podcast with Lori from Dracanea Wines > Ep. 39 Dracaena Wines on Wine; Cindy Cosco

For another beautiful California wine from a female winemaker right here on SommsTable.com, check out Cooking to the Wine: Bouchaine Rock'n H Vineyard Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir with Blackened Five-spice Duck.

At the end of October I tagged along with my friend Kristin on a tour and tasting of Covenant Wines, an urban winery in Berkeley, California. It turned out to be such a great visit!

Covenant also happens to be kosher. If the thought of kosher wine leads you straight to thoughts of Manischewitz, get those images right out of your head. These wines have nothing to do the sweet, syrupiness of Manischewitz. These are beautiful, classically made wines; they’re just also kosher.

Shots of Covenant's 7,000 square foot facility in Berkeley, California.

I’m not Jewish, so the kosher aspect wasn’t the draw for me. I’d heard really good things about their wines from a couple of friends. We also sell a couple of their wines at Bay Grape and they’re lovely. I was really just interested in checking out their wines and operation.

Kristin noses a barrel sample.

Now while the kosher aspect wasn’t the draw, I did find their way of handling the kosher requirements (specifically the mevushal requirements) interesting. Before we get there though, let’s take a quick look at what ‘kosher wine’ means. There are a few levels on the kosher scale. Here’s a quick recap, in case you’re a Gentile like me and you're unfamiliar or you're Jewish and just need a refresher:

•    Kosher: First up, to be kosher wine must be made up of all kosher ingredients. There really aren’t any non-kosher items among the list of required ingredients for wine, so that isn’t typically a big problem. (There are a few things that can be used as clarifying agents and such that would potentially fall into this category, but they’re pretty easily avoided.) The bigger factor according to kashrut law (Jewish dietary law) concerns who handles the wine. Only Sabbath-observant Jews can handle the wine–from crushing to bottling.

•    Kosher for Passover: Now if you keep kosher and want to have a glass of wine with your Passover Seder dinner, the wine needs to go one step up. Wines that are kosher for Passover must have been kept free from contact with chametz – a product that is made from one of five types of grain and has become leavened. This would include grain, bread, and dough.

•    Mevushal: This literally means “cooked.” According traditional Jewish law, if a wine is served by a non-Jewish server, it is no longer kosher. Therefore, if you want to have kosher wine in a mixed company setting–restaurants, weddings, parties, etc–you need to go up another level. Mevushal wines have been heated to a point that allows them to keep their kosher status, no matter who has handled them.  (If you’re interested in knowing more about the tradition and the ‘why’s’ of it all, l found this engaging article on MyJewishLearning.com) The downside to this, of course, is that cooking a wine is a really good way to make taste pretty awful. Nowadays, there are ways around this. Most typically, the wine will be flash pasteurized, which heats the wine very quickly for 15 to 30 seconds.

Covenant uses a technique called flash détente (which literally translates ‘instant relaxation’) to make their mevushal wines, a process that was developed to improve color extraction. In this process fully ripe, crushed, and destemmed grapes are rapidly heated to 160°F-200°F (achieving pasteurization) for a minute or less and then immediately put under vacuum. In the vacuum, the grape skins rupture and the structure of the grapes’ skin cells are broken down, thereby releasing color components (anthocyanins), as well as aroma compounds.

The technique was originally developed to extract flavors out of fruits, however, France’s INRA (Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique) then applied the technology to wine in the early 1990’s. The use of the vacuum differentiates it from other forms of flash pasteurization or thermovinification.

The process wasn’t developed for the purposes of making kosher wine, but it accomplishes the goal quite nicely. Flash détente has other benefits as well. It doesn’t over-extract harsh tannins, as some other methods of extracting color from grapes have a tendency to do. It also turns out to reduce pyrazines, compounds which contribute to green, bell pepper flavors and aromas in certain grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Sauvignon Blanc (they’re all related). Also, by killing off microbes in the wine, you reduce the possibility of off flavors.

To their knowledge, they’re the only ones making wines from 100% grapes that have gone through flash détente–typically it’s used for a portion of a blend. According to the crew at Covenant the only real downside is that they have found that their mevushal wines don’t age quite as well as the rest of their wines. Therefore, they’re intended to be drunk young.

(Ok, I realize that this is all pretty geeky. However, if you want to geek out even more, check out this article on WinesandVines.com and this product sell sheet I found describing the technology. I found the “flash water” section on the WineandVines.com article particularly interesting.)

The full line of Covenant Wines.

Covenant makes both mevushal and non-mevushal wines and there are really beautiful wines among all the offerings. And again, it was such a fun visit. I turned out to have a lot in common with co-owner Jeff Morgan–he also worked at Wine Spectator and is also very interested in food and wine pairing. He and his wife Jodie (who is also a co-owner) have written eight cookbooks together!

I really want to thank Jeff, general manager Sagie Kleinlerer, and winemaker Jonathan Hadju for a wonderful visit, as well as Kristin for letting me tag along. (Be sure to check out Kristin's site Nourish.)

Kristin and I with Covenant Wines Co-Owner Jeff Morgan.

THE PAIRING

Photo credit on all of the food and wine shots: Greg Hudson. The bottle of Neshama was provided as a sample.

And now it’s time for a little soul. (That’ll make sense in a sec.)

Today’s wine is Covenant’s Neshama Sonoma County 2014. It’s a blend of Petit Verdot, Malbec, and Syrah (60/30/10). Neshama means “soul” or “spirit” in Hebrew and it’s made by selecting the winery’s favorite barrels out of Sonoma (from grapes other than Cab) to create a wine that reflects the “soul” of the vintage.

I loved this wine and brought it home from the visit to the winery. (Full disclosure, it was given to  me as a sample at the winery. Please note, however, that all opinions are my own.) I sat down with Greg to taste it again and to plan a dish to pair with it that same evening. The wine had a mix of red and black fruits–berries, dark plum sauce, and black cherries. There were hints of spice along with smoked paprika, and mix red pepper and green peppercorns. Light herbals notes of bramble and tomato leaf added interest, along with a smoky meaty quality. There were substantial tannins, but they were supple, and while it’s a big wine it had enough acidity to back it up. It was velvety with a long finish.

Given that this wine was quite bold, we thought it would be perfect for a really meaty dish. It was a chilly night and something warm and cozy seemed in order. Plus, something “soulful” seemed right in line with the wine. Greg had been craving goulash (Hungarian beef stew seasoned with paprika and other spices) for a while and that actually seemed like a perfect match for the deep, smoky flavors in the wine.

I looked at several recipes in creating this goulash for reference, including this one from SeriousEats.com, among others. I decided to play the smoky qualities up further by combining some smoked paprika with the usual sweet paprika. A smattering of herbs brought out those hints in the wine. We also found that adding a little cocoa rounded out and deepened all the flavors.

When making a stew, most recipes will have you put mirepoix veggies in a stew at the beginning, strain them out, then add new ones in the final phase of cooking, once the first batch has become mushy. This is also the method I was taught in culinary school. Honestly, I get not wanting to have the mushy vegetables, but at the same time it’s such a pain in the butt to strain them out. It also seems a little wasteful to me.

I developed a little technique of my own to skip this step. I pull out the chunks of meat–they tend to be bigger and are much easier to fish out than all the veg–then I use an immersion blender to smooth out the veggies. This helps create a thicker consistency without making a roux out of extra butter or flour. I then just add the meat back in with the new veggies and keep on cooking. I find it a whole lot easier and nothing goes to waste. One more shortcut–I often use baby carrots in stews when I don’t feel like chopping as much. Obviously, cutting up whole carrots work as well.

The wine and the goulash danced together. It was seamless pairing. The wine really picked up the paprika and herbs in the sauce and brought those qualities out further. The wine even seemed more structured with the stew; in particular, an extra level of brightness came out in the wine.

A hearty, thick piece of bread to soak up all the sauce is the perfect final accessory to the meal.

YUM!

GEEKY DETAILS

The grapes for this wine are sourced from various vineyards in Sonoma County. The winery has long-standing relationships with growers in Bennett Valley, Sonoma Mountain, Dry Creek Valley, and Sonoma Valley, as well as in Napa and Lodi for their other wines.

Production notes taken from the tech sheet:

•    All native yeast fermentation.
•    Native malolactic fermentation
•    Unfined and unfiltered
•    Aged for 18 months in 100% French Oak (30%new)
•    169 cases produced

This wine is Kosher for Passover.

MONEY TALK



The SRP on the Neshama is $72, which is definitely a Splurge. However, it drinks beautifully and I would say this is still competitive with other top tier wines from Sonoma and Napa.

That said the winery makes quite a few other wines at less expensive price points. I highly recommend The Tribe Chardonnay. It’s wonderfully balanced and elegant Chard and has an SRP of  $32.

OTHER POSSIBILITIES

This is a big, bold stew and can handle a big, bold wine–bring out the big guns. I think the spice factor that tends to come from oak treatment in the New World reds works well here. (Within reason, that is–-I don’t care for wines that are over-oaked to the point you feel like you’re tasting a piece of wood.) It can also handle substantial tannins, but ideally the tannins are ripe and sweet. Warmer Old World reds from areas like Ribera del Duero or the Douro should also work well.

Let me know if you find another pairing you love with this!