I know this year looks pretty different for a lot of us, and most of our celebrations are considerably scaled down from the usual thanks to the Zombie Apocalypse. Nonetheless, I hope you're finding ways to feast, share, feast, and find pockets of love and joy even if we're not with as many of our loved ones as we might want to be. (On the other hand, maybe you're being saved some awkward conversations with family members you don't speak to often and are just as happy to avoid. If so, then cheer for you!) For our part, we'll be celebrating with two friends we regularly pod-up with and the fours of us will be having a weekend of feasting.
However, you're celebrating, if you're looking for pairing help for tomorrow, check out this Thanksgiving Pairing Guide Round-Up I put up last year. This year, I thought I'd start a tradition of sharing highlights from the previous year. This year, it's also serving as a nice trip down memory lane to think of family that's far away.
In normal times, we typically celebrate Thanksgiving with Greg's family, which is typically hosted by my sister-in-law Hillary, who always makes a parade-o-pies, which you can glimpse in the picture at the top. I will definitely miss gorging myself on those tomorrow. Next to the pies – and of course, the people – my favorite part of Thanksgiving is the smorgasbord of wines. There are a lot of wine geeks in the family, and many bring several bottles.
Last year, my brother-in-law Dave (who is quite possibly responsible for sending me down the wine geek rabbit hole) and his wife Julia, hosted the event. It was a little smaller than usual, but it was a particularly nice holiday for me as my parents joined us as well. It's nice to be able to fall back on those memories now.
Just a few memories from that weekend.
And here's a glimpse at the feast.
Turkey in the first 2, roasted delicate squash with cheese, bacon and pepitas, stuffing, herbed mushrooms, mashed potatoes, roasted carrots with nuts and crispy sage, and mushroom Wellington pockets. Dave and Julia made the turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes. My mom made the mushrooms. I made the squash, carrots, and Wellington pockets. Group effort!
Of course, with one of the bigger wine geeks in the family hosting, of course wine continued to be a big piece of the puzzle.
These were the wines that kicked things off, and a good example of three styles that I think should always be candidates for the Thanksgiving table: sparkling, Chardonnay, and rosé. We had theSommariva Prosecco di Conegliano-Valdobbiane Superiore Brut DOCG (avg. price $17), Hanzell Vineyards Sebella Chardonnay Sonoma Valley (avg. price $32), and the Hamel Family WinesEstate Rosé from Sonoma County. (Sorry, not sure of the vintage on the latter 2.) Chards tend to go really well with a roasted turkey with gravy, as well as a lot of the savory sides, and even quite a bit of lightly sweet sides like squash and carrots – the Hanzell is a beautiful example. Sparkling wines, in particular a fruity style like this Prosecco Superiore DOCG, and rosés are utlity players because they can both serve as aperitifs and they go well with all kinds of dishes on the table, often even sweeter, hard to pair sides.
The Derby Wine Estates Cabernet Franc Paso Robles 2012 was definitely full-bodied, but it had herbal notes mixed in that worked well with some of the savory dishes, and the tannins were smooth and ripe, so not super aggressive. A good option for those who just crave a big, bold red.
Finally, the Miles 10 Year Old Rich Tinta Negra Madeira was sweet but had lots of brightness as well, along with notes of blood orange skin, dates, touch of cherry, clove, and coffee and I thought it was delicious with apple pie!
Now as is often the case when family and friends are traveling in from various places, Thanksgiving was actually a multi-day affair. Several of those dinners had wines worth sharing for the holiday as well.
Last year, we kicked off the first night of feasting with a dinner out with just Greg's and my parents at Mägo, one of our favorite restaurants here in Oakland. A lot of the dishes were Thanksgiving-esque , although turkey was kept out of the picture.
I think we pretty much ordered everything available that night.
Top: Radicchio with wagon wheel cheese, pomegrante, and duck fat vinaigrette; Roasted young beets, persimmon mole, and buckwheat; Grilled skirt steak, honey nut squash, savoy cabbage, and walnut salsa.
Middle: Sturgeon, Mt. rose potato, fig leaf, curry, and leeks; Nettle tortellini, heirloom beans, Szechuan and sofrito; BBQ carrots couscous, brown butter, and black sesame sauce (always one of my favorites!).
Bottom: Charred Brussels sprouts, black pepper, and miso caramel, bloody butchers Johnny cakes w. salted strawberry and radishes; Fried brown rice, hedgehog mushroom, and a farm egg.
To accompany this all we had the Arnot-Roberts Sonoma Coast Syrah 2016, which was sleek and elegant, with a mix of berry, pepper, and spice notes. In a way, it was like a New World version of that Crozes-Hermitage up above – it hits the spot for something a little bigger, but isn't too over-powering.
And finally, the day after Thanksgiving, we all met up again for leftovers + dumplings I'd made under the instruction of my friend Delia.
For this round, we had several wines that would've also been great options.
We'll leave it here for now before I get even more carried away.
Have a very Happy Thanksgiving!
I ❤️ dessert wines. I know they’re not terribly fashionable these days, but I love them. I would love to have more people join me on this bandwagon, but if they’re just not your bag, it’s cool. More for me! 😉
Southern Bordeaux is home to some of the most celebrated and complex dessert wines around. The most famous of their sweet wine appellations is Sauternes, followed by Barsac. These wines are certainly worthy of their reputations, making particularly complex and harmonious wines, but famous names also come with high price tags. Luckily, there are several surrounding appellations that also make wines in the same style, but with prices that are more friendly to everyday enjoyment: Loupiac, Cadillac, Sainte-Crox-du-Mont, Cérons, as well the broader appellations of Premières Côtes de Bordeaux and Côtes de Bordeaux Saint-Macaire. Today we’re going to look at wine from Loupiac.
Wines from all of the regions make wonderful pairings for cheeses and fruit desserts. They’re also famously good matches for foie gras.
Noble Rot
But what makes the wines of this region so compelling? First up, the grapes for these wines are harvested about two months after the grapes for still table wines. During this time, the grapes start to dry out on the vine, which concentrates the sugar in the grapes.
The real secret ingredient in the sauce, though, is rot. You read that right. Rot. Specifically, the rot in question is Botrytis cinerea. Under typical conditions, when this fungus attacks the grapes on a vine, it takes over, ruins the grapes, and it’s just as nasty as you would expect rot to be. However, when the conditions are just right so that the rot grows at a slow and steady pace, and if you have certain types of grapes, something completely magical happens and heavenly flavors emerge.
This cluster of appellations in southern Bordeaux has all the right elements to pretty regularly create the magic. This is quite special as it only happens with a degree of reliability in a few places in the world, but it doesn’t necessarily happen every year either. That said, the climate here has certain important elements that lend themselves to the creation of botrytis. It tends to be foggy and misty in the mornings thanks to the Garonne River and its Ciron tributary. However, it turns sunny and warm in the afternoons, allowing the moisture on the grapes to dry a bit, slowing down the progress of the rot. The botrytis drys out the grapes, concentrating the sugars in the juice. It also changes the flavors in the grapes as well, making them more complex. The alchemy in the grapes under these conditions is so celebrated that when botrytis happens in this way, we call it “Noble Rot.”
Picture borrowed from Bordeaux.com. Fun fact: Botrytis is also responsible for giving us Stilton!
The same key grapes are used in all of Bordeaux’s sweet appellations. Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc are the star players. Sémillon is very skinned and so particularly susceptible to botrytis. Sauvignon Blanc is also pretty susceptible to the fungus, but it has more acidity than Sémillon and adds brightness to the blend. Muscadelle is also permitted, but rarer than the others. It brings floral notes to the party. Sauvignon Gris is also allowed in some of the appellations.
The combo of the grapes, the late-harvests, and the botrytis create all kinds of wonderful flavors. You can expect a mix of stone, citrus, and tropical fruit notes along with ginger, marmalade, honeysuckle, baking spices, along with sweeter notes like butterscotch and caramel.
Today we’re specifically looking at Loupiac, which is located just across the Garonne river from Sauternes and Barsac. Although on the opposite bank from the more famous appellations, the conditions are still good for noble root. Loupiac’s best wines come from grapes grown on the slopes just above the banks of the river. The wines from these sections get a nice mineral character from the clay and limestone soils in these hillsides.
Loupiac is a small appellation , but they’re particularly strict in some of their quality controls. They specify higher planting densities (2024 plants per acre), and also require that grape have higher must weights before picking (245 grams per liter for Semillon and 229g/L for Sauvignon Blanc or other grapes). Higher must weights enable higher potential sweetness levels in the final wines.
All in all, the area makes wines of excellent value, if somewhat simpler in style than Sauternes. The wines tend to be full-bodied and show finesse on the palate. They can easily age for 2 to 5 years, and much longer for great vintages. They are best served well-chilled (8-9°C).
The history of Château Loupiac-Gaudiet dates back to the 18th century, and it has been in the ownership of Ducau family since 1919. Marc Ducau began helping his father around the property at the age of 14 and he became the third generation of the family to own it in 1964. It continues to be a full family affair today. In 1986, he invited his nephew, Daniel Sanfourche, to come join and he has been managing the company since 1995. His wife Marie-Laurence has been in charge of the commercial and administrative parts of the company since 1991, and their son Nicolas also joined the family business in 2014.
They’re very committed to the production of sweet wines, and 26 out of their 30 hecatores are dedicated to growing grapes for this purpose, although they also make a red wine under the label Château Pontac. Sémillon is the main variety for their dessert wines, with a bit of Sauvignon Blanc. Grapes are hand-harvested, usually in two to three passes through the vineyards to give the grapes a chance to develop to optimal conditions.
I received the Château Loupiac-Gaudiet Loupiac 2016 as a media sample (please note, no other compensation was received and all opinions are my own) for participation in this month’s French Winophiles (#Winophiles) blogging event. On the nose, it shows notes of orange blossoms, orange creamsicle, apricots, a spritz of lemon, a hint of ginger, and touch of candied mango and pineapple. All of these notes continue on the palate, along with light hints of candy cap mushroom and almond. The wine has a delicately creamy mouthfeel, and is silky with little punch at the end where a bit of tang blends with the wines minerality.
Quick aside, the winery makes half the of the château available for guests to stay at. It looks quite lovely and I'm definitely making note of this for future, post-Covid travel. See more details here.
Geeky Details
Blend: 90% Sémillion, 10% Sauvignon | SRP: $17 | Alc: 13% Average VineAge: 45 years old Soil: Clay and limestone Vineyards and Harvest : Vineyards face southward on hill that overlook the Garonne river. As best I can tell, the vineyards are farmed sustainably via lutte raisonnée practices. Grapes are harvested by hand as soon as the botrytis appears, through several passes through the vineyard. Winemaking and Maturation: Traditional with temperature control. Careful pressing with a pneumatic press (slow in order to minimise the risk of damage) slow fermentation to conserve aromas.Matured on fine lees for a minimum of 12 months. Regular, delicate rackings in perfect hygienic conditions. Ageing Recommendations: 2-5 years if you want it fresh and fruity, 5- 10 if you prefer more richness, 10 – 30 years if you prefer more candied nut notes. Wine and Food Pairing: Aperitif, white meats, cheeses, fruit and chocolate desserts, foie gras, lightly spicy meals.
Details taken from the tech sheet. You can find a version here.
The Pairing
The creamy sweetness of the dessert wines of Bordeaux often remind me a bit of crème brûlée, so I thought I’d try to pair them together. I first made a version of this Cinnamon Apple version a couple of years ago, loved it, and thought it a good time to try it out again. It’s essentially a classic crème brûlée but with a little hint of cinnamon. Then when crack through the sugar crust, there’s a cinnamon apple surprise hidden below the custard. It has a delightfully autumnal feel!
I’ve taken to making custards like this one using my sous vide cooker because it pretty much takes all the guesswork out of it. I used Lisa Q. Fetterman’s recipe for Vanilla Crème Brûlée in Sous Vide at Home as the basis for mine. It maybe has a slightly little thicker consistency than some versions of crème brûlée, but it’s just so easy and no-stress. You can certainly (and I have) make a crème brûlée via the traditional method and just put a layer of cinnamon apples at the base.
On this particular occasion, I happened to have apple butter I made on hand and decided to intensify the apple flavor by adding a thin layer at the very base of the ramekin. This is completely optional, and in the past I only made it with the apple filling.
The flavors of the wine and these crème brûlée worked together very well. However, the custard was a little sweeter than the wine and it tamped down the fruitiness in the wine a little bit. Next time I would just reduce the quantity of the sugar a little bit (as noted in the recipe) if I was planning to serve it in this pairing. It’s delightful as it is if you’re planning to enjoy the crème brûlée on its own.
Prep Time: 15 MinCooking Time: 65 Mininactive time: 3 HourTotal Time: 4 H & 19 M
The custard for this recipe is based on Lisa Q. Fetterman’s recipe for Vanilla Crème Brûlée in Sous Vide at Home. I have found that using a sous vide circulatormakes preparing tricky custards very easy and pretty much takes all the guesswork out of it. You can also easily adapt your favorite traditional crème brûlée recipe by putting a layer of the apple filling at the base of the ramekins and adding a pinch of cinnamon to the custard base.
Ingredients
Cinnamon Crème Brûlée
6 large egg yolks
½ cup granulated sugar (Note: If you’re making this to pair with the recommended wine pairing, I’d recommend pulling back the quantity to ⅓ cup.)
1 Tbsp vanilla extract or vanilla paste, or 1 vanilla pod, split lengthwise and seeds scraped
Generous pinch of cinnamon
Pinch of salt
1 ½ cups heavy cream
2 Tbsps (about ½ Tbsp per ramekin) brown sugar (You can also substitute a coarse sugar like turbinado or Demerara)
Apple Filling
2 to 3 apples, diced into small to medium-sized chunks (the number of apples just depends on how much apple filling you’d like at the bottom of your crème brûlée.)
2 Tbsps of butter
1 Tbsp sugar
Generous pinch of cinnamon, or to taste
2 Tbsp lemon juice
(optional) 3 to 4 Tbsp Apple butter
Instructions
Preheat your sous vide water bath to 181.4 °F (83°C) and your oven to 400°F.
Mix the custard. In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, granulated sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt until smooth – specks of cinnamon and vanilla will be visible in the mixture. Whisk in the cream (along with the vanilla pod if using) until combined.
Pour the mixture into a quart-size (at least) freezer-safe ziplock bag and seal by using the water displacement method or the table-edge method. See notes.
Once the water hits the desired temperature, place the bag of custard into the water, making sure it is fully submerged (it might require weighting down) and cook for 1 hour.
Make the apple filling while the custard is cooking. Grease a medium baking dish or oven-safe pan with butter. Toss the diced apples with the tablespoon of sugar, cinnamon, lemon juice, and remaining butter and place in the prepared pan. Cover (if the pan doesn’t have a lid, tent with foil) and bake until the apple pieces are tender but toothsome – approximately 30 to 40 minutes – stirring halfway through. Remove the pan from the oven and set aside.
Build the crème brûlées. Once the custard is cooked, remove the bag from the water bath and give it a shake to redistribute the contents and reblend the spices in the mixture. If using, spread a light layer of apple butter (about a tablespoon each) at the base of each of four 4-ounce ramekins or crème brûlée dishes, then evenly distribute the diced apples between them. Carefully pour or ladle the custard evenly between the ramekins on top of the apples. (Alternatively, you can also snip the corner from the ziplock bag and pipe the custard from the bag and into the ramekins. Be sure to discard the vanilla bean pod, if using.) Tap the bottom of each dish against the countertop to smooth out the custards and remove air bubbles. Transfer the ramekins to the refrigerator and chill for at least 3 hours. (If refridgerating for longer than that, wrap the ramekins in plastic wrap.)
Remove the ramekins from the fridge a little before you’re ready to serve to allow them to come up to temperature. Sprinkle the brown sugar (about 1 ½ tsp per ramekin) over each custard, using the back of a spoon to spread the sugar out in an even layer. Although you might need more or less sugar depending on the size and shape of the ramekin. You want just enough sugar to cover the surface of the custard.
Point a blowtorch directly at the surface of the sugar (the tip of the flame should almost touch the sugar) and move the flame back and forth until all of the sugar is melted and browned, 30 to 60 seconds. (Note: If you don’t have a blowtorch you can place the custards under the broiler for a few minutes, although you might not be able to achieve the same level of shatteringly crisp sugar crust.)
Serve immediately.
Notes:
To seal the bag the water-displacement method, close the zipper almost all the way, leaving about an inch open. Carefully lower the bag into the water, letting the water press out the air. Once most of the air is out, seal the bag completely, then allow it to drop into the water.
For the table-edge method, pour the custard into a freezer-safe, double-sealed ziplock bag and partially close the bag. Hold the bag against a table or counter with the liquid hanging over the edge and the zipper portion on top of the ledge. Use the edge to help push out any remaining air, then finish sealing the bag.
The rest of the French Winophiles (#Winophiles ) are exploring Sweet Wines of Bordeaux, hosted by Linda ofMy Full Wine Glass. You can read her invitationhere. Also, thanks to Jeff ofFood Wine Click!for arranging samples for the group.
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Don’t get me wrong friends, I love Napa and Sonoma; however, there’s more to California wine than these two counties. They’re famous for good reason, but sadly, they tend to overshadow all the other amazing areas making wonderful wines in this state –– a lot of which are making wines that are far more wallet-friendly to boot! Since we moved back to California five years ago (Wow, how the time has flown!) Greg and I have been making a point to try to visit and get to know more about these areas, and it has been incredibly rewarding.
Case in point, last year we decided to spend a weekend in Lodi, which is basically directly east of the Bay Area where we live. I admit that it’s easy to overlook this region as it’s home to a lot of big brands, making a lot of big, jammy wines that aren’t always all that well-made. As is often the case though, taking a closer look can be very worthwhile.
For one thing, this is an area with a lot of winemaking history (in US terms anyway), since they’ve been growing wine grapes since at least the 1850s. The region is particularly known for its old vine Zinfandel, as they have vines dating back to the early 20th century.
Lodi is also home to one of California’s most comprehensive sustainability certification programs, Lodi Rules, which looks at many aspects of grape-growing and winemaking across various spectrums. (You can find out more about it here.) The program is so rigorous that it has even been adopted by wineries in other countries. (For example, Golan Heights Winery in Israel, which we took a look at in a couple of posts, is certified under Lodi Rules.)
History, old vine Zins, and sustainable winemaking are all reasons enough to give the area a second look, but we also found several wineries working with unexpected grapes, making wines with a lighter hand than one might typically expect from this region. Acquiesce Winery & Vineyards was one of these spots that surprised and delighted us with their wines. Flying in the face of everything one expects of Lodi wine, this winery makes only white and rosé wines from Rhône grape varieties.
The Tiptons had purchased their vineyard property not with the intention of making wine, but simply to have the joy of living in the country. In the meantime, Susan fell in love with Rhône’s white grapes after trying a white Chateauneuf-du-Pape from BevMo! She tried to search out more, but they can be tricky to find, and that ultimately sent her down a new path. She elaborated on this point in an interview with Wine Business Monthly:
“I basically tried to buy more of it as a wine drinker and then when I couldn’t, just explored the possibility of planting it here in Lodi,” Tipton said. “I started with Grenache Blanc and really loved what came out of that and planted the other varietals. I wanted to focus on whites and do them right. I always felt that the white was like a second-class citizen in a winery. It was like, ‘Here’s a white and then let’s talk about our beautiful reds,’” she said.
Making wine started out as a hobby, but it took off. Once she decided to start making her own wine, she and her husband pulled out the majority of the Zinfandel that had been planted on their 18-acre property – the grapes of which they’d profitably sold up until that point – and replanted 10.5 acres with white varieties including Grenache Blanc, Picpoul Blanc, Clairette Blanche, Bourboulenc, Roussanne, Viognier, as well as Grenache for Rosé. The new label took its name from a K.D. Lang song the couple liked.
Despite being known for big red wines, Lodi’s warm, Mediterranean climate with cool evening breezes turned out to be perfect for these white Rhône varieties. (It’s, after all, quite similar to their home region.) However, finding information on making white wine proved tricky, as there was a lot less info available than for red wines. She enlisted a friend to help her out, and brought on Heather Pyle Lucas, as consulting winemaker. Lucas was one of the founding winemakers at Opus One Winery and now lives in Lodi, making wine at Lucas Winery with her husband. “I was the winemaker, but she was my coach,” Susan explained to us on our visit. Nowadays, it’s basically her and her husband doing most of the work in the winery, plus a few helpers at various points during the year.
Greg and I at Acquiesce in 2019. (Note:
Our tasting was comped, as I’m a member of the wine industry. No other
compensation was received and all opinions are my own.)
When Greg and I visited Acquiesce last year, Susan guided us through the tasting and graciously showed us around her winery. One feature of the tasting experience I particularly loved is that each wine is poured with a small bite to give you an idea of how to pair it at home. They even shared recipe cards, so that you can recreate some of their pairing suggestions for yourself. In addition, they have many of the featured condiments for sale in the tasting room.
Here’s are very quick tasting notes for the wines we tasted on our visit and their pairings. You can find more details and current vintages on their website.
Note: All prices listed here are for the current vintage listed, rather than for the vintage listed here.
Picpoul Blanc 2018
Price: $28
Tasting Notes: Green apple, citrus, white flowers, and white grapefruit. The citrus notes, particularly the white grapefruit, intensify further on the palate.
Pairing: Green olive tapenade on a pita cracker, which brought out more minerality and a savory note in the wine. It was also recommended with oysters and other seafood. (Check out this recipe for crab cakes paired with a French Picpoul.)
Grenache Blanc 2018
Price: $26
Tasting Notes: Perfumed with big white flower blossoms, white peach, tangerine skin, and a little grapefruit. This is their signature variety, as it was the first one they planted.
Pairing: Cheddar with violet flower confit. The goal was to bring out more of the wine’s floral character, and I also found it brought out the piquancy of the cheddar in a nice way. This pairing was a particular favorite with those working at the winery. Susan mentioned she also really enjoys this wine with sushi, as well as with steak tartare, as it helps cut the fattiness of the meat.
Clairette Blanche 2018
Price: $28
Tasting Notes: Honeysuckle, really bright tangerine, along with other mixed citrus notes, as well as a touch of tropical fruits on the nose. The wine became more savory on the palate, showing notes of fennel and other herbs, as well as potpourri.
Pairing: Spicy white bean dip on melba toasts. The pairing smoothed the wine out further, giving it an almost creamy mouthfeel in the combo. It was also recommended with Mexican food (which I think makes sense given how the spicy white bean dip worked), as well as raw scallops. It also works well with a wide array of cheeses.
I actually grabbed the recipe card for the simple, tasty spicy bean dip.
Belle Blanc 2017
Price: $34
Tasting Note: A mixed bouquet of flowers draws you in on the nose. Grapefruit pith, white peach join in on the palate, with white stones on the finish. This wine is an homage to the Chateauneuf-du-Pape blancs that piqued Susan Tipton’s interest.
Pairing: I don’t believe we had a pairing with this wine at the winery, but we brought a bottle home and really enjoyed it with a roasted chicken with lightly sweet soy-chili sauce.
Viognier 2018
Price: $26
Tasting Notes: Pear, small white flowers, a mixed fruit bowl, and lavender. Showed finesse on the palate. (Viognier can be viscous and weighty on the palate, this one was much lighter.)
Pairing: Mango chutney served on cheese. The wine becomes even lighter on its feet when had in the pairing.
Sparkling Grenache Blanc 2016
Price: $55
Tasting Notes: White flowers, some blanched almonds, brioche, mixed citrus. Very pretty.
Parings: We had this one on its own at the winery, but I noted popcorn, sushi, and fish and chips as possible pairings.
Grenache Rosé 2018
Price: $25
Tasting Notes: The wine had a very pretty nose of cherry blossoms, crushed berries, and cherries, with a touch of cream. It was bright and tangy on the palate, with strawberries, raspberries, cherries, peach, flowers, and orange skin. On my second tasting, I also picked up a light hint of spice and a very light herb note on the finish.
Pairing: This was paired with a cherry pepper jelly on a cracker, and we loved it so much that we could not resist buying a jar.
Grenache Rosé & a Stuffed Pork Loin Roast
I'm pretty certain I started conceiving the idea for the dish I’m sharing here below on that very afternoon, because I noted goat cheese and pork topped with the cherry pepper jelly in my notebook and the idea stuck in my brain since.
I got very similar tasting notes upon opening the bottle at home a few weeks ago, and the idea for this dish began to take shape. I decided to stuff a pork loin roast with goat cheese, as I’d originally planned, but added some greens, herbs, and almonds, then glazed it all with the cherry pepper jelly.
Butterflying a pork loin sounds tricky, but it’s actually pretty easy once you get the hang of it. If you’ve never done it before, check out this YouTube video for a little instruction. Sometimes, pork loin roasts come cut in half from the butcher, although it can be hard to tell when they’re tied up with kitchen twine. This turned out to be the case with mine, but the halves were large enough that I was able to butterfly the two smaller portions. You could also just sandwich the filling between the two halves and call it a day.
In addition, I decided to roast some delicate squash along with the pork, as I thought the wine would be able to stand up to the light sweetness. I topped the squash with some pomegranate seeds and more almond slivers for extra color and texture.
The squash seemed a perfect option for fall, but you could easily swap in other vegetables that more seasonal at other times of year.
The wine worked beautifully with the stuffed pork – just as I’d hoped! It was solid with the squash as well but didn’t sing in the same way. That said, the fact that it worked as well as it did with the lightly sweet squash makes me think that this wine would be a great option for Thanksgiving, where we tend to have so many different flavors on the table.
OTHER POSSIBILITIES
Given that this was a fair amount of meat and that there were only two of us to eat it all, we had several chances to try several other wines with this dish. A California Chardonnay and a Gamay Noir from Tessier Winery both worked solidly well with the dish overall, although this rosé was still my favorite with the pork. The juicy Gamay perhaps worked a bit better with the squash.
pork, squash, fall, autumn, goat cheese,
dinner
American
Servings: 6 to 10 (depending on the size of the roast)
Glazed Pork Loin Roast Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Kale with Delicata Squash
Ingredients
1 (3 to 5 lb) pork loin roast (this roast was about 4 lbs)
¼ tsp allspice (or as needed)
½ onion, diced
1 cup chopped kale (spinach would also work well)
4 to 6 sprigs of thyme, divided
About ⅛ cup chopped sage leaves, divided
4 to 8 oz goat cheese (I used approximately 6 oz for a 4 lb roast)
1/2 cup chopped almonds (divided)
2 to 3 Tbsp cherry pepper jelly (feel free to substitute another flavor of your choosing)
4 small delicata squash, thinly sliced (cleaned and seeds removed)
¼ cup pomegranate seeds
Salt
Pepper
Cooking oil, as needed
Cooking twine
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 325 F.
Sweat the onion in a lightly oiled pan over medium to medium-high heat until soft, translucent, and cooked through – about 12 to 15 minutes. Add the kale and continue to cook until the leaves are softened as well. Season with salt and pepper. Pick the leave from two to three of the thyme sprigs and stir into the mixture along with the sage.
If the pork has been butterflied and tied (as in the case of the one pictured), open it up and separate it into halves. (If the halves are large enough to butterfly, do so carefully.) If it’s all in one piece, slice the pork roast almost through, so that it can open like a book. Open it up to lay flat, cut side up. In either case, once the pork is cut, place a sheet of plastic wrap over the pork and pound to flatten.
Sprinkle the meat all over with salt, pepper, and allspice and rub into the meat. Sprinkle and spread the goat cheese on the meat, leaving about a ½ inch of space from the edge of the meat. Spread the onions and kale on top of the goat cheese, followed by half of the almonds. (If the pork came precut into two pieces that aren’t thick enough to butterfly, you can sandwich the filling between the two halves and secure it with cooking twine or toothpicks.)
Roll the pork up, then tie it with kitchen twine. Using a brush or a spoon, spread the jelly in a thin layer over the rolled pork.
Place the delicata squash in a greased roasting pan and sprinkle salt, pepper, a pinch of allspice, and the remaining thyme and sage on the squash. Nestle the pork in among the squash slices. (Note: If you’re working with a single larger piece of pork, add the squash to the roasting pan halfway through the cooking process.)
Place the pork in the oven and roast until a meat thermometer registers at least 145°F. (As the pork rests, it will continue to rise in temperature another 5 to 10°.) Depending on the size of the piece of meat and how it was cut this timing can vary widely from about 1 to 2 hours. (For example, the pork roast used here came in two pieces, which were each butterflied, rolled, and stuffed. These two smaller pieces took about 1 hour to cook. If the roast had come whole, it would’ve likely taken two hours.) Be sure to stir the squash periodically, through the cooking process.
Remove the pork from the oven once it has reached its ideal cooking temperature and let it rest for 10 minutes. If you’d like a little additional browning on the squash, allow it to continue to cook while the pork rests, or place under the broiler for a minute or two.
Once removed from the oven, top the squash with the remaining almonds and the pomegranate seeds. Slice the pork into rounds and serve with the squash.
Notes:
This recipe gives various options for process and cooking times, as these can vary widely depending on the size of the pork loin roast and how it was cut. If you’re working with a smaller piece of pork or if your roast came cut into two pieces, as was the case with the one I purchased, your cooking times will tend toward the lower end – about 90 minutes with 15 to 20 minutes prep time in advance, for a total of about 1 hour and 50 minutes. In this case, it makes sense to add the squash to the roasting pan with the pork from the beginning. If you’re working with a larger piece of pork, you might choose to add the squash after 45 min to an hour. For larger cuts, cooking times could be up to about 2 hours and 30minutes with 15 to 20 minutes prep time in advance, for a total of about 2 hours and 50 minutes. In either case, the majority of the cooking time is inactive.
The rest of the members of the Wine Pairing Weekend (#winepw) blogging group are also exploring US wines from lesser known areas, hosted by Susannah of Avvinare .You can read her invitation here. Be sure to check out the rest of the group's posts:
