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Perfect pairings from the other side of the equation.

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I think I’ve made my appreciation of France’s Loire Valley known. It produces an incredibly diverse array of food-friendly wines, many at very reasonable prices. This region, with its plethora of romantic chateaux (I sooooooo want to visit), is also a treasure trove for wine drinkers interested in sustainable, organic, biodynamic, and natural wines. About 30% of Loire Valley vineyards today are farmed sustainably or organically, with the numbers increasing each year. Moreover, many of the country’s most celebrated and earliest adopters of these practices come from the banks of the Loire River.

Map borrowed from WineFolly.com. 

Today we’re opening a bottle from one of those celebrated OG’s of organics/biodynamics – Domaine Huet. This domaine has been a standard-bearer for Vouvray, and by extension Chenin Blanc, for a very long time. They make wines in the spanning Chenin’s full range – sparkling, dry, semi-dry, and dessert styles. I’ve never had a bottle from Huet that wasn’t freak’n delicious! 

The domaine was founded in 1928 after Victor Huët, formerly a Parisian bistro owner returned from World War II with shattered nerves and lungs. He resettled in Vouvray and purchased the first of the domaine’s famed vineyards, Le Haut-Lieu. Victor’s son Gaston worked with his father from the very start and built up the winery’s reputation for quality over the next 55 years.He eventually brought on his son-in-law, Noël Pinguet, and 1979 by chef de culture, Jean-Bernard Berthomé. As Gaston got older he decided he needed a partner and ultimately brought on New Yorker Anthony Hwang. Today the domaine is owned and operated by his children, brother-sister duo, Sarah & Hugo Hwang, who have worked hard to preserve the legacy by maintaining key members of the team.

The vineyards at Domaine Huet have always been worked without chemicals, but in the late 1980s Gaston Huët, Pinguet, and Bertholmé heard grape grower François Bouchet extolling the benefits of biodynamics at a conference, and decided to try it out for themselves. They put the principles into practice in 1988, by 1990 all of their vineyards were being farmed biodynamically, and they received their Demeter certification in 1993. 

Sarah Hwang described the domaine’s history with biodynamics in a 2019 article for SevenFiftyDaily:

 “Never in the history of the estate have we used chemical fertilizers or pesticides . . . After the Second World War, there was a harmony that was lost,” says Hwang. “Biodynamics offered the possibility of reconnecting with nature. For us, the philosophy is really about balance.”


Map borrowed from WineFolly.com. 


THE WINE AND PAIRING

For this post, I decided to open a rather special bottle of Domaine Huet that has been in “my cellar” for quite a while – the Domaine Huet Vouvray Clos du Bourg Moelleux Première Trie 2006. 



Chenin’s high acidity makes it a good candidate for aging in general, and when made by a winery of the caliber of Domain Huet’s, it’s very likely that you have a bottle that can be easily laid down for a very long time. Sugar is another preservative, and moelleux is among the sweetest styles of Vouvray. (If you see the term liquoreux, that’s the sweetest style, but this is up there.) All together this 2006 was alive and kick’n – no sweat. In fact, we accidentally left the bottle out overnight after opening it, not realizing there was a little wine left in the bottle – the wine was still totally fine when I tried it the next morning.

Moelleux styles are also typically botrytized wines and showed the honeyed character and complexity that goes with noble rot. (Check out this post for a more in-depth description of botrytis.) Because noble rot affects grapes unevenly, growers working with botrytized grapes will often collect them in various “tries” or passes through the vineyards. Première Tries, therefore, means “first selection” and essentially indicates that the wine is made from the best grapes of the vintage. 

Huet has three principal vineyards – Le Haut-Lieu, Le Mont, and Clos du Bourg. All three are located on Vouvray’s “Première Côte” (or “first slope”), home to the majority of the region’s best vineyards – basically, the Grand Cru of the area. Today’s bottle comes from Clos du Bourg, an ancient, walled vineyard. Gaston Huet believed it to be the greatest of all Vouvray vineyards as it has the Première Côte’s shallowest, stoniest soils. The wines tend to balance intense minerality and generous texture.

On the day we opened this bottle, I picked up notes of candied grapefruit, tangerine, ginger, and honeysuckle on the nose. The wine was very layered on the palate. The tangerine and honeyed grapefruit notes were joined by bruised golden apples and dried tropical fruits. This is definitely a sweet wine, but the sweetness is balanced by a pleasant hint of bitterness like grapefruit pith was mixed in, as well as earthy notes of straw and stones, and even a touch of chamomile. Greg compared it to pink grapefruit lemonade sweetened with honey. 

Although this is a dessert wine, I thought I’d try to create an entrée to pair with it. I immediately thoughts of duck a l’orange. The tiny hint of bitterness I picked in the wine also made me think of gastrique, which blends sugar and a sour element like citrus juice or vinegar. That’s the idea I ran with and chose a mixture of grapefruit and lemon juice to create a version of this sweet-and-sour sauce. 

The sauce topped simply prepared sous vide pork tenderloin. I really think sous vide cooking is ideal for preparing pork tenderloin since it makes this otherwise easy-to-overcook cut pretty foolproof. To complete the dish, I roasted some sliced carrots which were glazed in a bit of the gastrique and tossed with wilted kale and a little blue cheese. 

It was a very good match as the flavors in the wine and the dish mirrored each other nicely. The blue cheese made for a great salty contrast. In fact, I liked how those two worked so well that I cut a couple of additional slices of cheese for us to enjoy with the wine after dinner. The wine also wasn’t half bad with dark salted chocolate with almond, complementing the chocolate the way it might work with candied oranges.


 

GEEKY DETAILS

The current average price on this wine is $99. The release price is usually in the $60-$70 range.

Alcohol: 12.5%

If Vouvray is new to you, I invite you to check out this post where you’ll find a cheat sheet on the background and details of the region.  Here's an infographic from WineFolly.com that shares the basics on Vouvray.


I couldn’t a find tech sheet describing the winemaking for this wine (neither for current nor past vintages) but you can find additional information on the winery and its wines the Rare Wine Co. and Polaner Selections. 

One more quick note, Domaine Huet has always held back a good percentage of wines, so it’s not uncommon to find library vintages out in the world. They’re a good bet if you’re interested in older vintages since both the house and the grape are known for their ageability. 


OTHER POSSIBILITIES


As I mentioned above, I think this would be fantastic with duck à l'orange, as well as with Peking Duck, and other sweeter Asian dishes. 


It’d also be perfect with strong cheeses and fruit desserts, particularly those featuring peaches, apples, pears, or candied citrus. I’m conjuring up images of apple strudel. 


For a dessert pairing, consider this Cinnamon Apple Crème Brûlée. I think you could easily swap the wines and pairings in these two posts.


LoireValleyWine.com recommends sweet styles of Vouvray “as an aperitif, or with desserts featuring apples, pears, nougat or almond paste; blue cheese such as Fourme d’Ambert, Roquefort and Bleu d’Auvergne.” 

*****

sous vide, pork tenderloin, gastrique, sweet-and-sour
dinner
French
Servings: 4
By: Nicole Ruiz Hudson
Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin with Citrus Gastrique and Roasted Carrots with Kale and Blue Cheese

Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin with Citrus Gastrique and Roasted Carrots with Kale and Blue Cheese

Prep Time: 10 MinCooking Time: 1 H & 10 MTotal Time: 1 H & 20 M

Ingredients

For the pork:
  • 1 pork tenderloin
  • ⅛ tsp white pepper
  • ⅛ tsp ginger
  • ⅛ tsp onion powder
  • 2 to 4 sprigs of thyme
  • lemon and/or grapefruit zest, a generous pinch, optional
  • Salt, as needed
  • Olive oil
For the carrots and kale:
  • 1 bunch of medium carrots, about 8, sliced into approximately ½” pieces
  • 2 to 3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar, or as needed
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 shallot, finely minced
  • 2 to 3 sprigs of thyme
  • 2 cups chopped kale
  • ¼ cup crumbled blue cheese, or to taste
  • Olive oil
  • Salt
  • Pepper
For the gastrique:
  • ½ cup of sugar
  • 2 Tbsp of water, or as needed
  • Juice of 1 lemon, reserve the zest for use on the pork and as garnish
  • Juice of ½ a grapefruit (about ½ a cup), reserve the zest for use on the pork and as garnish, optional
  • 1 or 2 sprigs of thyme
  • Pinch of salt

Instructions

  1. Set up sous vide immersion circulator and preheat water to desired final cooking temperature–In this case, I set it to 129°F for medium-rare. (Searing the pork at the final stage brought it closer to the medium by the end.)
  2. Preheat the oven to 375°F
  3. Prepare the Pork. Place the pork tenderloin in a heavy-duty, food-grade zipper bag. Season with the white pepper, ginger, onion powder, and salt, as well as a pinch of citrus zest if using. Drizzle with a little olive oil and add in the sprigs of thyme. Seal the bag using a vacuum sealer or via the water displacement method. Cook for 1 hour.  (Note: To use the water displacement method, zip up the majority of the bag leaving just an inch or open at the end. Lower the bag into the water–as you do so, the water on the outside of the bag will push out the remaining air in the bag. Once the bag is lowered the majority of the way into the water, zip up the remainder of the bag.)
  4. Prepare the carrots. Place the sliced carrots in a medium roasting pan – the pan just needs to be big enough to be able to arrange the carrot slices in roughly a single layer. Toss with the a generous pour of olive oil (about 2 tablespoons), apple cider vinegar, the Dijon mustard, the shallots, and generous pinches of salt and pepper. Add the sprigs of thyme. (You can pick the thyme leaves, but I find they tend separate from the sprig on their own while roasting.)
  5. Roast the carrots in the oven and roast for about one hour total, stirring after 25 to 30 minutes. I’d recommend checking on them after 45 to 50 minutes to gauge their doneness. They’re ready when a knife or fork inserted into them slides in with little resistance, but you can let them go longer if you prefer them softer and/or more caramelization.
  6. Make the gastrique while the pork and carrots are cooking. Stir together the sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium to medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and cook until the mixture turns deep caramel to amber (about 6 to 8 minutes), gently swirling or stirring occasionally to make sure the sugar is fully incorporated. (Don’t stray too far away, once the color begins to turn, it darkens quickly.) Reduce the heat, and mix in the citrus juices to the caramel – be careful and stand back just in case the mixture spits and splatters. Add the thyme sprigs and a pinch of salt, and allow the mixture to continue to reduce for a few minutes until it reaches a syrupy consistency. If the mixture becomes too thick, add a little more water or juice to loosen it up again. Keep warm until ready to serve.
  7. Once the carrots have cooked to the desired level, pour just enough gastrique on top to lightly glaze them once tossed, then set the rest aside again and keep warm. Toss the kale on top and place it all back in the oven for a couple of more minutes while the kale wilts. Toss and taste, and keep warm until ready to serve.
  8. Finish the pork. Remove the pork tenderloin from the bag and pat dry with paper towels. Heat a small amount of olive oil (or cooking oil of your choice) in a large pan over high heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the pork and sear until golden brown on all sides. Transfer the pork to a cutting board. Brush the tenderloin with a little gastrique and slice.
  9. Toss the carrots and kale with blue cheese crumbles just before serving. Serve the pork on a bed of the vegetables, with a little gastrique spooned on top or on the plate, and the rest of the gastrique on the side.
https://www.sommstable.com/2021/04/domaine-huet-vouvray-clos-du-bourg-and-pork-loin.html
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*****
 
Posts related to the Loire: 
  • French Wine 101 Cheat Sheet
  • Cooking to the Wine: Brendan Stater-West Saumur Les Chapaudaises and Chicken Thighs with Apples and Onions  
  • Champalou Vouvray Brut and a Very Lazy Cheese Night
  • Old World / New World Cab Franc Explorations  
  • Cooking to the Wine: Domaine Huet Vouvray Clos du Bourg Moelleux Premiere Trie & Pork Tenderloin with Citrus Gastrique 
  • 2 oz Pours: 16 French Wine Values
  • Crémants for Going Out and Staying In (Psst! They're Your New All-Purpose Bubblies!) 
  • A Wine & Cheese Night #MadeinFrance
 
 
 
*****

This month, join the French Winophiles hosted by Gwedolyn of Wine Predator, as we explore organic Loire:

  • Susannah Gold brings “Vouvray – A Wine In Many Styles” to Avinare.
  • Jane Niemeyer suggests “Tasting and Pairing Loire Valley Wines” on Always Ravenous
  • Linda Whipple shares “Organic Muscadet and must-have oysters” at My Full Wine Glass
  • Terri Steffes invites you to “A Tasty Dance: Red Beans and Rice with Les Parcelles Mark Dupas Sauvignon Blanc” on Our Good Life
  • Andrea Lemieux offers “Pascal Jolivet & Sancerre the Way Nature Intended” on The Quirky Cork
  • Cam Mann has “Porc aux Pruneaux (Pork with Prunes) + Chateau de Parnay Le Blason de Parnay 2018” on Culinary Adventures with Camilla
  • Host Gwendolyn Alley on Wine Predator shares “Loire’s Biodynamic Manor Tete de Rouge For Unusual Reds”

 


Additional Reading and Sources:

  • Winefolly.com
  • JancisRobinson.com
  • Wine-Searcher.com
  • Meet the Natural Wine Rebels Transforming France’s Loire Valley
  • Why is the Loire Valley the cradle of France's natural wine movement?


One of the beautiful things about working in wine is getting to hear all the amazing stories behind the bottles you’re selling/repping/sharing/drinking on a daily basis. When you get to hear about those wines from a really great wine storyteller, it, in turn, makes you excited to want to try that new bottle and learn more about it.

Eric Danch is one of those great wine storytellers in my book. When I was working at Bay Grape, I always knew that there’d be something delicious to try with an awesome story to go with it whenever he’d stop by to share the wines he was repping. I’ve heard him talk on panels and poured next to him during wine events at the store, and always walk away feeling like I’ve learned something new and pumped about it. It’s easy to tell that he’s very passionate about the wines he imports and that enthusiasm is infectious. 


He’s co-founder of Danch & Granger Selections, an import company that largely focuses on wines from Central and Eastern Europe. He and his business partner Catherine Granger started their company in 2019 as the “independent offspring of Blue Danube Wine Company, a pioneering importer of wines” from these regions. Basically, when Blue Danube's owner retired, Eric and Catherine created the new company which continues to rep many of the same wine, along with new additions.

I’ve mentioned in the past that wines from these regions and grapes have become increasingly grabbing my attention in the last few years. I find a lot of really food-friendly, interesting, and affordable selections from these areas, so I reach for them on a regular basis. Blue Danube, and now Danch & Granger are responsible for importing quite a few of the wines that have opened up my eye to these regions. They’re one of those importers I look for on the back of a label, and in fact, I mentioned them as one to keep an eye out for in An Ode to Godforsaken Grapes. You’ll find quite a few of their wines pictured throughout that post as well, and two others are featured in this post.

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A post shared by Danch and Granger Selections (@danchandgrangerselections)

(Aside: This post takes its name from one of Danch & Granger’s promotional T-shirts - as a fan of both the wines and Stranger Things, I got a huge kick out of seeing them.) 

This month the members of the Wine Pairing Weekend Blogging Group (#WinePW) are exploring  “Under the Radar European Wine Regions.” I can’t think of a better advocate for these regions, so I reached out to Eric and asked him to join me for a virtual Q & A. I’m also sharing a pairing for one of the many delicious wines they import at the end of this post, but first, here’s our conversation. 

Your company Danch & Granger Selections imports fascinating wines from many regions of Eastern and Central Europe (as well as a few New World wines) that might not be well known to many U.S. drinkers, often from grapes that are probably completely new to many people here. How did you come to fall in love with these wines and what inspires you to want to share them?

When I was a kid I would harass my parents by poorly retelling the punch lines from Saturday Night Live, In Living Color, and so on. If I had heard something amazing that they hadn’t it needed to be corrected. When I first started visiting these places, meeting the families, eating the food, and drinking the wines I felt the same urge. These are largely untold stories in the wine world and I feel lucky to be able to attempt to share them. Exploration and context make everything taste better. Hopefully, my recitation has improved over the years. 

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A post shared by Danch and Granger Selections (@danchandgrangerselections)

Hah! As a former theater kid who also loved SNL, I can totally relate to this. But more importantly, I fully agree that there are so many amazing wine stories out there that need to be shared, and there's so much to be explored beyond the handful of grapes and places everyone knows. Choosing wines to bring in must be both exciting and stressful. What are you looking for in the wines that you import? What motivates you to want to add a wine to the portfolio? 

It’s a bit like speed dating at first. It’s not purely transactional because they have wines I like.  I’m looking for long-term relationships. While there is a certain amount of vetting that’s done before a visit (farming and cellar practices etc…), it’s really a matter of is this someone I’m excited to see and grow with as a company.  Having been fortunate enough to travel to many of these regions for nearly a decade, I also follow the recommendations of those I’ve already established this trust with. Winemakers who are confident in what they do aren’t afraid of the competition and actually want to be a part of a larger community of like-minded people.  When all of this culminates with the wines being delicious it’s only a matter of if we can afford it or not.


I think a lot of people get a little intimidated by grapes and regions they don’t know. Do you have any recommendations on where to begin for wine drinkers who might want to expand their drinking horizons a bit but feel a bit cautious? What are some grapes or regions you might recommend as starting-off points?

While I empathize with the feeling of intimidation, part of what makes the wine world worth investing time, energy, and money into is never getting to the bottom of it. I’m humbled on the regular for regions I’m supposedly an expert in. Wines can also be an excuse to armchair travel someplace new, cook something outside your comfort zone, and listen to some music all centered on where the wine comes from. Mixing up food and wine routines is something we can more easily do especially when travel is difficult, expensive, or there’s some sort of global pandemic going on. 

 All that being said, there are some major native grapes that can be a nice jumping-off point.  Many of these grapes cross borders under different names and of course, this is far from an exhaustive list:  Malvazija Istriana, Teran, Plavac Mali, Graševina, Refošk, and Pošip from Croatia. Vranac and Žilavka from Bosnia & Herzegovina. Furmint, Hárslevelű, Olaszrizling, Juhfark, Kadarka, and Kékfrankos from Hungary. Vitovska, Rebula, Pinela and Teran from Slovenia. Kövidinka, Tamjanika, Mézes Fehér from Serbia. And finally, Fetească Regală, Fetească Albă, Mustoasa de Măderat, and Grünspitz from Romania. Most wine shops worth their salt would be thrilled if you came in, gave them a price point, a country or a grape, and had them put something together for you.


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A post shared by Danch and Granger Selections (@danchandgrangerselections)

  

We have definitely been using wine and food as a way to armchair travel this past year. I love the idea of looking up the music of the region as well, or maybe art or movies, for a fully immersive experience. I’m going to have to work that in. And I completely agree with your recommendation as to how to approach a wine store. I always loved when people came in with that kind of approach. 

Now, what recommendations do you have for those of us who already like to drink adventurously? What’s exciting to you right now? 

We recently started working with a winery in Transylvania called Edgar Brutler.  It’s the first time in a while where I had to look everything up. The history, culture, language, and even some of the grapes (Grünpitz!) were 100% new to me. Tasting them for the first time was akin to those first few classes of learning a new language. You’re trying to make sense of something uniquely foreign while it inspires you to travel to wherever this is happening. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get that much on the first shipment so it’s a bit hard to find. Thankfully there’s a lot more in the works coming this fall.

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A post shared by Danch and Granger Selections (@danchandgrangerselections)

 

I will absolutely be on the lookout for that!

Speaking of travel though, you always have amazing stories about your wines and the places they come from. What are some wine travel destinations you’d recommend that might not be on people’s radar? Are there any spots that you particularly loved or surprised you?

A few quickly come to mind. Definitely go to the Pelješac Peninsula in Croatia, gorge yourself on squid ink risotto and oysters while drinking a tannic high acid red like Plavac Mali. The coastline, local olive oil, local salt, and red wine seafood combo is special.  You could then head up to Istria (northern Croatia) and bathe yourself in olive oil and truffles for a screaming deal when compared to anywhere else I’m aware of.

One of my favorite winter things in central Europe, although most notably in Hungary per my experiences is szalonna sütés. This is basically sticking a large chunk of scored pig fat onto the end of a stick (s’mores style) over an open fire. You then place pieces of bread around the fire, drip the fat until the bread is saturated, then top with onion, peppers and sprinkle with paprika.  Heaven.

Lake Balaton in Hungary is another place where you can encounter homemade/homegrown everything alongside beautiful scenery.  One of our producers likes to use a Tárcsa (a large shallow Wok like thing with legs over an open fire) and cook all manner of meat, fish, wild game, and foul with ample amounts of fat, fresh herbs, and served alongside bright volcanic whites wines like Kéknyelű.

Halászlé (Fisherman’s soup) is something you can find along the Danube and Tisza rivers in Hungary.  While there is much debate on which river and corresponding style is superior, it’s basically river fish, onion, water, and a comic amount of fresh Paprika. Bring ample amounts of Kadarka (light aromatic red), go for a swim or kayak, and let the paprika take over. 

There’s a style of cooking in Croatia called Peka. Take a protein like lamb or octopus, surround it with potatoes, peppers, covered in herbs, and then bathe it in olive oil and salt.  The Peka is a large cast-iron dome that you place over this mound of food, then cover and surround it with hot coals. It cooks, smokes, and steams everything together. If you don’t like it you have a character flaw.

These all sound amazing! I’m suddenly feeling very hungry and thirsty. We were starting to plan a trip to some of these countries when the world shut down. I’m hoping we'll still have the chance to go in the After Times and I'm happy to have the recs.

All of this talk about food is a perfect segue to discuss pairings. What suggestions would you give to people for how to approach a bottle from a region or grape they’ve never had before and best enjoy it at their table?

A little research can go a long way. There is something to ‘what grows together goes together.’  This doesn’t necessarily mean replicating an exact “traditional” dish, but perhaps highlighting an ingredient that sticks out and going from there. I also like looking at other cuisines along the same latitude/climate, and then seeing what makes the best seasonal sense. Overall, most things work and you’ll enjoy yourself no matter what. If you’re lucky you’ll find something that stops the conversation.

 

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I love those moments! Do you have any favorite pairings or surprise combinations you loved for the wines in your book?

The overwhelming red line that runs through most of the wines of Central and Eastern Europe is high acidity, aromatics, and low alcohol. I look for a good fat foundation rounded out by spices and smoke. I’ve found that most cuisines along the spice route go really well across the board.  Turkish and Indian in particular.

 

Any favorite food and wine memories from your travels?

There are some old-timey nomadic goat shepherds in Tokaj (northeastern Hungary).  We were lucky enough to meet one, help her slaughter a goat, and then drink Furmint and Hárslevelű for hours while it roasted until falling off the bone.

 

That sounds like such an amazing experience! Talk of goats also has me immediately thinking of goat cheese, and I’d bet that would work well with Furmint as well.

Today, I’m sharing a pairing for the Heimann & Fiai Kadarka Szekszárd 2019 - tell me a little bit about this wine. 

Kadarka is perhaps my favorite red grape in the portfolio and can be found all over Central and Eastern Europe. It’s mostly found in Hungary today, but you can find amazing examples in Slovakia, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Bulgaria too. The Heimann family has been influential in bringing this grape back from near extinction during the Communist era. 

Zoltán Jr. Heimann of Heimann and Fiai (Heimann and Sons). Picture borrowed from DanchandGranger.com.  

Any favorite pairings for this wine in particular?

Duck, beet puree, wild mushrooms, and anything with paprika. It’s a light red with high acidity, zero reduction, floral without being perfumed, and it’s got some spice. Think Gamay with tons of pepper, Lacrima like aromatics, and still some tannic grip. Not glou glou. The Heimann is a great introduction to this grape, but this is a grape that shows incredible fidelity to place and there are massive clonal variations and climates where it’s found a home. It can be ink black, made like an Aszú, sparkling, and super age-worthy for instance.


Tell the people how to find your wines. 

We don’t sell direct, so our wines are only found in retail and restaurants. Feel free to reach out via Instagram/Facebook if looking for something in particular. 

With maybe 1-2 exceptions, there isn’t a dedicated section in a wine shop or on a wine list for these regions. That said, we have decent exposure in most small privately-owned wine shops in the Bay Area. Most are happy to special order and make it happen. Anytime you ask for wines like this it only helps make my case when I come in trying to sell them.

 

For additional info on this wine, I invite you to check out the details here on Danch & Granger’s website, which always has a treasure trove of information on their wines. 

 

Heimann & Fiai Szekszárd Kadarka 2019 & Smoky Sheet Pan Chicken

I picked up a bottle of the Heimann & Fiai Szekszárd Kadarka 2019 (purchased for $23) and on the day we opened the bottle I was greeted by aromas of cranberries and bright cherries on the nose, along with black pepper, red licorice, terracotta pot, as well touches of floral notes and dried leaves. All of the notes continued on the palate with a more pronounced hit of black pepper, along with hints of tobacco, and blood orange. The fruit quality on the palate was really crunchy and bright. This was a lighter-bodied red wine, but it definitely has tannic grip, just as Eric described.



I bought the bottle at Minimo in Oakland’s Jack London Square, and I took the opportunity to ask Erin, one of the owners, how she likes to serve the wine. She noted that she likes it with a light chill. Given the wine’s light body, this seemed like a good idea, so I took the recommendation and put the wine in the fridge for thirty minutes before drinking. At this point, it wasn’t super cold, just cool and it drank very nicely that way. Erin also mentioned that in addition to more traditional pairings, she also really enjoys the wine with lighter fare like vegetable-based dishes. I could absolutely see it going with a lot of seafood dishes as well, particularly with meatier fish or shellfish, and seafood dishes that include a lot of tomatoes given they’re sure to work well with all the acidity in the wine.

There’s been a lot of paprika in the conversation today though, and I felt a pull to run with that as a flavor base. Paprika – particularly smoked paprika – is one of my favorite flavors, so it was really a “gee, twist my arm” scenario. I thought about just making chicken paprikash since that is a delicious traditional Hungarian dish that makes good use of paprika. However, given that this wine is fairly light and very fresh, even with its tannic grip, I decided I wanted a pairing that felt a little lighter as well. 

I took flavor inspiration from chicken paprikash, but used it in a sheet pan chicken dish with a mix of brightly colored peppers, onions, and sweet potatoes. The resulting dish is flavorful, very easy to prepare, and leaves you with easy clean-up to boot!  


This was a very easy wine to like and Greg and I both really enjoyed it. It worked easily with the chicken and vegetables. The wine’s bright red fruit notes were as refreshing as one might hope with the food, and the combo particularly brought out the wine’s peppery notes. That said, I think this wine is likely to work well with a wide variety of foods and that chillable quality will make it a good one to reach for as the weather begins to warm up through spring and summer.



sheet pan, one pot, chicken
dinner
Servings: 6 to 8
By: Nicole Ruiz Hudson
Smoky Sheet Pan Chicken and Vegetables

Smoky Sheet Pan Chicken and Vegetables

Prep Time: 15 MinCooking Time: 45 Mininactive time: 30 MinTotal Time: 1 H & 30 M

Ingredients

  • 6 to 8 chicken thighs
  • 1 lemon, zested and juiced
  • 1 ½ teaspoon smoked paprika, or as needed
  • 1 sweet potato, diced
  • 3 bell peppers, sliced into strips (choose colors of your choice)
  • 1 onion, thinly sliced
  • 4 to 6 garlic cloves, sliced
  • Olive oil, as needed
  • Salt, to taste
  • Pepper, to taste

Instructions

  1. Season the chicken thighs generously with salt, pepper, 1 teaspoon of the smoked paprika, the lemon zest, and toss with the lemon juice and a generous pour of olive oil. Allow it to marinate for at least 20 minutes.
  2. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
  3. Spread the sweet potatoes, bell peppers, and onions on a greased sheet pan and toss with salt, pepper, the rest of the smoked paprika, and a drizzle of olive oil. Nestle the chicken thighs with some of the marinade among the vegetables. Place in the oven and roast for 20 minutes, then toss the vegetables and rotate the chicken thighs. Roast for another 20 to 25 minutes, or until they reach an internal temperature of at least 165°F. If you’d like the skin to be a little more crispy and browned, place under the broiler for a minute or two.
  4. Remove the chicken from the oven and serve with the vegetables and spoonfuls of the chicken juices.
https://www.sommstable.com/2021/04/stranger-grapes-with-eric-danch.html
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This month Andrea of The Quirky Cork is hosting this month's Wine Pairing Weekend (#WinePW) exploration of Under the Radar European Wine Regions. Check out her preview post here and be sure to check out the rest of the group's discoveries as well: 

  • Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla posts From the Same Latitude as Other Pinot Noir Powerhouses: The 2017 Macedon Pinot Noir Matches Two Meaty Dinners
  • Jeff at Food, Wine, Click! looks at Under the Radar in Croatia with Franc Arman Teran
  • Gwendolyn from Wine Predator looks at 3 Wines from Sicily’s Etna Volcano Paired with Pork Sugo #WinePW
  • Kat from The Corkscrew Concierge takes us Beyond Wine - Kosovo’s Stone Castle Vineyards Provides Pride, Hope & Jobs
  • Linda at My Full Wine Glass features Dry or dryish, Hungarian Furmint is having a moment
  • Susannah from Avvinare shares Slovenia Wines from Brda, Not to Be Missed
  • Terri from Our Good Life looks at Ancient Gamza in 2021: Best Wine with Burgers from Eastern Europe
  • Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm has Georgia On My Mind
  • Andrea from the Quirky Cork takes a Deep Dive into Hungarian Wine

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Somm's Table 2017