Wine folk like me particularly enjoy fall menus for pairing wine. The heartier foods we most often eat during the colder months are the best matches with deep, soulful wines. I don’t know about you, but these types of wines accumulate in my wine closet as I wait for the right meal with which to enjoy them.
It’s hardly breaking news that our cool, wet season is not what it used to be. There just aren’t as many days in the year made for fireplaces, wool sweaters and cool weather menus as there used to be. Today, let’s at least get ready to put down the crisp whites and rosés and drink more wines with gravitas.
Heartier wines do have their place year-round of course. It’s just harder when the weather’s warm. In wine sales-speak, what’s good with the stew pot is good with the grill and all its smoky, spicy goodness. Provided the wine doesn’t need an ice cube you’re good to go anytime.
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Will I drink the wines recommended below from a Yeti tumbler accompanied by a bodacious cheeseburger? You bet your bottom dollar I will. But Ken’s “Cooking For Comfort” fall recipes and my wine picks to accompany taste best when it’s chilly outside.
While some are already decorating for Halloween and planning on Christmas, early autumn has its own treats that should be enjoyed. Here are some recipes from Ken Morris for fall.
Dropping you off at the dance
I give you specific wine recommendations below, but for a couple of reasons I talk as much about styles as bottles. In my research, I bought a handful of wines for consideration. None of them were good enough or compatible enough, to merit my endorsement. And the long list of wines I love and wish I could recommend aren’t easy to buy. It happens. I have not yet tasted two of the three wines I recommend below, so take my style suggestions to one of our outstanding Napa Valley wine shops with wine stewards at your service. I’ll drop you off at the dance and the wine merchant will lead you to the dance floor. OK, let’s get to it.
My wine recommendations for today’s “Cooking For Comfort” flavors of fall recipes
• Chateau Barouillet Bergerac Sec 2019 ($17.50 at Oxbow Wine & Cheese) with Butternut Squash and Saffron Soup with Caramelized Pistachios
With this recipe I want an aromatic, textured white wine with richness on the back end and no oak flavor. Richness to stand toe-to-toe with the squash, aromatic to complement the saffron.
Alsace Pinot Gris or Semillon from Bordeaux or Australia are great choices with 3-plus years of bottle age ideally. The type of wines I like benefit from time to flesh out.
The Chateau Barouillet Bergerac Sec is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris, Semillon and Chenin Blanc. It’s from the village of Bergerac, a wee bit east of Bordeaux.
Oxbow’s wine notes, which are always on-point, touch on the wine’s toasted/grilled and floral aromas, vivacity and fullness. Aged in steel tanks on its lees. The aromatics, texture, freshness and purity are all there…could use some more age I reckon.
One more thing: if the perfect food and wine marriage is your goal, replace the caramelized nuts with ones simply salt-roasted.
• Miss Olivia Brion Pinot Noir “Estate” Wild Horse Valley 2016 ($42 at Back Room Wines) with Pork with Red Wine, Orange Pee, and Apple-Thyme Chutney
There are infinite directions you can go with the wine for Ken’s roast pork recipe. While I’ll enjoy all comers, what I really want is a Pinot Noir that’s as savory as it is fruity. Burgundy is best known for making such a style, but they’re all over the planet, from New Zealand to Napa. Try your best to find a Pinot with five-pus years of age as it makes such a difference on a carefully made Pinot Noir, or any red wine for that matter.
I do know this wine, and intimately: Miss Olivia Brion Pinot Noir “Estate” 2016 has passed the five-year hurdle. As savory and spicy as it is fruity, the wine smells and tastes of dried red rose petals, dry-aged beef, sun-dried black cherries and pomegranate.
While it tastes great year-round, I’m still waiting for a cold, wet night (aren’t we all) to warm my cockles with a bottle. Try I might to adhere to the “cook with what you drink” rule, marinating with a $42 bottle is not my bag. Ask the staff at Trader Joe’s for a good $10 Pinot Noir for the recipe. Start slowly with the chutney at the dinner table. “Delicately sweet,” as Ken describes it, should be a fit with the robust Miss Olivia Brion. Just don’t overdo it.
Back Room Wines in downtown Napa has some of the last of the 2016 Miss Olivia Brion. Get it while you can. The winery’s sold out. (Tip: try the Miss Olivia Brion Vin Gris of Syrah 2019: OliviaBrion.com)
• Tenuta Santa Maria Valpolicella, Classico Superiore 2016 ($26 at Back Room Wines) with Tagliatelle with Wild Mushroom Sauce
For me, this pasta dish needs Italian red wine. If I may be more specific, a fairly rustic Northern Italian with an earthiness to pay respect to the wild mushrooms and some grippy tannins that naturally soften when enjoyed with the pasta.
This dish was “discovered” in Piedmont, northwest Italy, where Nebbiolo, in its many styles, is king grape. Find one, again best if it’s at least five years old. Since I didn’t find one at a friendly-enough price, I’m taking you to northeastern Italy: the Veneto, home to Valpolicella. Made primarily from Corvina, this wine is naturally earthy and firm, both delicate and athletic. Very “Italian” if you will, right down to the fact that it needs food to shine.
Speaking of which, the salty fat of chopped up, cured pork belly or jowl would make the wine shine even more. Just a thought.
The Tenuta Santa Maria Valpolicella 2016 is available at Back Room Wines, First & Main, Downtown Napa.
I enjoy hearing your thoughts about, and experiences with, my life-changing food and wine pairings. Please let me know how my recommendations have made you a better person. I’m just here to help people, you know.
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Dan Dawson is a former Napa Valley wine merchant and sommelier. These days he helps small California wineries connect with folks who want their wine but don’t know it yet. You can reach Dan via his website, DawsonWineAdvisor.com and @dawsonwineadvisor on Facebook and Instagram.