Cork & Fork: Brown Napa Valley + Food Pairings

Analise Gregory June 24, 2020

“A gourmet meal without a glass of wine just seems tragic to me somehow.” ― Kathy Mattea

I absolutely love trying new wines, and supporting Black-owned businesses is something I’m always a huge advocate for. So, when I heard wonderful things about Brown Estate in Napa Valley, it was a must that I try their wines.

Brown Estate - Napa Valley, is the first Black-owned estate winery in its respective county. Their wines are stellar, and I was so thrilled to support and receive my order from this wonderful establishment.

Today, I’m sharing the six bottles I ordered, and pairing them with my favorite recipes on the blog! Check out my wine and meal pairings below.

The line up from Brown Estate - Napa Valley.

2018 Chaos Theory

This wine is simply wonderful. It is medium bodied, smooth tannins, and so well balanced. It is a blend of the following varietals:

50% Napa Valley Petite Sirah
40% Napa Valley Merlot
10% Sierra Foothills Zinfandel

The notes on this wine are guava, passion fruit, red fruit - cherry and raspberry, black fruit - plum and blackberry. Also, there are some subtle notes of oak, tobacco, and persimmon. This wine is bold, dry, medium to high tannin, and medium to high acid. Chaos Theory will leave you with a smooth finish, inviting you to take another sip.

My ideal food pairing with this wine is a Short Rib Stir Fry. It would compliment the wine perfectly and provide the optimal balance. The beef and seasoned vegetables and rice would pair wonderfully with the red blend.

Food Pairing:

Short Rib Stir Fry - find my recipe here

2018 Napa Valley Zinfandel

The 2018 Zinfandel produced at Brown was absolutely lovely. It was bold, dominant in black fruit, such as blackberry, plum, and blueberry. You’ll get some oak on the palate as well as red fruit - cherry, strawberry, and a hit of raspberry.

There are some herb notes like clove, and hints of forest floor - leaves and pine kissed with orange. Over all, this wine is well balanced in fruit and acid.

This wine is unique and lovely, it’ll pair perfectly with a Smoked Pork Chop. The protein has the perfect balance of sweet and smoky, which will complement the Zinfandel so well.

Food Pairing:

Smoked Pork Chop - find my recipe here

2018 Merlot

The Merlot is a perfect balance of dry, smooth, soft, and bold notes on the palate. You’ll get a hint of cinnamon, black and blue fruits, leather, and herbaceous notes.

This wine has a medium body, and the finish is long. The perfect pair for this wine would be Grilled Lamb Lollipops. Lamb is an ideal compliment to the structure that this Merlot possesses.

Food Pairing:

Grilled Lamb Lollipops - find my recipe here

2018 Chardonnay

This Chardonnay is aged in oak and has the following fruit notes:

pear
pineapple
honeysuckle
lemon
guava
lychee
citrus - dried and candied

What makes this wine so special is how bold, silky, and full it is. It is so well balanced, and is truly exceptional. The Chardonnay has a lengthy finish, inviting you for more. In addition, to the fruit notes, there are hints of sage and jasmine. The acid in this wine is low to medium, and is so wonderful on the palate.

This wine would be perfect with a vegetarian or seafood dish, and I have recommended both. A Broccoli and Asparagus Quiche or Fried Prosecco Shrimp would be a great match.

Food Pairing(s):

Broccoli and Asparagus Quiche - find my recipe here

Fried Prosecco Shrimp - find my recipe here

2017 Cabernet Sauvignon

This Cabernet Sauvignon is medium bodied, and the tannins are soft. You’ll get notes of citrus, spice, blackberry, boysenberry, and roses.

It’ll be an amazing match for a Smoked Prime Rib. The coffee dry rub on this protein would pair so well with this lovely wine.

Food Pairing:

Smoked Prime Rib - find my recipe here

2017 Petite Sirah

The Petite Sirah has floral and ripe black fruit notes - plum and blackberry. Additionally, you’ll find notes of the following items:

tobacco
oak
spice
eucalyptus
brown sugar
cocoa
leather

This structure is so complex thus resulting into a full bodied wine. The acid is vibrant, which yields to a medium to high level. The tannins are high, and its finish lingers after each sip.

A wine this bold deserves a protein that can match - a 45-Day Dry Aged Steak would be the perfect pair.

Food Pairing:

Dry Aged Steak - find my recipe here

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XO, Analise

Cork & Fork: Smoked Meats + Fried Oysters Wine Pairings

Analise Gregory April 4, 2020

“Drinking good wine with good food in good company is one of life's most civilized pleasures.” - Michael Broadbent

One of my favorite things to do is pairing a delicious dish with an amazing bottle of wine.

This past Christmas I gifted my husband a smoker, and he has literally perfected the art of smoking amazing proteins. Also, one of my preferred seafoods to enjoy are oysters, especially when they are flash fried.

Today, I’m sharing some of my ideal food and wine pairings with meals that we have curated at home.

Smoked Chicken

Chicken is a protein we smoke and/or grill almost weekly. It is such a versatile protein, and you can add it to salads, sandwiches, nachos, tacos, or enjoy it by itself with a wide variety of sides.

This spicy smoked chicken is so delicious, and is layered with a variety of seasonings that pair perfectly with a velvet bordeaux style wine. The Octagon produced by Barboursville Vineyards is a winner for this dish. It is so smooth, and is such a unique blend of varietals Merlot 50%, Cabernet Franc 20%, Petit Verdot 30%. It is so well balanced, with notes of dark chocolate, coffee, baked berries, and a bit of oak. This wine is dry, but the finish has a nice smooth velvet texture.

Smoked thinly sliced chicken breast paired with broccolini and herbed potatoes with rosemary, sea salt, black pepper, and thyme with a spicy old bay mayo.

Smoked chicken leg paired with broccolini and thinly sliced herbed potatoes with rosemary, sea salt, black pepper, and thyme.

Smoked Duck

When duck is smoked, it brings out some amazing flavors of the protein, and is tender and juicy. Also, the port cherry reduction is a great addition, the perfect compliment to the meat.

The wine I paired with this dish is a Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley. It is soft, has an amazing body to it, and is fruit forward, while having a great texture and balance. This wine has notes of black fruit immediately on the nose, and cherry on mid-palate. The tannins on this wine are present, but not overwhelming, which is ideal with smoked duck.

Medium rare sliced duck breast with a port cherry sauce, accompanied with herbed seasoned red potato crisps.

Fried Oysters

Oysters are something that I enjoy so much! Whenever I’m able to indulge in them, champagne is the obvious choice to pair with this dish.

The fried oysters are seasoned with lemon, pepper, sea salt, black pepper, a dash of cayenne, and a dusting of grated parmesan - which gives the protein a great balance of spice and citrus.

A champagne that is 100% Meunier is a lovely pair with oysters. Champagne Salmon was a great choice for me to accompany this dish, as it provides the right balance of acidity to the oysters.

Fried oysters paired with a pair of grilled rosemary crostini, and garlic herb aioli.

What are your favorite wine and food combinations? Feel free to share your favorite wine and food pairings below!

XO, Analise

Uncorked: Reds & Bubbles

Analise Gregory September 24, 2019

“Wine is bottled poetry.” - Robert Louis Stevenson

Red wine and champagne are my two favorite types of wines, and both really hold a special place in my heart, as well as our wine cabinet. I make it a mission at least once a month to pick up new bottles at a local wine shop. One of my favorite activities is tasting and trying out new wines - it’s so nice to stumble upon selections that staff members hand pick for you.

As the weather begins to get a little bit cooler, I’m stocking up on a few of my favorite varietals for the season ahead. Today, I am sharing four wines that I’ve been really enjoying lately - two reds, and two champagnes.

2017 Sidekick Cabernet Sauvignon

The inner comic book nerd in me totally gravitated towards this bottle. How cool is the graphic novel inspired artwork on this?! I absolutely thought the idea was brilliant, and could not wait to taste this lovely Cabernet Sauvignon. For less than $20 a bottle, it is pretty enjoyable, and had notes of cedar, mocha, plum, tobacco, and licorice.

The wine is most certainly bold and tastes of dark berries. This Cab is high in tannin, well bodied, balanced fruit, and the acid is a little lower than most Cabernets - which I really loved. You can enjoy this wine by itself, with a burger or any chicken dish.

Hello World Petit Verdot

It is so rare to find a delicious 100% Petit Verdot, but this bottle totally lived up to my expectations. Also, this wine is super reasonably priced at $20. What is absolutely so neat about this wine is that it’s aged in both stainless steel and oak barrels.

The Petit Verdot has aromas of bananas, cherry, and leather. This wine has spicy notes, strong tannins and the finish lingers on in such a great way. The perfect pairing for this would be cheese, or some type of rich meat dish like grilled steak or lamb.

SoloUva Franciacorta Brut

Remember that time I went to Italy, and picked up this lovely bottle of champs? Well, this is still a favorite of mine. I’m so happy that G and I picked up several bottles of this bubbly during our vacation in Rome to bring back home.

This champagne is a Chardonnay grape and is aged in stainless steel for approximately 36 months. Also, this wine is vegan, which is so unique for a bubbly. I love absolutely pairing this with oysters, or any seafood related dish.

Alain Vincey Champagne Brut Rosé

This french champagne is so delicious, it is a blend of 40% Pinot Noir, and 40% Chardonnay with 20% Pinot Meunie, and truly does not disappoint. The bottle of bubbly is refined, and has aromas of berries - strawberry, cranberry, and raspberry to be exact. It has notes of orange, pistachio, and has a light toast as well.

One of my favorite things about this champagne is that it is crisp, gentle on the palate, bone-dry, light, and has a slight mineral note to it as well. I was actually super impressed that this bottle averaged around $50, when other high end champagnes typically hover closer to the $100+ threshold mark. This bottle is the perfect pairing to pork, salmon, and mild or soft cheese.

XO, Analise