Winemaker For The Day: Art of Blending Event

Looking for a cooler season red wine? Look no further, the 2019 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is a lux red wine that will grace and impress your holiday occasions. I may be partial, but this Cabernet Sauvignon is my favorite wine on the wine tasting flight.  Cabernet Sauvignon Tasting Notes The 2019 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon has delicious notes of black cherry, blackberry, chocolate, coffee, and a dash of nutmeg. This wine can stand alone without food, but it is a perfect wine to pair with meat, or hearty vegetables like mushrooms and cauliflower. Wine & Food Pairing There is a traditional food pairing philosophy that teaches red wine with red meat and white wine with white meat. Those pairings can absolutely work and if you are just starting in wine and food pairings it can be a good starting point. That being said, they are not absolute rules that should restrict you. There are so many wine varietals, blends, and styles of winemaking that not every red wine will show best with a red meat, but instead fish and chicken. Pairings depend greatly on the wine and the aromas and tasting notes you get from it. Another important note is that spices and herbs can move proteins and produce in various directions. Meat, vegetables, and fruits obviously have their own flavors, but overall spices and herbs can direct the flavors. For instance, the right spice rub can move lighter proteins and vegetables to pair with a bigger red wine like Cabernet Sauvignon. Recently, we had a Skillet Mexican Brownie with Vanilla Ice Cream and a Coffee Caramel. This delicious dessert went beautifully with the Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. This was somewhat of a surprise as normally sugar is an adversary to red wines, but what made this Mexican cocoa brownie sing with the Reserve Cab was the spices. We added chili powder and cinnamon to the cocoa, which marries with the baking spice notes found in Cabernet Sauvignon. And then the coffee caramel and vanilla ice cream met the notes imparted by the barrels chosen to age the Cabernet. Spices can steer food pairings. Cabernet Sauvignon Food Pairing At Parrish Family Vineyard, we love coffee. There is a lot of coffee that powers our team behind the scenes - from the winery to the tasting room and especially the kitchen. Not only do we love drinking coffee, but my husband Ethan and I love to use coffee to make rubs for our meats. The coffee adds a depth of flavor due to its acidity, smokiness, nuttiness, and chocolate notes. This ingredient can help proteins pair with red wines like Cabernet Sauvignon. We came up with a coffee rub that can be used for any protein or hearty vegetable that can then be paired with our beautiful 2019 Reserve Cab. We hope this flexible spice blend can inspire your next pairing. Coffee Rub Recipe 1 Tbsp Freshly Ground Coffee, Fine 1 Tbsp Paprika 1/2 Tbsp Coriander Powder 2 Tsp Dried Basil 1/2 Tsp Mustard Powder 1 Tsp Onion Powder 1 Tsp Garlic Powder 2 Tsp Salt Finely ground coffee. Once you have the coffee ground, pour into a bowl and whisk together the rest of the ingredients. To make the overall rub more fine, you could ground all together in a spice grinder, or a powerful blender. Use the rub on your choice of meat or hearty vegetable. For meat, put the rub on the night before serving, or at the latest 3 hours before cooking. For vegetables, add the rub 1 hour before. Notes: You can sub the herbs for other preferred herbs. Smoked paprika could be used for a more smoky rub. This rub can be made in large quantities and stored in an airtight container for future use. DIY Christmas gifts anyone? Get some cute jars, ribbon, and tags to give these out to loved ones.