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5

Apr

All American Meatloaf with Crème Fraîche Mashed Potatoes

Sean Sellers  in Red Wines, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Blow the Bank, Meat & Poultry , , , , , ,

InterWined Food
Each Friday and sometimes Saturday, InterWined.com pairs one great wine with one great meal and publishes the results along with the recipe in a little feature it likes to call ‘Blow the Bank’.

This week, ‘Blow the Bank’ introduces InterWined’s All American, a month-long celebration of some of American cuisine’s greatest dishes from classic comfort foods to the unsung greats of American soulfood.

First up is All American Meatloaf with Crème Fraîche Mashed Potatoes.

All American Meatloaf
Ground BeefMeatloaf & BaconMeatloaf & Creamy Potatoes
Whether its origins rest, as some varyingly contend, with the mogul invaders of China, Italian meatball-makers, German Hamburgers, British shepherd’s pie-bakers, or the recipe books of eager home-meat-grinder salesmen, there can be little doubt that the humble meatloaf is 100% American and 100% classic.

Just as its histories are numerous, its variations and varieties are both countless and unpredictable. So, while some recipes call for the inclusion of pineapples or scotch eggs — ingredients that would be anathema in others, still others quibble over the significance of using barbeque sauce or ketchup or Bolognese in the name of authenticity and correctness. In the end, like so much confort food, it all comes down to what you like and what you think is right.

Indeed, there is little doubt that many chefs (and many of their mothers) will find InterWined’s All American Meatloaf far from correct. For one, it includes a couple of rather unorthodox ingredients, such as cubed pancetta and stale sourdough bread. For another, it’s topped with streaks of bacon.

And, because one classic deserves another, paired with InterWined’s All American Meatloaf is the 2005 Château Amarande (13.5%) Grand Vin de Bordeaux. A mix of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2005 Amarande has the familiar nose of a classic claret — a bit of eart, spice, and forest. On the tongue, it’s surprisingly soft, rich in fruit, and mildly tannic with a touch of pepper that marries brilliantly with the both the crusty edges of the meatloaf and its slightly fatty, chewy middle (thanks in no small part to the cubes of pancetta). At 13.5%, the wine is a tad too high in alcohol and, therefore, attention-seeking to be a perfect wine to serve with food; but it high-alcohol wines are all the rage these days and this one proves a superb match for the meaty ground beef, fatty pancetta, and crispy bacon all the same: 9.4.

InterWined’s Own Recipe in Full

All American Meatloaf with Crème Fraîche Mashed Potatoes

Click on the post to view and download the recipe

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25

Feb

Know Thy Vintage: a first taste of 2005 Bordeaux

Jacob Gaffney  in Red Wines, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc , , , ,

For most of us, getting our hands on the best of the 2005 vintage in Bordeaux is unlikely; the price of this exceptional vintage is well out of reach in the higher echelons of wine production.
For InterWined.com’s standard, that is only rating wines worth drinking, usually in the £5 to £10 range, 2005 Bordeaux would […]

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8

Feb

Ricotta & Sun-dried Tomato Samosas

Sean Sellers  in White Wines, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Blow the Bank, Vegetarian , , , , , , ,

InterWined Food
Each Friday, InterWined.com pairs one great wine with one great meal and publishes the results along with the recipe in a little feature it likes to call ‘Blow the Bank’.

This week, ‘Blow the Bank’ brings you savoury dinner that doubles as a nice mid-afternoon snack or late-night dessert courtesy of InterWined’s Own Ricotta & Sun-dried Tomato Samosas.

Ricotta & Sun-dried Tomato SamosasSamosasSamosas Sizzling in OilCooked Samosas

InterWined could bore you with stories of the history of the samosa and it’s journey from the middle-east to India or somesuch, but that would be boring. See, you’re already yawning. It would also be misleading, because these samosas are samosas in name only and inspired by a bit of late night food television viewing and a recipe for what was by all accounts an apple turnover that the chef chose to rename an apple samosa. I might have been tired, and it might have been late, and I might not remember the name of the programme, but the simple samosa recipe stuck in my head.

And now, I’m sticking it in yours.

Making your own dough can be daunting; it certainly is for InterWined. In fact, I’ve yet to follow a recipe for making dough and get the appropriate results, from the stated measures of ingredients. I’m forever having to adjust the flour or the water or the milk or whatever to make the mixture wetter or dryer and easier to knead into dough. And, even though, I vow each never to make my own dough again…I always do and almost always get the same mixed results.

Not this time. This time, I followed a simple formula of 2 parts flour to just less than 1 part water. And it worked.

Now what about those samosas?

Citrus fruit and ricotta are classic pairing partners and regularly feature in numerous Italian recipes, such as those for cannoli. While InterWined recipe for Ricotta & Sun-dried Tomato Samosas doesn’t include citrus and isn’t Italian, the same classic thinking prevails with pairing them with a wine.

The 2005 Château Saransot Dupré Blanc Sec (12.5%) Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon (60/40 blend from Bordeaux, currently available from Cadman Fine Wines for £8.99, brings with it a zippy acidity that pairs well with the peppery ricotta of the somosa, the Sauvignon Blanc helping the wine to find balance with the creamy flavour of the ricotta cheese.

It’s the salt, found of the sun-dried tomato, that proves the most challenging aspect in this pairing and, as mentioned in previous ‘Blow the Bank’ posts, countless others. However, the creaminess of the ricotta mixed with pepper and the Semillon in the wine do a nice job of taming it and preventing the wine’s overall acidity from clashing with the saltiness of the sun-dried tomatoes and leaving a pucker on the lips and a grimace on the face.

On the nose, the Château Saransot Dupré gives a good mix of mild honey and hay that translates as pretty well to the mouth where the honey clearly dominates before finishing with a slightly sharp zip of lemon and acid.

Personally, hay is one of those strange terms that sometimes appears in tasting notes that, while entirely accurate, is kind of meaningless to anyone who didn’t grow up near horses, under a thatched roof, or chewing it while pretending to be Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, a gunslinger from a 1950s’ Western. It’s like gooseberry…only people that have had the occasion to eat enough gooseberry so as to create a sense of it in their minds, noses, and palates should ever be allowed to use that tasting note — especially when describing Sauvignon Blanc. Why would such a common wine smell of such an uncommon fruit? No one ever says the reverse, “This gooseberry smells exactly like a 2004 Sancerre from Château Pretentious Tasting Note”. Do they?

Well, I am not one of those gooseberry gobblers. But, I do know what hay tastes like, since I did grow up doing one of those things (any guesses?) and, thus, feel pretty OK using it to describe the wine. It’s a bit…hay.

And, for those worried about their salt intake, the current unpopularity of sun-dried tomatoes, hay-tasting, or the availability of the Château Saransot Dupré Blanc Sec, a great alternative would be to replace the sun-dried tomatoes with freshly chopped pomordorinos, as fresh tomatoes tend to be fairly acidic, and pair the dish with the equally well-suited Ronco del Gnemiz Sauvignon twice reviewed by InterWined in recent weeks. (They make quite a bit of ricotta in Friuli, don’t you know.)

InterWined’s Own Recipe in Full

Ricotta & Sun-dried Tomato Samosas

Click on the post to view and download the recipe

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26

Dec

The 8th Wine of Christmas: 2003 Les Ailes de Paloumey Haut Medoc

Jacob Gaffney  in Red Wines, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot , , , ,

Sadly, the aroma of this 2003 Les Ailes de Paloumey Haut Medoc (13.5%) is a little flat, which seems to be the norm these days for mid-priced Bordeaux, with a little liquorice.

The wine is nice and soft, but 2003 was a weak year for the region. In fact, you can taste all the rain. There is some tannin, though not enough for a good grip. This is the most understated of the wines and perfect for an easy drink by the Christmas tree on Boxing Day: 8.3 alone; 8.5 by the Christmas tree or in a mixed case.

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15

Nov

An Ending to My Boy Jack

Jacob Gaffney  in Red Wines, Merlot, St. Emilion , , ,

Earlier this week, InterWined was asked to name the perfect wine to go with the Daniel Radcliffe vehicle, My Boy Jack, directed by my friend Brian Kirk.
While there may be numerous excellent pairings, the best choice seems to be the 3 de Valandraud 2001, St. Emilion Grand Cru. The wine is a classically […]

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14

Aug

Wine Fibbers

Jacob Gaffney  in Red Wines, Shiraz/Syrah , , ,

InterWined.com has a sneaking suspicion that some wine merchants are employing naughty little tactics.
The normally dependable supermarket, Budgens, is currently promoting a nice range of Bordeaux. It also has a sale on 2006 The Post Stones Shiraz for around 4 quid.
4 pounds is cheap for InterWined, which aims at wines in the […]

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5

Mar

Planet Organic

Jacob Gaffney  in Red Wines, Organic, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz/Syrah, Merlot, Touriga Nacional , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A £6 bottle of Organic Rouge describes itself as ’supple, warming Mediterranean wine.’ From Cotes de Thongue in the South of France, this non-vintage wine is full of red berry, but should have a more robust flavour profile. The wine was more stretched thin than supple, and more hot than warming. Not really the ’sun in the cup’ the label made it seem. The next day, it was oxidized, left with about four-fifths still in the bottle. Undrinkable. If a wine can’t last longer than a day, then what is it worth? For my blog, always under 8 points: 7.7.

The 2004 Quinta do Coa, a Vinho Tinto from the Douro river valley in Portugal, known as Duero in Spain. Wines from the Duero are just sooo good. But this is the first Organic Douro to hit these lips. At £9.25, it’s getting a bit pricey, and while the wine should pack more of a punch, the elegance of the blackberry and hints of bitter chocolate satisfy the mouth, if not the wallet: 8.4.

At nearly £12, the 2004 L’Orangerie de Haut-Nouchet from Pessac-Leognan is easily the best, but that’s expected to go with the price tag. The terroir and elegance were there, but the most important aspect was the harmony. The wine is not too tannic, nor is it too thin. It’s well-balanced and ready-to-drink…with almost anything. But it is 28% too expensive: 8.5.

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19

Feb

The Grandest Cru

Jacob Gaffney  in Red Wines, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, St. Emilion , , , , , , , , , , ,

The 2004 Chateau Balestard La Tonnelle, 70 percent Merlot, 25 Cabernet Franc, 25 Cabernet Sauvignon: rich and full, still tight with tannin as it’s so young, but with power and a touch of dill, but mainly, and here is the sticking point, strong hints of limestone.

Saint Emilion 2005: strong blackberry from the year’s heat. Blockbuster vintage, better aging: 8.8.

Saint Emilion 2004: expect more floral-type flavours with weaker strengths more wines with cocoa in this year, but less potential for aging: 8.5.

Chateau Lamande 2005: A wow wine; will be a blockbuster with flaky sand tastes and a strong expression of truffle and chocolate: 9.0, easy.

Chateau La Tour Figeac 1998: a slight essence of sweaty socks, with sandalwood and toasty grains, the finish is a bit rotten but the wine is enjoyable, even with the bizarre tasting note this is…9.0.

Chateau Fleur Cardinale 2005: still a barrel sample, but on the light side for the vintage. It should be more tannic. Slight hint of raisin, with light oak, which will increase as barrel aging further softens the tannin. A strong, full body otherwise, with meaty mushroom. Good potential for 10+ aging: 8.8, for now.

But the real winner was Chateau Laniote: Always a good wine. The 1998 was a lovely, classy affair, with ripe cheese, Camembert to be more specific. The 2004 was very strong, but with a lightness on the palate, with pine nuts laced throughout. The 2005 was very high in alcohol, but could still show its lovely ripples of violets and roses… when it relaxes, expect some decent, toasty oak structure. I give the Chateau a 9.1 overall, the highest to date, for producing a product as different as it is delicious, year after year.

Can’t really explain why this is, but maybe the information on the Chateau, provided at the tasting, will give the answer. Situated on 12 acres of clay and limestone, Chateau Laniote produces 20,000 bottles per year. The blend is 85 percent Merlot, 15 percent Cabernet Franc and 5 percent Cabernet Sauvignon.

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18

Sep

A Visit to the Local Wine Pusher

Jacob Gaffney  in Red Wines, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Rioja , , , , ,

I told him I only had five pounds. He sent his girl upstairs. She came back with a bottle: 2002 Chateau Lafitte Mengin, Premieres Cotes de BORDEAUX…”Good structure, body a bit heavy, but that’s just the oak. Ripe fruits. Vine fruits. Blackberry mainly. Some pepper.” Bordeaux: 8.5.

Rustling about, as if the wine bottles are hidden under 45 layers of taped-up bubble wrap, she hands me the 2002 Beronia Rioja Crianza. That means it’s been aged in oak a bit to mellow the tannin. Fresh and damp. Predictable and sincere. Oaky and oompfy. With, hold the phone, that characteristic smell of dill. The euphoria washes over. The simplicity of the wine. A choice made just for me: 8.8.

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