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Taste Washington Month!

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Adventures in Wine Exploration
the stories behind the vines
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      • Los Olivos
        • Carhartt Vineyard
        • Qupe, Verdad
        • Saarloos and Sons
      • Santa Barbara
        • Ballard Canyon AVA
          • Beckmen Vineyards
          • Larner Vineyard
        • Happy Canyon AVA
        • Santa Maria Valley
          • Riverbench Vineyard
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          • Hilliard Bruce
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    • France, the wine regions
      • Côtes de Bordeaux
      • the wines of Alsace, France
      • the wines of Bordeaux, France
      • the wines of Champagne France
      • the wines of Languedoc Roussillion
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      • Willamette Valley, Oregon Wine Country
        • Fossil & Fawn- the wines
        • Illahe Vineyards
        • Leah Jørgensen Cellars
        • Montinore Vineyards
        • Uncommon Wine Festival at Vista Hills Vineyard 2018
    • Yakima Valley Wine
      • Red Willow Vineyard
    • Wine Bar’s Las Vegas
      • Due Forni- Las Vegas
      • Julian Serrano
      • View Wine Bar
      • Wine 5 Cafe
  • the philosophies
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    • Wine Barrels 101
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    • 12 Days of Wine, a Holiday list
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Washington State

Cabernet Franc-Merlot a limited rare gem from L’Ecole No. 41 in Walla Walla Washington

Cabernet Franc-Merlot a limited rare gem from L’Ecole No. 41 in Walla Walla Washington

Mar 24, 2021

Walla Walla. It translates to “Water water” or “many waters”  The valley is filled with tributaries, although this is a dry climate.  This is a place where Bordeaux varieties thrive and can compete on a world stage.  In 2014 the L’Ecole No. 41 2011 Ferguson Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon took the trophy for the Best International Bordeaux Blend at the Decanter World Wine Awards Gala in London.  That of course is made in a left bank Bordeaux style.  Today we will take a peek at their Cabernet Franc-Merlot blend that leans to the right bank style.

Oregon-Wine-Walla-Walla-Valley Courtesy of Oregon Wine Board
Oregon-Wine-Walla-Walla-Valley Courtesy of Oregon Wine Board

We are working with L’Ecole No. 41 this year to tell you a bit more about their wines.  They provide us with wine to taste and allocate time to speak with us and answer questions each month.  But rest assured, all opinions are our own.

L’Ecole No. 41 a little history

If you are not familiar with L’Ecole No. 41, it is one of the early Walla Walla wineries, founded in 1983.  Washington is a relatively young region, so when I say early… let me translate.  L’Ecole No. 41 was the 3rd winery in Walla Walla and the 20th winery in the state of Washington.  Today there are about 120 wineries in Walla Walla.

Jean and Baker Ferguson founded the vineyard and winery as a fun retirement project, moving into the abandoned Historic Frenchtown School and making wine in the basement, the school’s cafeteria/gymnasium.  Their daughter Meghan and her husband Marty returned to Walla Walla in 1989 and Marty became the manager and winemaker.  Today their children Rebecca and Riley also work in the business.

L’Ecole No. 41 2018 Estate Cabernet Franc-Merlot

This month we want to share with you the L’Ecole No. 41 Cabernet Franc-Merlot. In house, they refer to this as the Estate Right Bank. It is made in the style of those right bank Bordeaux wines of Pomeroy and St. Émilion that lean to Merlot and Cab Franc.  The blend is interesting, in that it is very symmetrical. 50% Cabernet Franc and 50% Merlot, with half of each coming from each of the two estate vineyards, Ferguson and Seven Hills.

I do need to let you know that you will have to do some extra legwork and have some luck if you want to taste it.  This is a wine that they don’t release every year.  It is an Estate wine, as I said, from their Walla Walla Vineyards, Ferguson, and Seven Hills, which, incidentally, are in the Walla Walla AVA, but on the Oregon side.

Not only do they not make this Cabernet Franc-Merlot blend every year, but when they do, they don’t make a lot of it!  There were just 298 cases of this wine made.  It is sent to their wine club (there’s a reason to join!) and then they have it available from the tasting room.  It was released to their club yesterday (March 23rd) and will be available on their site at the end of the month until it is sold out.  And it will sell out.

The blend takes the lush and approachable Merlot and adds the floral notes of the Cab Franc.  Across the board, the people who tasted this wine wanted to pair it with elevated burgers!  This wine is elegant and will age for 8 to 10 years.  It is young now, but still drinking well.  Just give it a minute.  It starts off a little shy then opens up in the glass, with floral notes of violets, peonies, and rose petals.

I found red currant, red cherry, black plum with a jammyness, and a bit of baked fruit on the nose. There was also a bit of eucalyptus and licorice.  Spice notes came in with clove and notes of cedar. There are herbal notes that float delicately through, fresh rosemary, and thyme that put me in the mood for Herbs de Provence. I can imagine lavender, sage, and marjoram in the background.

This small-production wine sits at 14.5% abv, but it does not come across as that big, it has a lithe elegance.  $39 SRP.  Grab it while you can on their site.

L'Ecole No. 41 Cabernet Franc-Merlot 2018 with aroma profile with black plum, espresso, cherries, star anise, cranberry, cedar, lavender, rosemary, sage, thyme, and marjoram (all the ingredients in Herbs de Provence)
L'Ecole No. 41 Cabernet Franc-Merlot 2018 with aroma profile with black plum, espresso, cherries, star anise, cranberry, cedar, lavender, rosemary, sage, thyme, and marjoram (all the ingredients in Herbs de Provence)

Pairings for the L’Ecole No. 41 Cabernet Franc-Merlot

I mentioned that many of the people who tasted this Cabernet Franc-Merlot craved a burger with it.  It is a wine that goes well with meat, but unlike the Left Bank style, which leans heavily on Cabernet Sauvignon, it does not NEED meat.  Someone mentioned pairing this with a black bean chili, which pulled out the earthier notes in the wine.  This is food-friendly.

We paired the Cabernet Franc-Merlot with Beef Roulade and Melting Potatoes

I found a lovely recipe for spinach and mushroom stuffed beef.

The recipe called for 3 to 3 ½ lbs of beef tenderloin.  I will admit, cuts of meat are not my thing.  I’m learning, but I had to research a bit.  Well, for those of you who, like me are not up to speed on your cuts, a filet mignon is cut from the tenderloin.  So I was looking at 6 to 7 filet mignons before they cut them up.  Hmmm…that sounds pretty expensive.  Of course, when we went to look, I sent Michael to the butcher shop, deciding that way he could determine if that was in our budget today.  He returned with a top sirloin roast.  I figured, why not?  Let’s try it.

If you do know your cuts of meat, you are probably shaking your head right now.  This roast did not lend itself to being pounded out.  I did the whole, cut it almost in half, and open it like a book thing.  It was still too thick, so I tried it again, cutting and folding in open like a map.  Finally, it was at a size that worked.  We prepared the stuffing of bacon, spinach, shallots, and mushrooms.  I spread this on the meat and rolled it up and tied it.  This cooks at 350 for 30 minutes, then we increased the heat to 450 and cooks for another 15 minutes until the interior is about 125°.  I’ll be honest, this was the timing for the tenderloin.  This cut didn’t need this much time.  It was fine, but not as rare as I would have liked.  We did make the accompanying red wine sauce for this which was so good!

We also made melting potatoes, a recipe I found at Bake at Midnight. This was my first time making these, how have I not known about these?  Get some large potatoes, russets, or Yukon golds work.  Peel them and cut off the ends and cut 1 inch rounds (flat on the top and bottom) these sear in oil and butter on one side. They flip and add chicken stock, garlic and thyme and top each potato with a bit of butter. This then cooks in the oven for 30 minutes.  The potatoes come out crunchy and delicious on top and the bottom soaks up all that butter and stock. Make sure to drizzle them with the melted butter in the bottom of the pan.

Melting potatoes with thyme
Melting potatoes with thyme

This was a great pairing with the Cabernet Franc-Merlot blend.  This roulade is not like a big steak, it is softened with the spinach and mushrooms, and the savory notes are kicked up with the bacon.

We also did a small pairing later with a cheese plate with cheddar, raspberries, blackberries, black plum, pecans, and a bit of duck rillettes and morello cherry preserves.  While cheddar is supposed to be a good pairing for this type of blend, I’m not a cheddar lover, and pairing it with the wine didn’t change my tune.  The cherries and duck, however, were beautiful with the wine.

Things are starting to open up and Walla Walla is a great place to visit.  It is off the beaten path, you don’t drive through Walla Walla on your way to any place else, but it is worth the journey.  They will be opening a tasting room in Walla Walla.  Currently, they host guests at the Historic Frenchtown School.  This new tasting room will be in the historic Marcus Whitman Hotel in downtown Walla Walla.  Check the L’Ecole No. 41 site for all the updates and to schedule a visit.

The L'Ecole No 41 Schoolhouse - photo courtesy L'Ecole No. 41
The L'Ecole No 41 Schoolhouse - photo courtesy L'Ecole No. 41

More on L’Ecole No. 41

  • Steak and chocolate – the best way to enjoy a L’Ecole No. 41 Cabernet Sauvignon
  • Valentine’s Day – Spoil yourself and maybe someone else with 3 delicious pairing menus, 1 for every palate and a L’Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Beef roulade with spinach bacon and mushroom filling
Yield: 6

Beef roulade with bacon, mushrooms and spinach and a red wine sauce

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Resting Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes

This roulade is beautiful and delicious filled with bacon, mushrooms, spinach, and shallots. It is finished with a red wine sauce.

It takes a bit of time in the oven and will vary by the cut of meat you use. Our recipe is filled with bacon, mushrooms, spinach and shallots, but as with any roulade, you can switch out the items in the filling as long as they are already cooked. The herbs also can be adapted.

We paired this with a Cabernet Franc/Merlot blend from Washington and it was a delicious pairing.

Ingredients

  • 3 slices of Bacon finely chopped
  • 12 oz of cremini mushrooms finely chopped
  • ½ cup finely chopped shallots
  • 1 tbs garlic minced
  • 3 cups of beef stock
  • 6 ounces of fresh baby spinach roughly chopped
  • 1.8 lb sirloin tip roast (okay, pick a better cut, do a tenderloin if you can if not try skirt steak)
  • 11/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1 cup of red wine
  • 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
  • 4 tsp all-purpose flour
  • 3 tbs Butter

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. 
  2. Make the Filling
  3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat.  Add a tablespoon of olive oil to the pan. 
  4. Add the finely chopped bacon and cook for 2 minutes (this wants to be soft, not crispy). 
  5. Add the shallots and cook for another two minutes.
  6. Add the mushrooms, cook for 3 minutes. 
  7. Increase the heat to medium-high.
  8. Add the garlic and sauté for just 30 seconds, until it is fragrant. 
  9. Stir in ½ cup of the beef stock, cook stirring occasionally until the liquid is almost all gone (about 8 minutes).
  10. Add the spinach and cook just until it wilts, about a minute.
  11. Prep and stuff the beef
  12. Make a cut lengthwise down the meat so that you can open it up like a book and pound it out. (If you have skirt steak! Congratulations!  You don’t have to do this step!)
  13. Place the beef on a sheet of plastic wrap and cover it with another.  Pound the beef out with a meat mallet (or a heavy rolling pin like I did). Head for ½ inch thick.  Mine was closer to ¾ and it worked fine.
  14. Brush the beef with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper
  15. Spread the filling over the beef, leaving a ½ inch border around the edge.
  16. Roll this up. If you have a rectangle, do this lengthwise, so that your roll will be longer.
  17. Tie this every two inches with cooking twine.
  18. Brush the outside with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  19. Place this on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes.
  20. Increase the temperature to 450° F and bake an additional 15 to 25 minutes or until the thermometer registers 125° F. Depending on your cut of meat and the thickness, this time will be different.
  21. At this point, you will want to start the sauce
  22. Combine the rest of the beef stock (2 ½ cups), the wine, and sprigs of thyme in a pot and bring to a boil.
  23. Cook until this is reduced to 1 cup (this will take about 20-25 minutes, keep an eye on it)
  24. Remove the thyme sprigs and throw them away
  25. Take ¼ cup of the stock mixture and mix it with the flour in a small bowl to make a slurry.
  26. Add this mixture back to the pot and whisk it in. 
  27. Return this to a boil and cook for 1 minute.  If this gets too thick, add a little more stock.
  28. Remove from the heat and whisk the butter and season with salt and pepper.
  29. When your roulade reaches 125° F, remove it from the oven.
  30. Let this stand for 10 to 15 minutes, then cut across the grain.  You should get 12 slices.
  31. You can plate this with the sauce on the bottom or drizzled on top or heck, do both (the sauce is delicious)

Notes

We served this with Melting potatoes.

If we could have, we would have used a beef tenderloin, but couldn’t find one.  Michael found a sirloin tip roast so we decided to wing it.  It was harder to pound out due to the cut of meat and I ended up carefully carving it open to the right thickness.  This worked, but it took much less time to cook due to the cut of meat.  This is where you need to keep going back with your meat thermometer to monitor it. 

My sauce reduced too far and I brought it back with some additional stock. If you have leftover stock, you can do the same to thin this backup. 





Nutrition Information

Yield

6

Serving Size

1

Amount Per Serving Calories 539Total Fat 30gSaturated Fat 13gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 13gCholesterol 163mgSodium 2624mgCarbohydrates 10gFiber 2gSugar 3gProtein 48g

Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

© Robin Renken
Cuisine: Main Course / Category: Recipes and Wine Pairings
Beef roulade with spinach bacon and mushroom filling scaled
Melting potatoes with thyme
Yield: 6

Melting pototoes with garlic and thyme

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 38 minutes
Total Time: 43 minutes

I found this recipe for Melting Potatoes at Bake at Midnight. These are delicious potatoes, crisp on the top and soft and delicious below. I don't know if I will ever make potatoes another way again.

Ingredients

  • 3 large russet potatoes (if you can't find russets use yukon golds)
  • 10 tbs of butter
  • 2 tbs vegetable oil
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 4-6 sprigs of fresh thyme
  • Pinch of salt
  • Pinch of pepper

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400° F.
  2. Peel the potatoes and cut into 1 inch thick rounds (cut off the rounded ends, they won’t work in the dish, you need flat ends)
  3. Pat the potatoes dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper
  4. Heat an ovenproof skillet over medium-high
  5. When the skillet is hot add the oil and 4 tbs of the butter
  6. Sear the potatoes for 4 minutes. Turn them over and remove them from the heat (you are only searing one side)
  7. Cut the remaining butter into as many pieces as you have rounds of potatoes
  8. Pour the chicken stock into the pan.  Add the thyme and garlic.
  9. Top each potato with a cube of butter.
  10. Put the skillet in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
  11. Spoon the delicious butter sauce over the potatoes to serve.

Notes

Russet potatoes will hold up and not break down in this recipe. I have also seen this made with Yukon Gold. 
You want big potatoes to get big rounds.

You can, of course, use other herbs in the recipe.

Nutrition Information

Yield

6

Serving Size

1

Amount Per Serving Calories 373Total Fat 24gSaturated Fat 13gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 10gCholesterol 52mgSodium 254mgCarbohydrates 34gFiber 4gSugar 2gProtein 5g

Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

© Robin Renken
Cuisine: Side dish / Category: Recipes and Wine Pairings
Melting potatoes with thyme 2 scaled

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Robin Bell Renken I have always loved people’s stories. I spent a career in Theatre helping to tell stories, as a Stage Manager. Daily enabling artists to freely and safely tell stories through their art. Then I fell in love with wine. There are so many details, so many nuances, not just in the glass, but in the vineyard, the region and the people. As I met winemakers and vineyard owners and even the people in the tasting room excited to pour me a glass and tell me the story of this wine, I knew these were stories I wanted to share. I completed my study and became a Certified Specialist of Wine and continue learning daily as I meet and interview people in this industry.

Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.

When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.

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Yakima Valley AVA – Blends of friendship and history with wines from Eight Bells and Pearl and Stone Co. #WinePW

Yakima Valley AVA – Blends of friendship and history with wines from Eight Bells and Pearl and Stone Co. #WinePW

Mar 12, 2021

The Yakima Valley is one of my favorite wine regions.  We visited a few years ago and were enamored by the wine and the people.

This month I’m leading the intrepid writers of the Wine Pairing Weekend (#WinePW) group on a virtual trip to the Yakima Valley AVA. You can read my preview post here.

With the help of Wine Yakima Valley, many of the writers received wine from different wineries that source from this Valley.  While you may expect to see Cabernet Sauvignon, I expect you will find our writers wrote about a variety of wines sourced from all over this valley.  You will find links to each of their pieces at the end of this post.

We will be gathering on Saturday, March 13th to discuss this region, its wines, soil, climates, and people.  You can join us by heading to Twitter at 8 am Pacific time (11 am ET) and using and following #WinePW.

*The wines in this post were received as media samples.  All opinions are our own.

I received two wines, both from wineries outside the Yakima Valley AVA, but who source from the Valley.  The Yakima Valley is revered fruit, so this is unsurprising.  But these wines each have stories, one deeply tied to the history of this Valley.

They also have another thing in common. These wineries are not solo operations. They are groups of people, friends of like minds, who came together over their love of wine.  Together, they did the hard work and founded a winery.  Here are their stories.

Pearl and Stone Co. the whole gang! (photo Courtesy Pearl and Stone Co.)
Pearl and Stone Co. the whole gang! (photo Courtesy Pearl and Stone Co.)

Pearl and Stone Wine Co.

Pearl and Stone Wine Co. is located in North Bend, Washington.  If that name sounds familiar, it might be from the famous cult classic TV show that was set in this place some 30 years ago.  This is the town that David Lynch’s “Twin Peaks” was set in.

The town sits 30 minutes from Seattle in the beautiful Snoqualmie Valley.  It’s a small town of around 7000 people at last count.

Erika Ribary, Laurie Wesorick, and Wendy Stone were teachers at Fall City Elementary School in North Bend.  They would gather with their husbands, Paul, Rob, and Chris (respectively), typically over a bottle of wine.

In 2013 they were celebrating Paul’s Birthday and they decided they should make their own wine.  Collectively, they had the knowledge to put together a winery, Chris is the VP of Marketing and Communications for the Washington Wine Commission.  Paul owns a commercial construction company and Rob works for Microsoft.

They bought some equipment and sourced fruit from Two Blondes Vineyard in the Yakima Valley.  Chris Camarda, the Winemaker for Andrew Will Winery, owns Two Blondes Vineyard and pointed them in all the right directions.  It’s never a bad start to get your initial advice on starting your winery from one of the 50 most influential winemakers in the world.   Chris Camarda worked with them for their first 5 years, while they got their legs under them.

I had a chance to speak with Chris Stone about how they got started:

“…I have been working in the WA wine industry since 1999 and had made a couple of barrels over the years with colleagues/friends, so I knew enough to be dangerous, but was smart enough to recognize what I don’t know. Rob and Paul both work in other industries and brought other skills. Enter Chris Camarda to teach us how to not mess things up!”

The Pearl and Stone Co. Tasting Room in downtown North Bend Washington
The Pearl and Stone Co. Tasting Room in downtown North Bend Washington

What’s in a name?

Well, the name is a composite anagram of their names Pearl is P for Paul, E for Erika, A (for and), R for Rob, and L for Laurie. Stone is Chris and Wendy’s last name. So “Pearl and Stone Wine Co.”  It has elegance don’t you think?  There is also a symbolism that they have found in these names with Stone representing a “strong foundation, and a grounding sense of place” and Pearl representing “something of value – there is nothing more valuable than friends and family”.

In November of 2019, they opened their tasting room in Downtown North Bend.  It sits catty-corner to the famous Twede’s Café, the real-life version of the “Double R Diner” on Twin Peaks, home of Twin Peaks cherry pie and “A damn fine cup o’coffee!”. Of course, the tasting room was just getting ready for its first peak season, when COVID hit.  They are open again at a smaller capacity with a few tables for tasting.

Pearl and Stone Wine Co. 2017 Mailbox Peak

47% Merlot, 47% Cabernet Franc, and 6% Cabernet Sauvignon.

13.3% abv – $36 SRP

This wine is sourced from Two Blondes & Pollard Vineyard

Two Blondes is located in Zillah Washington and is owned by Chris Camarda.  This 30 acres site sits at about 1150 feet in clay and loam soils. The vineyard is planted to multiple clones of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Malbec, all own-rooted.

Pollard is owned by Robin Pollard, the former executive director of the Washington State Wine Commission.  This vineyard is planted to an experimental dense planting method with 2400 plants per acre (normally you plant about 1700 per acre). The soil here is sandy loam with a subsoil of limestone.

The name for this wine comes from a famous old trail, which has been a rite of passage for Washington hikers.  The old trail was straight up the mountain, but a new easier trail has now been put in.  At the top, you find not only amazing views, but a Mailbox, decorated and stuffed full of treats and treasure from other hikers.

My notes

Upon opening my nose first picked up notes of a cedar forest.  It caused me to close my eyes and picture a forest.  Red berries and spice followed with notes of darker fruit, and bramble.  Hints of walnuts, dried fig, and eucalyptus rounded out the nose.

* After further research, I found that the forest I was picturing, looks much like the Mailbox Peak trail.

The entrance to the Eight Bells Tasting Room (photo courtesy Eight Bells)
The entrance to the Eight Bells Tasting Room (photo courtesy Eight Bells)

Eight Bells Winery

Eight Bells Winery is located in the Roosevelt neighborhood of North Seattle.  This Urban Winery is the collaboration of 3 friends, brought together first by the sea, and then by wine.

Tim Bates, Andy Shepard, and Frank Michiels had each been making wine at home.  The three came together in 2009 to move their production out of their garages and into an old building about a mile from the University of Washington.  The winery has a tasting room that is open on the weekends (currently only on Sunday).  They primarily sell Direct to Consumer, through their wine club, tasting room, and online.

This is a winery that you don’t trip over, it’s off the beaten path, but it is well worth searching out. During the pandemic, they have done “Pick ups in the Alley” to great success.

Most of their fruit is sourced from Red Willow Vineyard with additional fruit from the well-known Boushey vineyard.  These are wine-growers who take pride in producing excellent fruit that others can turn into wine.  When winemakers get their hands on this fruit they work to make these growers proud.

The bottle we received was the 2014 David’s Block.  It is no longer available, and I feel lucky to have received it, but…the 2015 and 2016 vintages are available now and you should check those out.  But on to the story behind this wine.

Eight Bells Starting at 12 O'Clock going clockwise: Neal Ratti, Susan Hamilton, Taylor Michiels Nordby, Kip Nordby, Frank Michiels, Terry Michiels, Denise Ratti, Tim Bates, Heidi Shepherd and Andy Shepherd. Photo Courtesy Eight Bells
Eight Bells Starting at 12 O'Clock going clockwise: Neal Ratti, Susan Hamilton, Taylor Michiels Nordby, Kip Nordby, Frank Michiels, Terry Michiels, Denise Ratti, Tim Bates, Heidi Shepherd and Andy Shepherd. Photo Courtesy Eight Bells

Red Willow Vineyard, Mike Sauer, and David Lake

In the 1970s after finishing college, Mike Sauer married into the Stephenson family.  As the new son-in-law, they handed him a parcel to manage and farm.  With the help of Dr. Walter Clore, he began planting wine grapes.

David Lake was the Winemaker for Associated Vineyards.  He and Mike began working together and he encouraged Mike to plant many Bordeaux varieties as well as Syrah and others.  Being familiar with the way vineyards were planted in Bordeaux, he and Mike planted a block to multiple varieties and clones as they would in Bordeaux.  This block was named David’s Block and this is the block where our wine from Eight Bells comes from.

Eight Bells David’s Block

This wine is a field blend from David’s Block.  Frank Michiels described David’s Block for me: there are rows of multiple clones of Cabernet Franc, then Merlot, Petite Verdot, Carmenere, and then 12 rows of Cabernet Sauvignon with 10 different clones.  The north end of the block is Malbec, which they no longer use in the blend, but it was in the 2014 vintage that I received.

David's Block at the Red Willow Vinyard in Washington's Yakima Valley (photo courtesy Eight Bells Wine)

David’s Block at the Red Willow Vineyard in Washington’s Yakima Valley (photo courtesy Eight Bells Wine)

I will admit, that on our visit to Red Willow, we did not get to see David’s block.  Jonathan wanted to show us as much as possible on our way to the Chapel to catch the sunset and David’s Block is set further away on a separate road.  Luckily Frank had a photo to share.

Let’s talk for a minute about the complexity of this.  Yes, in the finished wine, but also as a grower and a winemaker trying to choose when to harvest.  Until speaking with Frank Michiels, I had not really put together the how complicated a field blend actually is.

The fruit for this wine is picked all at once.  So you have different varieties that ripen at different times, as well as multiple clones which add more ripening variation to the mix.  Now, you have to go out, taste all that fruit and pick one day, one time for your harvest.

From there, all the fruit is co-fermented.  There is no blending of different lots. The vineyard and mother nature are in control.  The blend stays the same, they are picking the same rows from the same vines each vintage.  What those grapes do within that specific year, is what makes this wine slightly different from year to year.

This may seem counter-intuitive.  Wouldn’t it be easier to have the block all the same to give you more control?  Why yes, but the thing is, that each year, each of the clones will ripen differently.  Some clones are better in warmer weather, some cooler. The idea, as Frank explained is that they balance to give you a more consistent wine, from year to year.

Eight Bells 2014 “David’s Block”

60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Malvec, 7% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, 3% Carmenere and 3% Petite Verdot.

310 Cases produced – 14.5% abv – $38 SRP

My notes

Notes of Red currant, sour cherry, bramble, and berries mix with anise and eucalyptus with secondary notes of tobacco, walnut, vanilla, and spice.  It has wonderful acid and is elegant and smooth with fine integrated tannins.

This is the 40th Anniversary of the first vineyard designate wine in Washington.  David Lake did the first in 1981 which was a Red Willow vineyard designate. We celebrate with them by taking it a step further into a block designate from this beautiful and historic vineyard and thank Eight Bells for being the caretaker for the wines of this block.

Eight Bells David's Block 2014 from the Yakima Valley

Oh my goodness…maybe we should talk pairings?  This is Wine Pairing Weekend after all!

Charcuterie platter with Duck Rillettes, morello cherry preserves, black walnuts, cornichons, parmesan, manchego, Iberico ham, blackberries, and raspberries

When I spoke with Chris at Pearl and Stone Wine Co.  I asked if he had a favorite pairing.  He mentioned duck with cherries.  We found duck rillettes, duck legs cooked down in their own fat almost like a confit.  It makes a delicious spread and with the morello cherry preserves was amazing with both wines.

Roasted beet and shallot salad with black walnuts, mixed baby greens, and beet greens

We enjoyed this elegant salad with the charcuterie platter for lunch. This salad was a beautiful pairing with the wines.  The earthy notes in the beets and their meaty texture give depth to the dish allowing it to stand up to a fuller-bodied red wine.

Roasted beet and shallot salad to pair with a Yakima Valley Bordeaux style blend
Roasted beet and shallot salad to pair with a Yakima Valley Bordeaux style blend

Balsamic Marinated Skirt Steak with Bok Choy and Leeks on Couscous

This was our dinner pairing.  Okay….originally I was going to do this with grilled fennel, rather than the Bok Choy, but the store was out of fennel.  It is fine for the recipe, but not so fine for the wine.  The Green notes in the bok choy just didn’t sit well with the wines. The meat was great, the couscous was great, but if you want to pair this dish with a Bordeaux style blend, ditch the bok choy and go with fennel.  Or…go without the green completely and top the whole thing with a red wine sauce made from the pan drippings.

The skirt steak was delicious and was great with the wine.  It marinates for 30 minutes and then sears quickly to top the dish.

Recipes are listed below.

Seared balsamic skirt steak with bok choy, leeks and a cous cous blend
Seared balsamic skirt steak with bok choy, leeks and a cous cous blend

The #WinePW Crew on the Yakima Valley!

Yes, this post is long…and you know what?  I only touched on two of the wineries making wine from the Yakima Valley AVA!  I want to thank Wine Yakima Valley for sponsoring this month’s Wine Pairing weekend event.

There are more amazing wines, wineries, and people for you to discover in the Yakima Valley and the writers with #WinePW have worked hard to share a few with you!

Check out the pieces below by my Colleagues.  You’ll note that several of them had so much to say about these wines from the Yakima Valley that they had to divide it into two posts!

Don’t forget to join us on Saturday Morning March 13th as we chat about the Yakima Valley and its wines on Twitter.  Just follow and use the hashtag #WinePW to join the conversation.

    • Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Cam shares “Yakima Valley’s Sin Banderas Rhone Roses Compliment Dishes with Asian Flair” and  “Mediterranean-Inspired Dishes Paired with Yakima Valley Wines from Dineen Vineyards”
    • Linda at My Full Wine Glass invites us to “Meet Kerry Shiels: A Yakima Valley winemaker with Vision”
    • Terri of Our Good Life shares 2 posts “Fortuity…Taking Advantage of Life’s Great Wines!”,  and “Two Mountain Rose and Fennel Wild Mushroom Tarts”
    • Payal at Keep The Peas shares “Yakima Valley Wines FTW!”
    • Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm is cooking up “Smoked Beef Brisket with Canvasback Cabernet”
    • Rupal the Syrah Queen gives us “Yakima Valley – Red Willow Vineyards Producing Some of Washington’s Finest Syrahs”
    • Jane of Always Ravenous makes our mouths water with “Filet Mignon paired with Washington Yakima Valley Cabernet Sauvignon”
    • Martin with ENOFYLZ Wine Blog is giving us “a Taste of Washington State’s Yakima Valley”
    • David at Cooking Chat has 2 posts for us also “Lamb Ragu Pasta with Red Wine from Dineen Vineyards” and “Sin Banderas Rosé with Corned Beef & More Yakima Valley Wine Pairings”
    • Nicole of Somm’s Table shares “Big, Beautiful Reds from Yakima Valley and Tasty, Meaty Fare”
    • Jennifer at Vino Travels tells us about “Italian Grapes of the Yakima Valley with Sleeping Dog Wines”
    • Gwendolyn the Wine Predator explores “Washington Syrah: Hedges, L’Ecole, VanArnam with Lamb Stew”
    • Susannah at Avvinare gives us “Malbec from VanArnam Vineyard in Yakima Valley”
    • Lori at Exploring the Wine Glass shares “Tasting the Soul of Wine in the Heart of Yakima Valley”
Roasted beet and shallot salad to pair with a Yakima Valley Bordeaux style blend
Yield: 4

Roasted beet and shallot salad with black walnuts, mixed baby greens and beet greens

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Plating Time : 5 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes

This is an elegant salad that is perfect for pairing with a bottle of red wine. The earthy notes in the beets and their meaty texture give the depth to the dish that makes it stand up to a fuller-bodied red wine. The beets and shallots roast easily in aluminum foil with olive oil allowing you to easily update the recipe for as many plates as you need.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup of mixed baby greens
  • 1/2 cup of torn beet greens
  • 2 medium red beets
  • 4 tbs olive oil
  • 4 shallots
  • ¼ cup black walnuts
  • ¼ tsp freshly ground pepper
  • 3/4 tbs Dijon mustard
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 1 shallot finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1 tbs honey
  • 1 tsp ground white pepper
  • 1 cup of olive oil

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. 
  2. Clean and scrub your beets
  3. Place each beet in the center of a square of aluminum foil
  4. Drizzle with olive oil and wrap
  5. Place directly on the middle rack in the oven to roast for 45 minutes
  6. Place a pan on the rack beneath them to catch any spills
  7. Once these are in the oven, clean your shallots and slice off the root end
  8. Toss the shallots in olive oil and wrap them in a foil packet.
  9. Place these in the oven with your beets to roast for 30 minutes
  10. Make the vinaigrette
  11. In a blender combine the garlic, finely chopped shallot, red wine vinegar, honey, and white pepper.  Blend.  Open the center of the lid and drizzle in the
    olive oil slowly while the blender is going.  Set this aside (I like to put it in a jar so that I can shake to remix if needed)
  12. When the beets and shallots are done, removed them from the oven and the foil and let them cool. 
  13. Turn the oven down to 350
  14. Cut the beets into wedges
  15. Slice the shallots in half and peel off the petals
  16. Place the walnuts on a baking sheet and toast for 5-10 minutes (give them a shake ½-way through).
  17. Place your greens in a bowl and season with salt and pepper
  18. Add a tbs of the vinaigrette and toss
  19. Plate with the greens topped with the beets, shallots, & walnuts
  20. Drizzle a little more of the vinaigrette on top.

Notes

You can peel your beets when they come out of the oven and have cooled a bit if you prefer your beets peeled.

The vinaigrette makes enough that you will have some left for later (or for another dish, I used mine in my cous cous for dinner!)

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

© Robin Renken
Cuisine: salad / Category: Recipes and Wine Pairings
Roasted beet and shallot salad scaled
Seared balsamic skirt steak with bok choy, leeks and a cous cous blend
Yield: 6

Balsamic Marinated Skirt Steak with Bok Choy and Leeks on Cous Cous

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Marinating & Resting Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes

A blend of pearl couscous cooked with saffron and marjoram and quinoa form the bed for this dish. The grains are tossed in a vinaigrette. This is topped with bok choy and leeks braised in a balsamic mixture and finished off with a balsamic marinated skirt steak.

Ingredients

Balsamic Marinade

  • 3 tbs balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tbs dry red wine
  • 2 cloves of garlic minced
  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • 1 tbs fresh rosemary chopped
  • 2 tbs brown sugar
  • salt & pepper
  • 1 lb beef skirt steak

Seared Bok Choy and Leeks

  • 1 leek chopped
  • 3 bunches of baby bok choy
  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • 4 cloves of garlic chopped
  • 3 tbs balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tbs balsamic reduction
  • 1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 tsp lemon zest
  • 2 tbs water

Vinaigrette for cous cous

  • 1/2 tbs Dijon mustard
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1/2 shallot finely chopped
  • 2 tsp honey
  • 1/2 tsp ground white pepper
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp fresh rosemary chopped
  • 1/2 tsp Herbs de Provence

Couscous Quinoa blend

  • 1 pinch of saffron
  • 2 sprigs of marjoram
  • 4 oz of Pearl Couscous
  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • 1/2 cup of cooked Quinoa

Instructions

  1. Make the marinade
  2. Combine all the marinade ingredients in a bowl
  3. Cut the skirt steak in half
  4. Place the steak in a zip lock bag, pour the marinade over it.
  5. Marinate for 30 minutes in the refrigerator
  6. Make the Vinaigrette
  7. Combine all ingredients except the oil in the blender and pulse until mixed
  8. Drizzle in the oil, blending to emulsify
  9. Store in a jar in the refrigerator for later
  10. Make the couscous
  11. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil
  12. Dry the saffron in a dry skillet over low heat
  13. Remove the boiling water from the heat, add the saffron and marjoram. Cover and steep 10 minutes
  14. Toast the couscous in a dry skillet for 3 to 4 minutes
  15. Remove the saffron and marjoram, and return the water to a boil
  16. Add the couscous, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes
  17. Drain under cool water. Toss with olive oil and quinoa.
  18. Sear the skirt steak
  19. Remove the skirt steak from the marinade (discard the marinade)
  20. Heat a cast-iron skillet on high for 3 minutes
  21. Add olive oil and the skirt steak. Press the steak into the pan with tongs to get complete contact.
  22. Sear 2-4 minutes per side depending on the thickness of the meat. (internal temp of 130 degrees F)
  23. Transfer to a cutting board to rest
  24. Make the bok choy & leeks
  25. Remove the outer layer of the leeks and cut into 2-inch sections, discarding the green at the top. Slice the sections in half lengthwise and then into 1/4 inch strips
  26. Slice the bottom off of each baby bok choy so the leaves separate. Cut each in half
  27. Heat a large skillet over med-high heat add the olive oil and garlic, cooking until the garlic is fragrant (30 seconds)
  28. Add the balsamic, reduction, Worcestershire sauce, salt, lemon zest, and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium.
  29. Add the leeks and stir. Cover and cook for 3 minutes
  30. Add the bok choy and stir. Cover and cook for 2 minutes.
  31. Remove from heat.
  32. Assembling the Dish
  33. Toss the couscous with the vinaigrette
  34. Make a bed on the center of your plate top with the bok choy and leeks
  35. Slice the skirt steak on a 45-degree angle, against the grain
  36. Place the steak on top.

Notes

*Make sure to discard the marinade for safety, it may now contain microbes from the raw meat.

The remaining sauce from the bok choy may be drizzled on top of the meat.

Nutrition Information

Yield

6

Serving Size

1

Amount Per Serving Calories 609Total Fat 43gSaturated Fat 10gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 30gCholesterol 74mgSodium 208mgCarbohydrates 27gFiber 3gSugar 13gProtein 27g

Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

© Robin Renken
Cuisine: Main Course / Category: Recipes and Wine Pairings
Seared balsamic skirt steak with bok choy leeks and a cous cous blend scaled

Sources, Resources and further reading

  • https://wineyakimavalley.org/
  • https://www.pearlandstonewine.com/
  • http://twoblondesvineyard.com/tb/chris-camarda
  • https://www.pollardperse.com/
  • https://www.washingtonwine.org/
  • https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/mailbox-peak
  • https://www.8bellswinery.com/
  • https://www.yakimaherald.com/scene/drink/wine-scene-paying-homage-to-a-wine-pioneer/article_2bd1efe1-a64e-5081-ad87-df8910057284.html
  • http://www.redwillowvineyard.com/our-story

More on the Yakima Valley from Crushed Grape Chronicles (this is just the tip of the iceberg!)

  • Red Willow Vineyard, an iconic vineyard in Yakima Valley Washington
  • Chardonnay: Nuances in expressing site – an example from the Yakima Valley
  • Yakima Valley Cabernet Sauvignon with JB Neufeld
  • Red Mountain AVA Yakima Valley Washington
  • Wine Yakima Valley
  • Seth Kitzke on Kitzke Cellars, Upsidedown Wine and so much more.
  •  

As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and sign up for our monthly newsletter to keep up to date on all of our posts.

Robin Bell Renken I have always loved people’s stories. I spent a career in Theatre helping to tell stories, as a Stage Manager. Daily enabling artists to freely and safely tell stories through their art. Then I fell in love with wine. There are so many details, so many nuances, not just in the glass, but in the vineyard, the region and the people. As I met winemakers and vineyard owners and even the people in the tasting room excited to pour me a glass and tell me the story of this wine, I knew these were stories I wanted to share. I completed my study and became a Certified Specialist of Wine and continue learning daily as I meet and interview people in this industry.

Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.

When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.

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Exploring Wines of the Yakima Valley AVA with #WinePW

Exploring Wines of the Yakima Valley AVA with #WinePW

Mar 3, 2021

It’s been several years since my first trip to the Yakima Valley.  I remember being so surprised at the landscape, it didn’t look so different from home, in the desert of Nevada.  Of course in the Yakima Valley, there is a river, bringing water and with it, agriculture.

The State of Washington is agriculture forward.  They lead the country in growing cherries, apples, pears, hops, potatoes, onions, and grapes.

There are plenty of grapes grown here for Welches grape juice and jelly.  More than that, they grow the kind of grapes, that if you are reading this, you care about.  Wine grapes.

#WinePW explores the Yakima Valley

This month the writers at #WinePW (Wine Pairing Weekend) are partnering with Wine Yakima Valley to dive into all those wine grapes.  You might be surprised at the range of varieties that are grown in this Valley.  We will add links to all the articles by this fine group of writers at the bottom of this piece.

You can join us on Saturday, March 13th on Twitter to discuss the wines of this amazing region.  You can join us, following and using the hashtag #WinePW at 8 am PST or 11 am EST.

The Yakima Valley AVA

The Yakima Valley AVA is a nested AVA inside theater Columbia Valley AVA in Washington State.  Located in the Southern part of the state it spans over 70 miles from the city of Yakima in the west to the city of Richland to the east.  At its widest point, you could fit the Napa Valley AVA from north to south.

Washington State Wine AVA Map Oct 2020 - courtesy Washington State Wine
Washington State Wine AVA Map Oct 2020 - courtesy Washington State Wine

Nested AVAs of the Yakima Valley

Within the Yakima Valley, you find 4 nested AVAs.

  • Rattlesnake Hills est. 2006
    • In the Northwest part of the valley, this is the largest of the sub AVAs covering 74,380 acres with 1,832 under vine. Elevations here run 850 to over 3000 feet.
  • Snipes Mountain est. 2009
    • Named for a rancher, Ben Snipes who live here in the 1850s, the AVA is 4,005 acres on both sides of the mountain. There are 859 acres under vine with more than 30 varieties.
  • Red Mountain est. 2001
    • Nope, it’s not really a mountain. It is a steep southwest slope in the east end of the valley with elevations between 500 and 1500 feet. It gets its name from the cheatgrass that grows here that is deep red in the spring. It is home to some of the most well-thought-of Cabernets in the State.
  • Candy Mountain est. 2020
    • Yep, this is the newbie! It’s just east of Red Mountain, covers only 815 acres, and has 110 acres under vine. (It’s so new that its not yet on the AVA map! But it would be just east of Red Mountain before you get to the Tri-Cities)
Map Yakima Valley 2019 courtesy of WineYakimaValley.org
Map Yakima Valley 2019 courtesy of WineYakimaValley.org

Volcanos, Floods, and soils

This region was volcanic. Think about it, Mount Adams, Mount Ranier, Mount Hood…there are stunning peaks everywhere.  More than mountains, these were volcanos active 15 million years ago.  All that lava is the basalt that lies under the top soils here in the Yakima Valley.  This soil includes a wide variety of minerals and it’s well-draining.  This gives you small berries, high in acid and full of concentrated flavors and textures.

This is also the land of the Missoula Floods and many vineyards will tell you where they are in relationship to the flood levels. The floods came up to 1200 feet here, so it’s only the higher vineyards that sit in soils above the flood levels, they are happy to show you the difference in the soils.  You find deep silt loam over gravel or basalt.

The Missoula floods rolled through this region 13,000-15,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age.  An ice dam backed up the water in what is now Idaho.  The water above it started to melt and the pressure built and the ice plug would get pushed up and release the water.  The water would slow, the dam would reform….this happened over and over about 2000 years.

All those floods washed things downstream and you find boulders in vineyards on top of ridges and hills.  Kitzke has one the size of a VW bus in their vineyard

The modern history of wine in the Yakima Valley

While the first grapes in the Yakima Valley were planted in 1869, it was the early 20th century when things picked up.  In 1917 an agricultural research site was started in Prosser in the middle of the Yakima Valley.

Today it is known as the Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center.  It was here that the wine grape growing in the state really kicked off, under the guidance of Dr. Walter Clore.

In 1962 Columbia Winery (at that time known as Associated Vintners) planted a 5.5 acres site in Sunnyside.  In 1973 Mike Sauer planted his first Cabernet Sauvignon at Red Willow Vineyard, in 1975 Kiona on Red Mountain was planted.  Now things were really rolling.

Associated Vineyards Winemaker David Lake, encouraged growers to plant Bordeaux varieties and in 1981 did the first vineyard-designate bottling from Red Willow Vineyard.

Yakima Valley’s Impact on Washington Wine

More than half of the grapes for Washington’s wines come from the Yakima Valley AVA.  The region boasts 17,000 acres of vineyards, whose grapes go to both wineries within the region and further afield.  Many of the tasting rooms in Seattle source fruit from the Yakima Valley.

This is a place where a vineyard name means something.  40 years ago David Lake did the first vineyard designate wine in the state.  Red Willow, Klipsun, Boushey…these names are legendary here. The soils the weather, the people that grow the grapes…the more you know the more you want to know, and the learning is delicious.

On March 12th and 13th, the writers of the #WinePW Crew will post pieces on the wines and wineries of the Yakima Valley.  When these posts go live I will include links here!  In the meantime feel free to check out their sites, listed below.

Participating writers include:

  • Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Cam shares “Yakima Valley’s Sin Banderas Rhone Roses Compliment Dishes with Asian Flair” and  “Mediterranean-Inspired Dishes Paired with Yakima Valley Wines from Dineen Vineyards”
  • Linda at My Full Wine Glass invites us to “Meet Kerry Shiels: A Yakima Valley winemaker with Vision”
  • Terri of Our Good Life shares 2 posts “Fortuity…Taking Advantage of Life’s Great Wines!”,  and “Two Mountain Rose and Fennel Wild Mushroom Tarts”
  • Payal at Keep The Peas shares “Yakima Valley Wines FTW!”
  • Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm is cooking up “Smoked Beef Brisket with Canvasback Cabernet”
  • Rupal the Syrah Queen gives us “Yakima Valley – Red Willow Vineyards Producing Some of Washington’s Finest Syrahs”
  • Jane of Always Ravenous makes our mouths water with “Filet Mignon paired with Washington Yakima Valley Cabernet Sauvignon”
  • Martin with ENOFYLZ Wine Blog is giving us “a Taste of Washington State’s Yakima Valley”
  • David at Cooking Chat has 2 posts for us also “Lamb Ragu Pasta with Red Wine from Dineen Vineyards” and “Sin Banderas Rosé with Corned Beef & More Yakima Valley Wine Pairings”
  • Nicole of Somm’s Table shares “Big, Beautiful Reds from Yakima Valley and Tasty, Meaty Fare”
  • Jennifer at Vino Travels tells us about “Italian Grapes of the Yakima Valley with Sleeping Dog Wines”
  • Gwendolyn the Wine Predator explores “Washington Syrah: Hedges, L’Ecole, VanArnam with Lamb Stew”
  • Susannah at Avvinare gives us “Malbec from VanArnam Vineyard in Yakima Valley”
  • Lori at Exploring the Wine Glass shares “Tasting the Soul of Wine in the Heart of Yakima Valley”
  • I’ll be here at Crushed Grape Chronicles with “Yakima Valley AVA – Blends of Friendship and History with wines from Eight Bells and Pearl and Stone Co.

 

Don’t forget to join us on Saturday, March 13th on Twitter at 8 am Pacific or 11 am Eastern time (17.00 European Central Time), to discuss wines of the Yakima Valley!  Just follow and use the hashtag #WinePW to join the conversation.

If you would like to join us and write a piece, there is still time.  Email me at [email protected]!

Sources and Resources

  • https://wineyakimavalley.org/
  • https://www.nasda.org/organizations/washington-state-department-of-agriculture
  • https://www.jjbuckley.com/wine-knowledge/blog/volcanic-soils-and-their-effect-on-wine/889
  • https://www.washingtonwine.org/wine/facts-and-stats/regions-and-avas

As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and sign up for our monthly newsletter to keep up to date on all of our posts.

Robin Bell Renken I have always loved people’s stories. I spent a career in Theatre helping to tell stories, as a Stage Manager. Daily enabling artists to freely and safely tell stories through their art. Then I fell in love with wine. There are so many details, so many nuances, not just in the glass, but in the vineyard, the region and the people. As I met winemakers and vineyard owners and even the people in the tasting room excited to pour me a glass and tell me the story of this wine, I knew these were stories I wanted to share. I completed my study and became a Certified Specialist of Wine and continue learning daily as I meet and interview people in this industry.

Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.

When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.

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Burgers with blue cheese bacon jam and sauteed mushrooms and a L’Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Burgers with blue cheese bacon jam and sauteed mushrooms and a L’Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Feb 10, 2021

Sometimes you just need a juicy messy burger.  We took the opportunity for a Valentine’s Day indulgence, although, really, anytime is a good time for a burger.

The Perfect Burgers

We start with my go-to recipe for burgers from Bobby Flay.

Use an 80/20 blend to keep your burger juicy.  Bobby’s recipe is simple, a thumbprint in the center of each burger keeps them cooking evenly.

We top our burger with sautéed shitake mushrooms, blue cheese, arugula, and bacon jam.  Yes, bacon jam.  You get that recipe below and trust me, bacon jam is life-changing.

For a side?  Cheddar Cheese corn-chips (ours were Harvest Cheddar Sun Chips).  They are the perfect junk food snack to pair with Cabernet Sauvignon.

So spoil yourself, or a loved one or a friend!  But go ahead and indulge in this burger!

Valentine's Day Burgers ingredients with blue cheese, mushrooms, & bacon jam and a L'Ecole No. 41 Cab Sav
Valentine's Day Burger ingredients with blue cheese, mushrooms, & bacon jam and a L'Ecole No. 41 Cab Sav

L’Ecole No. 41 2017 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

We paired this with a Cabernet Sauvignon from Washington.  This was from L’Ecole No. 41 and it is their 2017 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.

This Cabernet comes from Washington’s largest AVA the Columbia Valley AVA.  It covers a full 1/3 of the landmass of Washington.  It is sourced from vineyards across this AVA that L’Ecole No. 41 has built a relationship with over the years.

The wine has notes of black currant, blackberry, and spice on the nose.  It is soft and round in its mouthfeel with soft suede-like tannins that coat your mouth unevenly.  On the palate, in addition to the fruit notes, I found dusty cocoa and mocha notes.

It is 100% Cab Sav from the Columbia Valley AVA and runs $29.00.

L’Ecole No. 41 is located in Walla Walla Washington in an old schoolhouse.  You can read more about them here and here.

*We received this wine as a media sample.  No other compensation was received.  All opinions are our own.

Burgers with Blue cheese, mushrooms and bacon jam and a L'Ecole No. 41 Cab Sav for Valentine's Day
Burger with Blue cheese, mushrooms and bacon jam and a L'Ecole No. 41 Cab Sav for Valentine's Day

Bacon Jam?!!!

Cook the bacon jam first.  It takes a bit more time than the burgers.  You can even make it ahead of time and just reheat it slightly to use on the burgers.

This recipe does call for a ½ lb of bacon and you end up with about ½ cup of jam, but trust me it is worth it.

Crisp up the bacon and reserve the bacon grease. Cook some onion and garlic in some of that grease. Chop the bacon up and add it and brown sugar to the onions. Cook a little then some dried cranberries, some Worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar, and a little bit of water, and cook this until it’s syrupy.  This  will keep in the fridge for about a week (if you can keep from eating it all!)

Check out the full recipe 

Bacon Jam

Shitake mushrooms

You can cook the burgers and the mushrooms at the same time.  I hadn’t thought about it, but you could probably cook them in the same pan.

I used my rod iron skillet for the burgers and a smaller pan for the mushrooms.  The mushrooms just get a little olive oil.  You can add soy to season, but if you are pairing with a Cabernet Sauvignon, don’t.  The cooked soy on the shitakes just somehow doesn’t work.

Cooking the burger

The burgers need to be about 6 ounces (a little kitchen scale is great here) and should be ¾ inch thick each.  Put that thumbprint in the middle and season with salt and pepper.  Add a little oil to your pan (something neutral like canola) and heat it up.  Add the burgers and they do 3 minutes on one side and 2 minutes on the other (for medium-rare, which is how we like our burgers). Add the cheese, put a lid on, and cook for one last minute to melt the cheese.

Burgers with Blue cheese, mushrooms and bacon jam and a L'Ecole No. 41 Cab Sav for Valentine's Day

Check out our Full Story with all of our Valentine’s Pairing Suggestions!

LEcole Valentine Day Burgers with Mushroom, Bacon Jam and Blue Cheese
Yield: 2

Burgers with Mushrooms and Blue Cheese

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes
Total Time: 13 minutes

Based on Bobby Flay's recipe for the Perfect Burger which keeps your burgers perfectly juicy! It's important to use at least 80/20 ground beef to keep the burgers juicy and the thumbprint? Well, a thumbprint in the middle is key to keeping the burgers cooking evenly.

We topped our burgers with sautéed shitake mushrooms, blue cheese, arugula, and bacon jam. Don't worry, there is a recipe for that too!

Ingredients

  • 5 Shitake mushrooms
  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • ¾ lb ground beef (ideally 80/20)
  • 1/4 tsp Salt
  • 1/4 tsp Pepper
  • 2 tbs Canola oil
  • 2 tbs Blue Cheese
  • 2 hamburger buns
  • 1 tbsp bacon jam

Instructions

    Valentine's Day Burgers ingredients with blue cheese, mushrooms, & bacon jam and a L'Ecole No. 41 Cab Sav

    Prep the Mushrooms

    1.    Clean and slice the mushrooms

    2.    Heat a pan with olive oil, add mushrooms

    3.    Cook over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes

    Cooking the Burger

    1.    Divide the meat into 6-ounce portions, (a kitchen scale comes in handy here). Form each into a 3/4-inch-thick patty and make a deep depression in the center with your thumb. Season both sides with salt and pepper.

    2.   Heat the canola oil in a rod iron skillet over high heat. When the oil begins to shimmer, add the burgers. Cook 3 minutes (they should be golden and charred on the bottom). Flip and cook for another 2 minutes. Add the blue cheese on top. Pop a lid on and cook one more minute. This gets the burgers to medium-rare, if you like your burgers less rare, add some time to each side.

    4.    Place on a bottom bun (with mayo) top the burger with mushrooms, bacon jam, and the top bun.  Need some green?  Add a bit of arugula!





Notes

Serve with Harvest Cheddar Sun Chips. No really, especially if you are sipping a Cabernet Sauvignon with this burger. It's the perfect pairing.



Nutrition Information

Yield

2

Serving Size

1

Amount Per Serving Calories 871Total Fat 61gSaturated Fat 16gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 40gCholesterol 158mgSodium 770mgCarbohydrates 25gFiber 2gSugar 4gProtein 53g

Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

© Robin Renken
Cuisine: American / Category: Recipes and Wine Pairings
LEcole Valentine Day Burger Mushroom Bacon Jam and Blue Cheese 134641

Valentines Day Menu Ideas

Cabernet Sauvignon truffles with espresso and cocoa or cranberries and pistachios scaled

L’Ecole No. 41 Cabernet Sauvignon Wine Truffles

These delicious wine truffles are completely decadent. We created two, one with chopped dried cranberry inside, dusted with ground pistachio, and one with a touch of espresso powder inside, then dusted with cocoa.

The wine we used was the L'Ecole No. 41 2017 Walla Walla Cabernet Sauvignon, which is also the perfect wine to pair with these truffles.

Thank you to L'Ecole No. 41 for the delicious sample that inspired these truffles.

LEcole Valentine Day Burger Mushroom Bacon Jam and Blue Cheese 134641

Burgers with Mushrooms and Blue Cheese

Based on Bobby Flay's recipe for the Perfect Burger which keeps your burgers perfectly juicy! It's important to use at least 80/20 ground beef to keep the burgers juicy and the thumbprint? Well, a thumbprint in the middle is key to keeping the burgers cooking evenly.

We topped our burgers with sautéed shitake mushrooms, blue cheese, arugula, and bacon jam. (there is a recipe for that too!)

Steak with Gorgonzola and LEcole Cabernet 01 2 scaled

Steak with Gorgonzola sauce

These dishes cook simultaneously and you will end up with lots of leftover gorgonzola sauce. That's really okay. It's so good on almost anything. I drizzled it on pizza the other night.

This is an elegant dish, but not too tough to make! Get the polenta going first and set that on a back burner to cook while you make the steak and gorgonzola sauce.

We paired this with a Cabernet Sauvignon and it was heaven!

The recipe came from "The Anthony Kitchen"

Steak with Gorgonzola and LEcole Cabernet 01 scaled

Cheesy Polenta

Polenta is simple but takes a little time. I love cooking it in my Dutch Oven. I can get other dishes going while it cooks, and the big heavy dutch oven lid keeps the splatter down.

You can also pour your finished polenta in a dish or pan and refrigerate it, then cut it when it is firm and pan fry it. I like to do this and serve it covered in sautéed vegetables.

Bacon Jam and LEcole Cabernet 135139 scaled

Bacon Jam

This bacon jam is based on a recipe from Mom's Dinner. We substituted dried cranberries for the raisins, which brings a bigger fruit note to the dish and paired great with the Cabernet Sauvignon we chose.

Bacon jam is life-changing. How did I ever live without this stuff! You can serve it with crackers or bread. The other night we topped a pizza with some. Quite honestly, had I been home alone, I would have made this and sat on the couch and eaten the whole bowl with a spoon.

Stuffed Vegan Porabello Mushrooms and Lecole Cabernet 133534 2 scaled

Stuffed Vegan Portabella Mushrooms

This recipe has variations to be Vegan Vegetarian or Gluten-Free, depending on the breadcrumbs and cheese (or cheese substitute) that you use.

This is a dish that is great with Cabernet Sauvignon. Yes, red wine with a dish that isn't meat!

Grilled Balsamic purple Cabbage and Lecole Cabernet 130722 scaled

Grilled balsamic purple cabbage

This is a perfect side dish and it's vegan! The marinade gives this so much umami. With a stovetop grill pan this is a delicious grilled dish that you don't have to go outside for!

Chocolate Tart with Forest Berries and Lecole Cabernet 153535 scaled

Chocolate tart with forest berries

This looks so fancy, but it's really easy. I found this recipe on Rachel Cooks. No-bake, 4 ingredients (+the berries and powdered sugar). So easy and delicious.

I suggest starting with a full pack of Oreos. For a 9 inch tart, use 32. Mine was actually an 8-inch tart pan, so I sadly destroyed too many Oreos. Somehow I ended up with just 3 left?

Oreos and melted butter for the crust, chocolate, and creme make a ganache for the filling and then berries to decorate just before serving. Pretty simple

Get artsy with your decoration. I used strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and mint, but you could use a variety of fruit. I think I might try adding just a little orange liqueur and candied oranges to decorate next time. There are so many variations you can take with this.

As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and sign up for our monthly newsletter to keep up to date on all of our posts.

Robin Bell Renken I have always loved people’s stories. I spent a career in Theatre helping to tell stories, as a Stage Manager. Daily enabling artists to freely and safely tell stories through their art. Then I fell in love with wine. There are so many details, so many nuances, not just in the glass, but in the vineyard, the region and the people. As I met winemakers and vineyard owners and even the people in the tasting room excited to pour me a glass and tell me the story of this wine, I knew these were stories I wanted to share. I completed my study and became a Certified Specialist of Wine and continue learning daily as I meet and interview people in this industry.

Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.

When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.

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Valentine’s Day – Spoil yourself and maybe someone else with 3 delicious pairing menus, 1 for every palate and a L’Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Valentine’s Day – Spoil yourself and maybe someone else with 3 delicious pairing menus, 1 for every palate and a L’Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Feb 10, 2021

Valentine’s Day is a day for Love. We decided to go all-in on our Valentine’s Pairings.  I encourage you to celebrate, spoil your partner or a relative or friend that you are sheltering with during the pandemic.  Celebrate with your fur baby, with a bit of this steak for your favorite pooch, and pull out a can of tuna and a fancy plate for your feline Overlord! Or just bust out a bottle and spoil yourself!  You deserve it!

L’Ecole No. 41 2017 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

I know…we just did a L’Ecole Cabernet Sauvignon.  Well, this is a different wine.  This is their 2017 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, and it’s perfect for Valentine’s Day because it pairs so well with so many things!

This Cabernet comes from Washington’s largest AVA the Columbia Valley AVA.  It covers a full 1/3 of the landmass of Washington.  It is sourced from vineyards across this AVA that L’Ecole No. 41 has built a relationship with over the years.

You’ll find a blend of fruit from a few vineyards in here:  Candy Mountain, Estate Seven Hills, Alder Ridge, Klipsun, Summit View, Bacchus & Dionysus, Pepper Bridge, Stone Tree, Loess, Yellow Jacket, Estate Ferguson & Stone Valley. These vineyards take in several sub AVAs within the Columbia Valley AVA, including Horse Heaven Hills, Wahluke Slope, Red Mountain, and Candy Mountain.  These vineyards are older and proven.   It creates a marriage of flavors.

L'Ecole No. 41 2017 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon for Valentine's Day
L'Ecole No. 41 2017 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon for Valentine's Day

The wine has notes of black currant, blackberry, and spice on the nose.  It is soft and round in its mouthfeel with soft suede-like tannins that coat your mouth unevenly.  On the palate, in addition to the fruit notes, I found dusty cocoa and mocha notes.

This wine is created to be rounded and approachable and is probably their most widely distributed wine.  (They also have this available in splits 375 ml available on their site, under special sized bottles).

100% Cabernet Sauvignon – 14.5% abv – 5,600 cases produced – $29.00 SRP

*We received this wine as a media sample. No other compensation was received. All opinions are our own.

So what to pair with a Washington Cabernet Sauvignon for Valentine’s Day?

With our 3 menus we tried to create a little something for everyone this Valentine’s Day, from a low-key celebration with burgers, to a vegan menu and finally a fancy dinner menu with dessert.  You can mix and match to suit your needs, but all of these dishes will go great with the wine.

Valentine’s Day Menu #1 – the relaxed menu – burgers and corn chips.  Oh, and bacon jam.

Okay, burgers and chips may not sound very sexy, but go with me on this.  A juicy burger topped with blue cheese that is oozing and melted, add some sautéed mushrooms, bacon jam (yes, I said bacon jam), and a bit of arugula (got to keep it healthy right?). This is a match made in heaven for this Cabernet.

The bacon jam is life-changing my friends.

Now you want to know about the corn chips.  Well, we went with cheddar cheese Sun Chips. That bit of cheese flavor?  Yep, it’s good with the wine.  Cabernet Sauvignon and cheddar cheese corn chips, it’s a thing y’all.

Valentine’s Day Menu #2 – The Vegetarian or Vegan Menu – Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms and Grilled Purple Cabbage with Balsamic Marinade

So you or your significant other don’t do meat?  What meatless meal can you pair with a Cabernet Sauvignon for Valentine’s Day?  Well, this portabella mushroom is stuffed with as many ingredients as there are vineyards in this wine!  (or thereabouts).  The mushrooms are stuffed with zucchini, onion, red pepper, sundried tomatoes, garlic, spinach, then breadcrumbs (you can get gluten-free), parmesan cheese (or nutritional yeast), and mozzarella (they have vegan mozzarella!).  This is so good!  I really think the sundried tomatoes are what puts it over the edge to extra delicious. While all the pairings were delicious, this was the best with the wine.

But you need a side dish, right?  We did wedges of purple cabbage, made a marinade of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, garlic, honey, and salt and pepper, and grilled this up on a grill pan on the stove.  This is so good. The balsamic vinegar and the charred bits from the grill lines tie it nicely wine.

Valentine’s Day Menu #3 – Time to get fancy – Steak with Gorgonzola Sauce and Cheesy Polenta, an Arugula Berry Salad and a Chocolate Tart with Forest Berries

Stick with me!  This is fancy but very doable.  First off, the tart Is a no-bake recipe with a crust of Oreos! This is easy and takes no time (other than setting for a couple of hours in the fridge, when you can be doing something else).  Dressing it up with berries makes it look super elegant.

The cheesy polenta is easy and just needs a little time, which you’ve got while you are making the steak and gorgonzola sauce!  OMG, the gorgonzola sauce is life-changing.  You can cook the steak and the sauce at the same time on the stove, while the polenta burbles away on a back burner.  Finish off your sides by tossing together the salad, with arugula, berries, and a vinaigrette of mashed berries, balsamic, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Top it with some sliced almonds.

And then…the chocolate tart.  This is so easy, so beautiful, and sooooo delicious.  The crust is crushed Oreos with some melted butter.  The filling is chocolate ganache. That’s just chocolate and heated heavy creme.  You stick it in the fridge for a few hours and then top it with berries and fresh mint and sprinkle on a little powdered sugar, and “Voila” (as my favorite clown used to say)!  Soooo good!

Bonus Valentine’s Day Cheese Plate

But maybe you are not up for cooking.  Maybe, you just want to order delivery?  Go for it.  You do your day your way!

Here’s a simple cheese plate you can put together to munch on while you cook, or wait for delivery.

I happen to love cheese plates curled up on the couch with a RomCom or a Horror Flick, whatever your style is.

L'Ecole No. 41 and a cheese plate to celebrate Valentine's Day

To pair with this L’Ecole No. 41 Cabernet, try blue cheese, dried figs, blackberries, almonds, blueberries, fresh red pepper slices, blueberries, parmesan curls, raspberries, bacon jam (yep I had some leftover), camembert, strawberries, and/or dark chocolate.

Although I didn’t have any, you could add, walnuts, charcuterie like Prosciutto or a peppery Italian dry sausage, black cherries or a black cherry jam, mint, and maybe dark chocolate covered espresso beans.

Pick your plan and celebrate love in all its forms!

This is all delicious and so doable!  Pick your adventure and pick up a bottle of this Cabernet Sauvignon and Celebrate Love in all its forms this Valentine’s Day!

We’ve included the recipe cards below and we will be rolling out posts with details and tips for these recipes over the rest of the week.

Here’s wishing all of you a wonderful Valentine’s Day!

Valentines Day Menu Ideas

Cabernet Sauvignon truffles with espresso and cocoa or cranberries and pistachios scaled

L’Ecole No. 41 Cabernet Sauvignon Wine Truffles

These delicious wine truffles are completely decadent. We created two, one with chopped dried cranberry inside, dusted with ground pistachio, and one with a touch of espresso powder inside, then dusted with cocoa.

The wine we used was the L'Ecole No. 41 2017 Walla Walla Cabernet Sauvignon, which is also the perfect wine to pair with these truffles.

Thank you to L'Ecole No. 41 for the delicious sample that inspired these truffles.

LEcole Valentine Day Burger Mushroom Bacon Jam and Blue Cheese 134641

Burgers with Mushrooms and Blue Cheese

Based on Bobby Flay's recipe for the Perfect Burger which keeps your burgers perfectly juicy! It's important to use at least 80/20 ground beef to keep the burgers juicy and the thumbprint? Well, a thumbprint in the middle is key to keeping the burgers cooking evenly.

We topped our burgers with sautéed shitake mushrooms, blue cheese, arugula, and bacon jam. (there is a recipe for that too!)

Steak with Gorgonzola and LEcole Cabernet 01 2 scaled

Steak with Gorgonzola sauce

These dishes cook simultaneously and you will end up with lots of leftover gorgonzola sauce. That's really okay. It's so good on almost anything. I drizzled it on pizza the other night.

This is an elegant dish, but not too tough to make! Get the polenta going first and set that on a back burner to cook while you make the steak and gorgonzola sauce.

We paired this with a Cabernet Sauvignon and it was heaven!

The recipe came from "The Anthony Kitchen"

Steak with Gorgonzola and LEcole Cabernet 01 scaled

Cheesy Polenta

Polenta is simple but takes a little time. I love cooking it in my Dutch Oven. I can get other dishes going while it cooks, and the big heavy dutch oven lid keeps the splatter down.

You can also pour your finished polenta in a dish or pan and refrigerate it, then cut it when it is firm and pan fry it. I like to do this and serve it covered in sautéed vegetables.

Bacon Jam and LEcole Cabernet 135139 scaled

Bacon Jam

This bacon jam is based on a recipe from Mom's Dinner. We substituted dried cranberries for the raisins, which brings a bigger fruit note to the dish and paired great with the Cabernet Sauvignon we chose.

Bacon jam is life-changing. How did I ever live without this stuff! You can serve it with crackers or bread. The other night we topped a pizza with some. Quite honestly, had I been home alone, I would have made this and sat on the couch and eaten the whole bowl with a spoon.

Stuffed Vegan Porabello Mushrooms and Lecole Cabernet 133534 2 scaled

Stuffed Vegan Portabella Mushrooms

This recipe has variations to be Vegan Vegetarian or Gluten-Free, depending on the breadcrumbs and cheese (or cheese substitute) that you use.

This is a dish that is great with Cabernet Sauvignon. Yes, red wine with a dish that isn't meat!

Grilled Balsamic purple Cabbage and Lecole Cabernet 130722 scaled

Grilled balsamic purple cabbage

This is a perfect side dish and it's vegan! The marinade gives this so much umami. With a stovetop grill pan this is a delicious grilled dish that you don't have to go outside for!

Chocolate Tart with Forest Berries and Lecole Cabernet 153535 scaled

Chocolate tart with forest berries

This looks so fancy, but it's really easy. I found this recipe on Rachel Cooks. No-bake, 4 ingredients (+the berries and powdered sugar). So easy and delicious.

I suggest starting with a full pack of Oreos. For a 9 inch tart, use 32. Mine was actually an 8-inch tart pan, so I sadly destroyed too many Oreos. Somehow I ended up with just 3 left?

Oreos and melted butter for the crust, chocolate, and creme make a ganache for the filling and then berries to decorate just before serving. Pretty simple

Get artsy with your decoration. I used strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and mint, but you could use a variety of fruit. I think I might try adding just a little orange liqueur and candied oranges to decorate next time. There are so many variations you can take with this.

More on L’Ecole No. 41

  • Steak and chocolate & The best way to enjoy a L’Ecole No. 41 Cabernet Sauvignon
  • L’Ecole No. 41 2017 Merlot with Dinner and a Unique Dessert
  • L’Ecole No. 41

Sources and Resources

  • https://momsdinner.net/bacon-jam-blue-cheese-burger/
  • https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/perfect-burger-recipe-1957542
  • https://www.rachelcooks.com/2018/02/08/chocolate-tart-recipe-no-bake/

As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and sign up for our monthly newsletter to keep up to date on all of our posts.

Robin Bell Renken I have always loved people’s stories. I spent a career in Theatre helping to tell stories, as a Stage Manager. Daily enabling artists to freely and safely tell stories through their art. Then I fell in love with wine. There are so many details, so many nuances, not just in the glass, but in the vineyard, the region and the people. As I met winemakers and vineyard owners and even the people in the tasting room excited to pour me a glass and tell me the story of this wine, I knew these were stories I wanted to share. I completed my study and became a Certified Specialist of Wine and continue learning daily as I meet and interview people in this industry.

Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.

When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.

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Steak with Gorgonzola and a L’Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Steak with Gorgonzola and a L’Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Feb 7, 2021

Sometimes, a delicious Steak is just what you need to spoil yourself or that special someone.  This dish is perfect for Valentine’s Day with the steak resting in a pool of luscious gorgonzola sauce.  Plate it with a salad and some polenta and you’ve got a perfect romantic meal.

We paired it with a beautiful Cabernet Sauvignon from Washington!

A full dinner for Valentine’s Day!

If you want to do the day right, start with a cheese platter, move into dinner with this steak and gorgonzola sauce, do a side of cheesy polenta and a salad with arugula (good pepper notes to pair with the wine) and berries.

Finish dinner off with a chocolate tart with forest berries!

(Here are links to the cheesy polenta and the chocolate tart recipes.)

Now let’s dive into this steak recipe!

Steak with Gorgonzola Sauce

This is our fancy meal.  To incorporate the polenta, salad, and tart into your menu, I suggest making the tart in the morning, so it can set in the fridge while you make the rest of your meal.  Get your dressing for your salad ready in a jar (olive oil, macerated berries, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper), and then start your polenta.  It can cook on a back burner while you make this dish.

Here’s what you will need for the sauce:

  • 1 tbs unsalted butter or olive oil
  • 1 shallot, minced
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 4 ounces crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
  • 2 tbs grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 tsp white wine vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp Kosher salt

And for the steaks:

  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • 2 6oz filet mignons
  • 2 tbs butter
  • 1 tbs fresh chopped rosemary
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp pepper
Ingredients for Steak with gorgonzola sauce
Ingredients for Steak with gorgonzola sauce

Directions

This dish cooks in two pans simultaneously.

  1. Preheat the oven to 400
  2. Season the steaks with salt and pepper
  3. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat
  4. Add the shallot and cook for 2 minutes, stirring often.
  5. Start your rod-iron skillet for your steaks, heating 2 tablespoons of olive oil until it is almost smoking.
  6. While this is heating, add your cream to the shallots and turn the heat up to medium-high.  Bring this to a rapid simmer and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. *Keep an eye on it, because it will want to boil over.  Reduce the heat and stir as needed while you cook the steaks.
  7. Add the steaks to the almost smoking oil.  Cook for 5 minutes.
  8. Flip the steaks, add 2 tablespoons of butter and your chopped fresh rosemary, basting the steaks with the butter.
  9. Cook another 3 minutes and then check the steak with a meat thermometer.  You are looking to get this to 135 degrees or so for medium-rare.
  10. Put the skillet in the oven for another 3 to 5 minutes until it is at the proper temperature.
  11. When the steak is done, put it on a cutting board with tented aluminum foil to rest for 5 minutes.
  12. Back to the sauce
  13. Pull the sauce off the heat stir in the blue cheese, parmesan, vinegar, salt, and pepper.
  14. When the steak is rested slice it against the grain at an angle.
  15. Plate this on a pool of the gorgonzola sauce and serve with a side of cheesy polenta and an arugula berry salad.

L’Ecole No. 41 2017 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

This wine comes from Washington’s largest AVA the Columbia Valley AVA.  It covers a full 1/3 of the landmass of Washington.  It is sourced from vineyards across this AVA that L’Ecole No. 41 has built a relationship with over the years.

You’ll find a blend of fruit from a few vineyards in here:  Candy Mountain, Estate Seven Hills, Alder Ridge, Klipsun, Summit View, Bacchus & Dionysus, Pepper Bridge, Stone Tree, Loess, Yellow Jacket, Estate Ferguson & Stone Valley

100% Cabernet Sauvignon – 5,600 cases produced – $29.00 SRP

Cabernet calls for red meat and our steak was perfect for that.  It also goes well with blue cheese (as in the gorgonzola sauce) and parmesan, which we incorporated into the polenta we served as a side.

L’Ecole No. 41 is located in Walla Walla Washington in an old schoolhouse.  You can read more about them here and here.

*We received this wine as a media sample.  No other compensation was received.  All opinions are our own.

L'Ecole No. 41 2017 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon for Valentine's Day
L'Ecole No. 41 2017 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon for Valentine's Day
Steak with Gorgonzola and L'Ecole Cabernet
Steak with Gorgonzola and L'Ecole Cabernet

Check out our Full Story with all of our Valentine’s Pairing Suggestions!

Steak with Gorgonzola and L'Ecole Cabernet
Yield: 2

Steak with Gorgonzola sauce

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Additional Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes

These dishes cook simultaneously and you will end up with lots of leftover gorgonzola sauce. That's really okay. It's so good on almost anything. I drizzled it on pizza the other night.

This is an elegant dish, but not too tough to make! Get the polenta going first and set that on a back burner to cook while you make the steak and gorgonzola sauce.

We paired this with a Cabernet Sauvignon and it was heaven!

The recipe came from "The Anthony Kitchen"

Ingredients

  • 1 tbs unsalted butter
  • 1 shallot, minced
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 4 ounces crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
  • 2 tbs grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 tsp white wine vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • 2 6oz filet mignons
  • 2 tbs butter
  • 1 tbs fresh chopped rosemary
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp pepper

Instructions

    Steak with Gorgonzola and L'Ecole Cabernet

    1. Preheat the oven to 400
    2. Season the steaks with salt and pepper
    3. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat
    4. Add the shallot and cook for 2 minutes, stirring often.
    5. Start your rod-iron skillet for your steaks, heating 2 tablespoons of olive oil until it is almost smoking.
    6. While this is heating, add your cream to the shallots and turn the heat up to medium-high.  Bring this to a rapid simmer and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. *Keep an eye on it, because it will want to boil over.  Reduce the heat and stir as needed while you cook the steaks.
    7. Add the steaks to the almost smoking oil.  Cook for 5 minutes.
    8. Flip the steaks, add 2 tablespoons of butter and your chopped fresh rosemary, basting the steaks with the butter.
    9. Cook another 3 minutes and then check the steak with a meat thermometer.  You are looking to get this to 135 degrees or so for medium-rare. 
    10. Put the skillet in the oven for another 3 to 5 minutes until it is at the proper temperature.
    11. When the steak is done, put it on a cutting board with tented aluminum foil to rest for 5 minutes.
    12. Back to the sauce
    13. Pull the sauce off the heat stir in the blue cheese, parmesan, vinegar, salt, and pepper.
    14. When the steak is rested slice it against the grain at an angle. 
    15. Plate the sliced steak on a pool of the gorgonzola sauce.







Notes

Serve this with a side of cheesy polenta and a salad with arugula and berries to play up to your Cabernet Sauvignon.

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

© Robin Renken
Cuisine: American / Category: Recipes and Wine Pairings
Steak with Gorgonzola and LEcole Cabernet 01 2 scaled

Valentines Day Menu Ideas

Cabernet Sauvignon truffles with espresso and cocoa or cranberries and pistachios scaled

L’Ecole No. 41 Cabernet Sauvignon Wine Truffles

These delicious wine truffles are completely decadent. We created two, one with chopped dried cranberry inside, dusted with ground pistachio, and one with a touch of espresso powder inside, then dusted with cocoa.

The wine we used was the L'Ecole No. 41 2017 Walla Walla Cabernet Sauvignon, which is also the perfect wine to pair with these truffles.

Thank you to L'Ecole No. 41 for the delicious sample that inspired these truffles.

LEcole Valentine Day Burger Mushroom Bacon Jam and Blue Cheese 134641

Burgers with Mushrooms and Blue Cheese

Based on Bobby Flay's recipe for the Perfect Burger which keeps your burgers perfectly juicy! It's important to use at least 80/20 ground beef to keep the burgers juicy and the thumbprint? Well, a thumbprint in the middle is key to keeping the burgers cooking evenly.

We topped our burgers with sautéed shitake mushrooms, blue cheese, arugula, and bacon jam. (there is a recipe for that too!)

Steak with Gorgonzola and LEcole Cabernet 01 2 scaled

Steak with Gorgonzola sauce

These dishes cook simultaneously and you will end up with lots of leftover gorgonzola sauce. That's really okay. It's so good on almost anything. I drizzled it on pizza the other night.

This is an elegant dish, but not too tough to make! Get the polenta going first and set that on a back burner to cook while you make the steak and gorgonzola sauce.

We paired this with a Cabernet Sauvignon and it was heaven!

The recipe came from "The Anthony Kitchen"

Steak with Gorgonzola and LEcole Cabernet 01 scaled

Cheesy Polenta

Polenta is simple but takes a little time. I love cooking it in my Dutch Oven. I can get other dishes going while it cooks, and the big heavy dutch oven lid keeps the splatter down.

You can also pour your finished polenta in a dish or pan and refrigerate it, then cut it when it is firm and pan fry it. I like to do this and serve it covered in sautéed vegetables.

Bacon Jam and LEcole Cabernet 135139 scaled

Bacon Jam

This bacon jam is based on a recipe from Mom's Dinner. We substituted dried cranberries for the raisins, which brings a bigger fruit note to the dish and paired great with the Cabernet Sauvignon we chose.

Bacon jam is life-changing. How did I ever live without this stuff! You can serve it with crackers or bread. The other night we topped a pizza with some. Quite honestly, had I been home alone, I would have made this and sat on the couch and eaten the whole bowl with a spoon.

Stuffed Vegan Porabello Mushrooms and Lecole Cabernet 133534 2 scaled

Stuffed Vegan Portabella Mushrooms

This recipe has variations to be Vegan Vegetarian or Gluten-Free, depending on the breadcrumbs and cheese (or cheese substitute) that you use.

This is a dish that is great with Cabernet Sauvignon. Yes, red wine with a dish that isn't meat!

Grilled Balsamic purple Cabbage and Lecole Cabernet 130722 scaled

Grilled balsamic purple cabbage

This is a perfect side dish and it's vegan! The marinade gives this so much umami. With a stovetop grill pan this is a delicious grilled dish that you don't have to go outside for!

Chocolate Tart with Forest Berries and Lecole Cabernet 153535 scaled

Chocolate tart with forest berries

This looks so fancy, but it's really easy. I found this recipe on Rachel Cooks. No-bake, 4 ingredients (+the berries and powdered sugar). So easy and delicious.

I suggest starting with a full pack of Oreos. For a 9 inch tart, use 32. Mine was actually an 8-inch tart pan, so I sadly destroyed too many Oreos. Somehow I ended up with just 3 left?

Oreos and melted butter for the crust, chocolate, and creme make a ganache for the filling and then berries to decorate just before serving. Pretty simple

Get artsy with your decoration. I used strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and mint, but you could use a variety of fruit. I think I might try adding just a little orange liqueur and candied oranges to decorate next time. There are so many variations you can take with this.

As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and sign up for our monthly newsletter to keep up to date on all of our posts.

Robin Bell Renken I have always loved people’s stories. I spent a career in Theatre helping to tell stories, as a Stage Manager. Daily enabling artists to freely and safely tell stories through their art. Then I fell in love with wine. There are so many details, so many nuances, not just in the glass, but in the vineyard, the region and the people. As I met winemakers and vineyard owners and even the people in the tasting room excited to pour me a glass and tell me the story of this wine, I knew these were stories I wanted to share. I completed my study and became a Certified Specialist of Wine and continue learning daily as I meet and interview people in this industry.

Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.

When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.

Share this:

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • WhatsApp
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Chocolate tart with forest berries and a L’Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Chocolate tart with forest berries and a L’Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Feb 7, 2021

This chocolate tart with forest berries is the perfect dessert when you need something that looks really fancy, but is really simple to make. this no-bake tart just needs a little time in the fridge. Start it early in the day then it can chill in the fridge while you cook the rest of your meal.  Add the berries just before serving.

A fancy-looking dessert that is so simple!

I found this recipe by Rachel Cooks and it looked so amazing, I was astounded at how few ingredients it needed and how easy it was.

The tart itself is just 4 ingredients, then you can top it with a variety of berries and a sprinkle of powdered sugar.

The crust is Oreo cookies pulsed in the food processor with melted butter and the filling is chocolate ganache, which, while it sounds fancy is just heated cream mixed with chocolate.

L'Ecole No. 41 for Valentine's Day with a chocolate tart with forest berries
L'Ecole No. 41 for Valentine's Day with a chocolate tart with forest berries

Chocolate tart with forest berries

Here’s what you need

  • 32 Oreo cookies
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
  • 12 ounces semisweet or dark chocolate chips
  • 8 ounces (1 cup) heavy cream
  • Mixed berries of choice
  • powdered sugar for dusting, optional

Directions

  1. Melt your butter
  2. Pulse the Oreos in your food processor until they are fine crumbs
  3. Add the butter and pulse to mix
  4. use your fingers and a measuring cup with a flat bottom to press the mixture into your 9-inch tart pan (mine was an 8-inch pan so I actually had a little extra.  (wish I had known…I could have saved those Oreos!)
  5. Put the tart shell in the fridge while you make the ganache
  6. Pour the creme into a small saucepan and heat over medium-low heat, just until little bubbles appear at the edges (Don’t boil this!)
  7. Pour over your chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl (Don’t stir!)
  8. Let this sit for 2 minutes
  9. Okay, now you can stir.  Mix this until the cream is completely incorporated
  10. Pour the mixture into your tart shell
  11. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
  12. Garnish with fresh berries, mint, and a sprinkle of powdered sugar
Ingredients for the chocolate tart with forest fruits ; Oreos, butter, creme, chocolate and berries
Ingredients for Chocolate tart with forest fruits ; Oreos, butter, creme, chocolate and berries

Variations on a tart

This was a plain chocolate and berry version, but there is lots of room to make this recipe your own.

  • Decorate with crushed and broken Oreos instead of berries
  • Add a bit of espresso powder to the ganache and top with a mocha whipped creme and chocolate-covered espresso beans
  • Add a little orange liqueur to the ganache and decorate with candied orange slices.
  • There are so many variations.  Let us know if you try one of these or if you create something else!
L'Ecole No. 41 Cabernet Sauvignon for Valentine's Day with a chocolate tart with forest berries

This chocolate tart was the dessert for our Valentine’s dinner of steak with gorgonzola sauce & cheesy polenta.

We paired our dinner and dessert with this lovely wine from L’Ecole No. 41 their 2017 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.

L’Ecole No. 41 2017 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

This wine comes from Washington’s largest AVA the Columbia Valley AVA.  It covers a full 1/3 of the landmass of Washington.  It is sourced from vineyards across this AVA that L’Ecole No. 41 has built a relationship with over the years.

You’ll find a blend of fruit from a few vineyards in here:  Candy Mountain, Estate Seven Hills, Alder Ridge, Klipsun, Summit View, Bacchus & Dionysus, Pepper Bridge, Stone Tree, Loess, Yellow Jacket, Estate Ferguson & Stone Valley

100% Cabernet Sauvignon – 5,600 cases produced – $29.00 SRP

L’Ecole No. 41 is located in Walla Walla Washington in an old schoolhouse.  You can read more about them here and here.

This Chocolate tart with forest berries is the perfect way to finish off a dinner paired with this wine, the chocolate, and the berries pair nicely!

*We received this wine as a media sample.  No other compensation was received.  All opinions are our own.

L'Ecole No. 41 2017 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon for Valentine's Day
L'Ecole No. 41 2017 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon for Valentine's Day

Check out our Full Story with all of our Valentine’s Pairing Suggestions!

Chocolate Tart with Forest Berries and L'Ecole Cabernet
Yield: 8

Chocolate tart with forest berries

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 4 minutes
Additional Time: 3 hours
Total Time: 3 hours 19 minutes

This looks so fancy, but it's really easy. I found this recipe on Rachel Cooks. No-bake, 4 ingredients (+the berries and powdered sugar). So easy and delicious.

I suggest starting with a full pack of Oreos. For a 9 inch tart, use 32. Mine was actually an 8-inch tart pan, so I sadly destroyed too many Oreos. Somehow I ended up with just 3 left?

Oreos and melted butter for the crust, chocolate, and creme make a ganache for the filling and then berries to decorate just before serving. Pretty simple

Get artsy with your decoration. I used strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and mint, but you could use a variety of fruit. I think I might try adding just a little orange liqueur and candied oranges to decorate next time. There are so many variations you can take with this.

Ingredients

  • • 32 Oreo cookies
  • • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • • 12 ounces semisweet or dark chocolate chips
  • • 8 ounces heavy cream
  • • Mixed berries 
  • • powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions

    Chocolate Tart with Forest Berries and L'Ecole Cabernet

    1.   Toss your Oreos in a food processor to start and pulse until you get fine crumbs. Add the melted butter and pulse to mix. Press cookie mixture into the tart pan using the back of a measuring cup and your fingers. Stick it in the fridge or freezer while you make the filling.

    2.   Heat the cream over medium-low heat in a small saucepan. You don't want this to boil. Watch it carefully until you see small bubbles at the edge of the pan. Pour this over the chocolate chips in a heat-proof bowl. Leave it alone for 2 minutes (really, no stirring or anything). After 2 minutes stir the mixture until the creme is all mixed in. This takes a minute or two, but it will all come together in a beautiful lush ganache.

    3.   Pour this into your tart crust, drop gently 3 times to remove air bubbles, and put it in the fridge for 3 hours (or longer).

    4.   When you are ready to serve, pop it out of the edges of tart pan, garnish it with berries, and a sprinkle of powdered sugar.



Nutrition Information

Yield

8

Serving Size

1

Amount Per Serving Calories 620Total Fat 34gSaturated Fat 18gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 8gCholesterol 39mgSodium 204mgCarbohydrates 77gFiber 5gSugar 56gProtein 4g

Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

© Robin Renken
Cuisine: Dessert / Category: Recipes and Wine Pairings
Chocolate Tart with Forest Berries and Lecole Cabernet 153535 scaled

Valentines Day Menu Ideas

Cabernet Sauvignon truffles with espresso and cocoa or cranberries and pistachios scaled

L’Ecole No. 41 Cabernet Sauvignon Wine Truffles

These delicious wine truffles are completely decadent. We created two, one with chopped dried cranberry inside, dusted with ground pistachio, and one with a touch of espresso powder inside, then dusted with cocoa.

The wine we used was the L'Ecole No. 41 2017 Walla Walla Cabernet Sauvignon, which is also the perfect wine to pair with these truffles.

Thank you to L'Ecole No. 41 for the delicious sample that inspired these truffles.

LEcole Valentine Day Burger Mushroom Bacon Jam and Blue Cheese 134641

Burgers with Mushrooms and Blue Cheese

Based on Bobby Flay's recipe for the Perfect Burger which keeps your burgers perfectly juicy! It's important to use at least 80/20 ground beef to keep the burgers juicy and the thumbprint? Well, a thumbprint in the middle is key to keeping the burgers cooking evenly.

We topped our burgers with sautéed shitake mushrooms, blue cheese, arugula, and bacon jam. (there is a recipe for that too!)

Steak with Gorgonzola and LEcole Cabernet 01 2 scaled

Steak with Gorgonzola sauce

These dishes cook simultaneously and you will end up with lots of leftover gorgonzola sauce. That's really okay. It's so good on almost anything. I drizzled it on pizza the other night.

This is an elegant dish, but not too tough to make! Get the polenta going first and set that on a back burner to cook while you make the steak and gorgonzola sauce.

We paired this with a Cabernet Sauvignon and it was heaven!

The recipe came from "The Anthony Kitchen"

Steak with Gorgonzola and LEcole Cabernet 01 scaled

Cheesy Polenta

Polenta is simple but takes a little time. I love cooking it in my Dutch Oven. I can get other dishes going while it cooks, and the big heavy dutch oven lid keeps the splatter down.

You can also pour your finished polenta in a dish or pan and refrigerate it, then cut it when it is firm and pan fry it. I like to do this and serve it covered in sautéed vegetables.

Bacon Jam and LEcole Cabernet 135139 scaled

Bacon Jam

This bacon jam is based on a recipe from Mom's Dinner. We substituted dried cranberries for the raisins, which brings a bigger fruit note to the dish and paired great with the Cabernet Sauvignon we chose.

Bacon jam is life-changing. How did I ever live without this stuff! You can serve it with crackers or bread. The other night we topped a pizza with some. Quite honestly, had I been home alone, I would have made this and sat on the couch and eaten the whole bowl with a spoon.

Stuffed Vegan Porabello Mushrooms and Lecole Cabernet 133534 2 scaled

Stuffed Vegan Portabella Mushrooms

This recipe has variations to be Vegan Vegetarian or Gluten-Free, depending on the breadcrumbs and cheese (or cheese substitute) that you use.

This is a dish that is great with Cabernet Sauvignon. Yes, red wine with a dish that isn't meat!

Grilled Balsamic purple Cabbage and Lecole Cabernet 130722 scaled

Grilled balsamic purple cabbage

This is a perfect side dish and it's vegan! The marinade gives this so much umami. With a stovetop grill pan this is a delicious grilled dish that you don't have to go outside for!

Chocolate Tart with Forest Berries and Lecole Cabernet 153535 scaled

Chocolate tart with forest berries

This looks so fancy, but it's really easy. I found this recipe on Rachel Cooks. No-bake, 4 ingredients (+the berries and powdered sugar). So easy and delicious.

I suggest starting with a full pack of Oreos. For a 9 inch tart, use 32. Mine was actually an 8-inch tart pan, so I sadly destroyed too many Oreos. Somehow I ended up with just 3 left?

Oreos and melted butter for the crust, chocolate, and creme make a ganache for the filling and then berries to decorate just before serving. Pretty simple

Get artsy with your decoration. I used strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and mint, but you could use a variety of fruit. I think I might try adding just a little orange liqueur and candied oranges to decorate next time. There are so many variations you can take with this.

As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and sign up for our monthly newsletter to keep up to date on all of our posts.

Robin Bell Renken I have always loved people’s stories. I spent a career in Theatre helping to tell stories, as a Stage Manager. Daily enabling artists to freely and safely tell stories through their art. Then I fell in love with wine. There are so many details, so many nuances, not just in the glass, but in the vineyard, the region and the people. As I met winemakers and vineyard owners and even the people in the tasting room excited to pour me a glass and tell me the story of this wine, I knew these were stories I wanted to share. I completed my study and became a Certified Specialist of Wine and continue learning daily as I meet and interview people in this industry.

Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.

When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.

Share this:

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Reddit
  • Print

Like this:

Like Loading...
Bacon jam and a L’Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Bacon jam and a L’Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Feb 7, 2021

Bacon.  I mean, it’s an amazing food, right?  When I was in college, my best friend would always make me request extra bacon and then give it to her in the cafeteria.  It is a testament to my love for her, that I actually let her have it.

It was only a few years ago that I discovered bacon jam.  It was a terrific restaurant called Carson’s Kitchen in downtown Las Vegas, It was It’s the last restaurant opened by legendary Las Vegas chef Kerry Simon before he passed away in 2015.  The place is down on Carson Street (hence the name) in an old downtown building that has been revitalized.  It is unassuming and partially filled with community tables.  Their bacon jam is amazing.

I had always thought of bacon jam as something I had to wait to go out to eat to have. Well, the pandemic has changed many things, and this is one of them.

Bacon Jam?!!!

Cook the bacon jam first.  It takes a bit more time than the burgers.  You can even make it ahead of time and just reheat it slightly to use on the burgers.

My bacon jam recipe is from Mom’s Dinner

I didn’t have raisins, so I used dried cranberries, which I really liked, especially pairing it with the wine.  This recipe does call for a ½ lb of bacon and you end up with about ½ cup of jam, but trust me it is worth it.

Crisp up the bacon and reserve the bacon grease. Cook the onion and garlic in some of that grease. Chop the bacon up and add it and the brown sugar to the onions. Cook a little then add the cranberries, some Worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar, and a little bit of water, and cook this until it’s syrupy.  This will top 6 burgers and will keep in the fridge for about a week (if you can keep from eating it all!)

Valentine's Day Burgers ingredients with blue cheese, mushrooms, & bacon jam and a L'Ecole No. 41 Cab Sav
Valentine's Day Burger ingredients with blue cheese, mushrooms, & bacon jam and a L'Ecole No. 41 Cab Sav

What you will need

  • 1/2 lb. bacon
  • 1 cup of yellow onion, chopped very fine
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons reserved bacon grease
  • 2 tbs cup brown sugar
  • 1 tbs dried cranberries
  • 1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire
  • 1 1/2 tbs balsamic vinegar
  • 3 tbs water
Bacon Jam

Directions

  1. Slice the bacon into 1-inch pieces
  2. Cook until crisp
  3. Drain reserving the bacon grease and set aside to cool
  4. Add 1 1/2 tbs of the reserved grease back to the pan and add your onions and garlic.
  5. Cook over low heat for about 15 minutes, until the onions are soft and translucent.
  6. While that’s cooking do a rough chop on your bacon to get it into small pieces.
  7. Add the bacon and brown sugar to the onion mixture.
  8. Stir and cook for 2 minutes.
  9. Add the cranberries, Worcestershire, balsamic, and water
  10. Simmer over medium-low heat for 6-8 minutes.  It will thicken and get syrupy.

You can keep this in the refrigerator for up to a week and reheat it on the stove or in the microwave, just adding a bit of water.

We served ours on a burger with blue cheese and mushrooms with a side of cheddar cheese corn chips and the L’Ecole No. 41 2017 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Cheddar cheese corn chips are genius with Cabernet!

Burgers with Blue cheese, mushrooms and bacon jam and a L'Ecole No. 41 Cab Sav for Valentine's Day

L’Ecole No. 41 2017 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

This wine comes from Washington’s largest AVA the Columbia Valley AVA.  It covers a full 1/3 of the landmass of Washington.  It is sourced from vineyards across this AVA that L’Ecole No. 41 has built a relationship with over the years.

You’ll find a blend of fruit from a few vineyards in here:  Candy Mountain, Estate Seven Hills, Alder Ridge, Klipsun, Summit View, Bacchus & Dionysus, Pepper Bridge, Stone Tree, Loess, Yellow Jacket, Estate Ferguson & Stone Valley

100% Cabernet Sauvignon – 5,600 cases produced – $29.00 SRP

This was great with the wine.  It would also pair amazingly with a Syrah or Shiraz!

L’Ecole No. 41 is located in Walla Walla Washington in an old schoolhouse.  You can read more about them here and here.

*We received this wine as a media sample.  No other compensation was received.  All opinions are our own.

Burgers with Blue cheese, mushrooms and bacon jam and a L'Ecole No. 41 Cab Sav for Valentine's Day
Burger with Blue cheese, mushrooms and bacon jam and a L'Ecole No. 41 Cab Sav for Valentine's Day

Check out our Full Story with all of our Valentine’s Pairing Suggestions!

Bacon Jam and L'Ecole Cabernet
Yield: 6

Bacon Jam

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes

This bacon jam is based on a recipe from Mom's Dinner. We substituted dried cranberries for the raisins, which brings a bigger fruit note to the dish and paired great with the Cabernet Sauvignon we chose.

Bacon jam is life-changing. How did I ever live without this stuff! You can serve it with crackers or bread. The other night we topped a pizza with some. Quite honestly, had I been home alone, I would have made this and sat on the couch and eaten the whole bowl with a spoon.

Ingredients

  • • 1/2 lb. bacon
  • • 1 cup yellow onion, chopped
  • • 1 garlic cloves, minced
  • • 1 1/2 tbs reserved bacon grease
  • • 2 tbs brown sugar
  • • 1 tbs dried cranberries
  • • 1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire
  • • 1 1/2 tbs balsamic vinegar
  • • 3 tbs water

Instructions

    Bacon Jam

    1. Slice the bacon into 1-inch chunks, cook in a large skillet until crispy. Reserve the grease in a bowl - set aside.
    Drain bacon and set aside.

    2.    Chop the onions very fine and mince the garlic

    3.    To the skillet add the onions, 3 tbs bacon grease, and garlic. Sauté over low heat until the onions are soft and translucent, about 15 minutes.

    4.    Rough chop the bacon.

    5.    Add bacon and brown sugar to the onions, stir and cook for 2 minutes.

    6.    Add cranberries, Worcestershire, balsamic, and water to the bacon mixture. Simmer over medium-low heat for 5-8 minutes. The mixture will thicken and get syrupy.

    7.    Serve immediately or store in an airtight container (like a jar) in the fridge for 5-7 days.



Notes

To reheat it add just a touch of water and heat over medium heat, or cover the dish with a damp paper towel and pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds.



Nutrition Information

Yield

6

Serving Size

1

Amount Per Serving Calories 247Total Fat 17gSaturated Fat 6gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 10gCholesterol 40mgSodium 659mgCarbohydrates 11gFiber 1gSugar 7gProtein 13g

Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

© Robin Renken
Cuisine: American / Category: Recipes and Wine Pairings
Bacon Jam and LEcole Cabernet 135139 scaled

Valentines Day Menu Ideas

Cabernet Sauvignon truffles with espresso and cocoa or cranberries and pistachios scaled

L’Ecole No. 41 Cabernet Sauvignon Wine Truffles

These delicious wine truffles are completely decadent. We created two, one with chopped dried cranberry inside, dusted with ground pistachio, and one with a touch of espresso powder inside, then dusted with cocoa.

The wine we used was the L'Ecole No. 41 2017 Walla Walla Cabernet Sauvignon, which is also the perfect wine to pair with these truffles.

Thank you to L'Ecole No. 41 for the delicious sample that inspired these truffles.

LEcole Valentine Day Burger Mushroom Bacon Jam and Blue Cheese 134641

Burgers with Mushrooms and Blue Cheese

Based on Bobby Flay's recipe for the Perfect Burger which keeps your burgers perfectly juicy! It's important to use at least 80/20 ground beef to keep the burgers juicy and the thumbprint? Well, a thumbprint in the middle is key to keeping the burgers cooking evenly.

We topped our burgers with sautéed shitake mushrooms, blue cheese, arugula, and bacon jam. (there is a recipe for that too!)

Steak with Gorgonzola and LEcole Cabernet 01 2 scaled

Steak with Gorgonzola sauce

These dishes cook simultaneously and you will end up with lots of leftover gorgonzola sauce. That's really okay. It's so good on almost anything. I drizzled it on pizza the other night.

This is an elegant dish, but not too tough to make! Get the polenta going first and set that on a back burner to cook while you make the steak and gorgonzola sauce.

We paired this with a Cabernet Sauvignon and it was heaven!

The recipe came from "The Anthony Kitchen"

Steak with Gorgonzola and LEcole Cabernet 01 scaled

Cheesy Polenta

Polenta is simple but takes a little time. I love cooking it in my Dutch Oven. I can get other dishes going while it cooks, and the big heavy dutch oven lid keeps the splatter down.

You can also pour your finished polenta in a dish or pan and refrigerate it, then cut it when it is firm and pan fry it. I like to do this and serve it covered in sautéed vegetables.

Bacon Jam and LEcole Cabernet 135139 scaled

Bacon Jam

This bacon jam is based on a recipe from Mom's Dinner. We substituted dried cranberries for the raisins, which brings a bigger fruit note to the dish and paired great with the Cabernet Sauvignon we chose.

Bacon jam is life-changing. How did I ever live without this stuff! You can serve it with crackers or bread. The other night we topped a pizza with some. Quite honestly, had I been home alone, I would have made this and sat on the couch and eaten the whole bowl with a spoon.

Stuffed Vegan Porabello Mushrooms and Lecole Cabernet 133534 2 scaled

Stuffed Vegan Portabella Mushrooms

This recipe has variations to be Vegan Vegetarian or Gluten-Free, depending on the breadcrumbs and cheese (or cheese substitute) that you use.

This is a dish that is great with Cabernet Sauvignon. Yes, red wine with a dish that isn't meat!

Grilled Balsamic purple Cabbage and Lecole Cabernet 130722 scaled

Grilled balsamic purple cabbage

This is a perfect side dish and it's vegan! The marinade gives this so much umami. With a stovetop grill pan this is a delicious grilled dish that you don't have to go outside for!

Chocolate Tart with Forest Berries and Lecole Cabernet 153535 scaled

Chocolate tart with forest berries

This looks so fancy, but it's really easy. I found this recipe on Rachel Cooks. No-bake, 4 ingredients (+the berries and powdered sugar). So easy and delicious.

I suggest starting with a full pack of Oreos. For a 9 inch tart, use 32. Mine was actually an 8-inch tart pan, so I sadly destroyed too many Oreos. Somehow I ended up with just 3 left?

Oreos and melted butter for the crust, chocolate, and creme make a ganache for the filling and then berries to decorate just before serving. Pretty simple

Get artsy with your decoration. I used strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and mint, but you could use a variety of fruit. I think I might try adding just a little orange liqueur and candied oranges to decorate next time. There are so many variations you can take with this.

As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and sign up for our monthly newsletter to keep up to date on all of our posts.

Robin Bell Renken I have always loved people’s stories. I spent a career in Theatre helping to tell stories, as a Stage Manager. Daily enabling artists to freely and safely tell stories through their art. Then I fell in love with wine. There are so many details, so many nuances, not just in the glass, but in the vineyard, the region and the people. As I met winemakers and vineyard owners and even the people in the tasting room excited to pour me a glass and tell me the story of this wine, I knew these were stories I wanted to share. I completed my study and became a Certified Specialist of Wine and continue learning daily as I meet and interview people in this industry.

Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.

When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.

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Cheesy Polenta and a L’Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Cheesy Polenta and a L’Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Feb 7, 2021

Polenta is a great side dish to substitute for potatoes or another starch.  This recipe with parmesan cheese is great to accompany a steak and went beautifully with the Cabernet Sauvignon we had from L’Ecole No. 41 in Washington.

Chessy Polenta

Polenta is a pretty simple dish.  I used Bob’s Red Mill Polenta, but I’m sure there are other brands out there.  You want dry polenta, not the soft Italian premade polenta, for this dish.

Polenta is just water, salt, and polenta (or grits) cooked slowly.  I used chicken stock for 1/2 of my liquid to give it a bit more flavor.  The butter and parmesan get stirred in when it is done.

One thing to be careful of with polenta is that you can easily get burned.  As the mixture thickens, it bubbles like slow-moving lava, and when the bubbles burst you can be burned by the steam or polenta bits that fly.  To avoid this, cook it with a lid, use a big kitchen mitt and a long-handled spoon to stir it.

We served this as a side for our Steak with gorgonzola sauce for Valentine’s Day, but you could easily whip this up and top it with shrimp (shrimp and grits y’all) or scallops.

If you find you have some leftover, you can let it firm up in a dish and then slice it and pan fry it, serving it with sauteed vegetables.

With most dishes, this is great for your timing while cooking.  The polenta needs to cook for about 20 minutes covered, with just periodic stirring, which is perfect!  Start the polenta first and then you can cook the rest of your meal while it burbles away on a back burner.

Cheesy polenta with L'Ecole No. 41 for Valentine's Day with steak, gorgonzola sauce
Cheesy polenta with L'Ecole No. 41 for Valentine's Day with steak, gorgonzola sauce

Making Polenta

I like to cook mine in my Dutch Oven.  The heat is evenly distributed, and it has a good sturdy lid, so I can start it on a front burner, then move it to a back burner for its cooking time.

Here’s what you will need:

  • 1cup of water
  • 1 cup of chicken stock
  • 1/2 cup of milk
  • Kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup of Polenta (or grits)
  • 2 tablespoons of butter
  • 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

  1. Bring the water, stock, and milk to a boil in a small Dutch oven.
  2. Stir in 3/4 teaspoons salt.
  3. Gradually sprinkle the polenta into the pan while whisking.
  4. Turn the heat to a very low simmer, cover & cook 25 – 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thick, and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan,
  5. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter, cheese & additional salt if needed.
  6. Serve warm, sprinkled with additional cheese if desired.
Ingredients for cheesy polenta
Ingredients for cheesy polenta

We served this with steak with gorgonzola sauce and a salad of arugula and berries.  To sip, we poured the L’Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.

L’Ecole No. 41 2017 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

This wine comes from Washington’s largest AVA the Columbia Valley AVA.  It covers a full 1/3 of the landmass of Washington.  It is sourced from vineyards across this AVA that L’Ecole No. 41 has built a relationship with over the years.

You’ll find a blend of fruit from a few vineyards in here:  Candy Mountain, Estate Seven Hills, Alder Ridge, Klipsun, Summit View, Bacchus & Dionysus, Pepper Bridge, Stone Tree, Loess, Yellow Jacket, Estate Ferguson & Stone Valley

100% Cabernet Sauvignon – 5,600 cases produced – $29.00 SRP

The parmesan in this dish makes it a perfect side to pair with a Cabernet Sauvignon.

L’Ecole No. 41 is located in Walla Walla Washington in an old schoolhouse.  You can read more about them here and here.

*We received this wine as a media sample.  No other compensation was received.  All opinions are our own.

L'Ecole No. 41 2017 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon for Valentine's Day
L'Ecole No. 41 2017 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon for Valentine's Day

Check out our Full Story with all of our Valentine’s Pairing Suggestions!

Steak with Gorgonzola and L'Ecole Cabernet
Yield: 4

Cheesy Polenta

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes

Polenta makes a great side dish in place of potatoes, rice, or pasta.

Polenta is simple but takes a little time. I love cooking it in my Dutch Oven. I can get other dishes going while it cooks, and the big heavy dutch oven lid keeps the splatter down.

You can also pour your finished polenta in a dish or pan and refrigerate it, then cut it when it is firm and pan fry it. I like to do this and serve it covered in sautéed vegetables.

Ingredients

  • • 1 cup water
  • • 1 cup of chicken stock
  • • 1/2 cup milk
  • • 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
  • • 1/2 cup grits
  • • 2 tablespoons butter
  • • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

    1.    Bring the water, stock, and milk to a boil in a small Dutch oven.

    2.    Stir in 3/4 teaspoons salt.

    3.    Gradually sprinkle the polenta into the pan while whisking.

    4.    Turn the heat to a very low simmer, cover & cook 25 – 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thick, & begins to pull away from the sides of the pan,

    5.    Remove from the heat and stir in the butter, cheese & additional salt if needed.

    6.    Serve warm, sprinkled with additional cheese.



Notes

Be careful! As polenta is cooking, it will bubble and blurp and can easily severely burn you. I try to use a long-handled wooden spoon and a big kitchen mitt when I'm stirring it, for safety.

Nutrition Information

Yield

4

Serving Size

1

Amount Per Serving Calories 133Total Fat 9gSaturated Fat 5gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 3gCholesterol 25mgSodium 527mgCarbohydrates 9gFiber 0gSugar 1gProtein 5g

Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

© Robin Renken
Cuisine: Italian / Category: Recipes and Wine Pairings
Steak with Gorgonzola and LEcole Cabernet 01 scaled

Valentines Day Menu Ideas

Cabernet Sauvignon truffles with espresso and cocoa or cranberries and pistachios scaled

L’Ecole No. 41 Cabernet Sauvignon Wine Truffles

These delicious wine truffles are completely decadent. We created two, one with chopped dried cranberry inside, dusted with ground pistachio, and one with a touch of espresso powder inside, then dusted with cocoa.

The wine we used was the L'Ecole No. 41 2017 Walla Walla Cabernet Sauvignon, which is also the perfect wine to pair with these truffles.

Thank you to L'Ecole No. 41 for the delicious sample that inspired these truffles.

LEcole Valentine Day Burger Mushroom Bacon Jam and Blue Cheese 134641

Burgers with Mushrooms and Blue Cheese

Based on Bobby Flay's recipe for the Perfect Burger which keeps your burgers perfectly juicy! It's important to use at least 80/20 ground beef to keep the burgers juicy and the thumbprint? Well, a thumbprint in the middle is key to keeping the burgers cooking evenly.

We topped our burgers with sautéed shitake mushrooms, blue cheese, arugula, and bacon jam. (there is a recipe for that too!)

Steak with Gorgonzola and LEcole Cabernet 01 2 scaled

Steak with Gorgonzola sauce

These dishes cook simultaneously and you will end up with lots of leftover gorgonzola sauce. That's really okay. It's so good on almost anything. I drizzled it on pizza the other night.

This is an elegant dish, but not too tough to make! Get the polenta going first and set that on a back burner to cook while you make the steak and gorgonzola sauce.

We paired this with a Cabernet Sauvignon and it was heaven!

The recipe came from "The Anthony Kitchen"

Steak with Gorgonzola and LEcole Cabernet 01 scaled

Cheesy Polenta

Polenta is simple but takes a little time. I love cooking it in my Dutch Oven. I can get other dishes going while it cooks, and the big heavy dutch oven lid keeps the splatter down.

You can also pour your finished polenta in a dish or pan and refrigerate it, then cut it when it is firm and pan fry it. I like to do this and serve it covered in sautéed vegetables.

Bacon Jam and LEcole Cabernet 135139 scaled

Bacon Jam

This bacon jam is based on a recipe from Mom's Dinner. We substituted dried cranberries for the raisins, which brings a bigger fruit note to the dish and paired great with the Cabernet Sauvignon we chose.

Bacon jam is life-changing. How did I ever live without this stuff! You can serve it with crackers or bread. The other night we topped a pizza with some. Quite honestly, had I been home alone, I would have made this and sat on the couch and eaten the whole bowl with a spoon.

Stuffed Vegan Porabello Mushrooms and Lecole Cabernet 133534 2 scaled

Stuffed Vegan Portabella Mushrooms

This recipe has variations to be Vegan Vegetarian or Gluten-Free, depending on the breadcrumbs and cheese (or cheese substitute) that you use.

This is a dish that is great with Cabernet Sauvignon. Yes, red wine with a dish that isn't meat!

Grilled Balsamic purple Cabbage and Lecole Cabernet 130722 scaled

Grilled balsamic purple cabbage

This is a perfect side dish and it's vegan! The marinade gives this so much umami. With a stovetop grill pan this is a delicious grilled dish that you don't have to go outside for!

Chocolate Tart with Forest Berries and Lecole Cabernet 153535 scaled

Chocolate tart with forest berries

This looks so fancy, but it's really easy. I found this recipe on Rachel Cooks. No-bake, 4 ingredients (+the berries and powdered sugar). So easy and delicious.

I suggest starting with a full pack of Oreos. For a 9 inch tart, use 32. Mine was actually an 8-inch tart pan, so I sadly destroyed too many Oreos. Somehow I ended up with just 3 left?

Oreos and melted butter for the crust, chocolate, and creme make a ganache for the filling and then berries to decorate just before serving. Pretty simple

Get artsy with your decoration. I used strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and mint, but you could use a variety of fruit. I think I might try adding just a little orange liqueur and candied oranges to decorate next time. There are so many variations you can take with this.

As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and sign up for our monthly newsletter to keep up to date on all of our posts.

Robin Bell Renken I have always loved people’s stories. I spent a career in Theatre helping to tell stories, as a Stage Manager. Daily enabling artists to freely and safely tell stories through their art. Then I fell in love with wine. There are so many details, so many nuances, not just in the glass, but in the vineyard, the region and the people. As I met winemakers and vineyard owners and even the people in the tasting room excited to pour me a glass and tell me the story of this wine, I knew these were stories I wanted to share. I completed my study and became a Certified Specialist of Wine and continue learning daily as I meet and interview people in this industry.

Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.

When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.

Share this:

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • WhatsApp
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Stuffed Vegan Portabella Mushrooms and a L’Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Stuffed Vegan Portabella Mushrooms and a L’Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Feb 7, 2021

Using a Portabella mushroom is a great flavorful way to go meatless.  This delicious dish can be made gluten-free, vegetarian, or vegan.

Filled with a wide variety of vegetables, the flavor in the sun-dried tomatoes really kicks it up a notch.

Stuffed Vegan Portabella Mushrooms

I will admit, that I didn’t go all the way Vegan with this dish.  I did not find gluten-free bread crumbs and the store was out of Nutritional Yeast when I placed my order.  So we did use regular bread crumbs and parmesan.  The topping was vegan mozzerella, which if you are not going the vegan route, can easily be regular mozzerella.

If you don’t want this to be vegetarian or vegan, you can always incorporate a little ground pork or turkey into the dish.  Really, the stuffing is one of those things you can play with.

Here’s what you will need:

  • 2 large portabella mushrooms
  • 1 tbs olive oil + more to rub the mushrooms
  • 1/2 large sweet onion diced
  • 1 medium zucchini diced
  • 1/2 red pepper diced
  • 4 sun-dried tomatoes chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 cup of spinach
  • ¼ tsp dried thyme
  • ground black pepper
  • 2 tbsp dried breadcrumbs (gluten-free)
  • 2 tbsp grated Parmesan (vegan parm or use nutritional yeast)
  • 2 tbsp shredded vegan mozzarella
Ingredients for stuffed portabella mushrooms
Ingredients for stuffed portabella mushrooms

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Line a sided baking sheet with a silicone pad or parchment paper.
  3. Brush the mushrooms with a paper towel, pull out the stem and scrape out the gills with a spoon
  4. Rub each portabella mushroom with olive oil and set them on the baking sheet, *they will really soak up the olive oil, give them a twice over, but don’t stress about having them glossy and oily.
  5. Heat a sauté pan over medium-high heat, add the olive oil to warm it.
  6. Add the onions and sauté for 3 or 4 minutes
  7. Add the zucchini and cook until the zucchini begins to soften for 4 or 5 minutes.
  8. Add the red pepper and sundried tomatoes. Cook for 2 or 3 minutes.
  9. Add the garlic. Cook for one minute
  10. Add the spinach.
  11. Once the spinach wilts, remove the pan from the heat
  12. Add the thyme, crushing it between your fingers to release the oil, the black pepper, breadcrumbs, & Parmesan (or nutritional yeast).
  13. Stir to combine.
  14. Fill the two mushrooms with the mixture ( if they are very flat you might heap the mixture in a mound on the center
  15. Bake in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes.
  16. Top each portabella mushroom with a tablespoon of the mozzarella and continue baking for another 10 to 12 minutes, or until the cheese is just beginning to get golden on top. *keep an eye on them here.  The vegan mozzarella is tough to melt and you don’t want to burn the other ingredients. (although the crispy bits were still really tasty!)
Valentine's Day Vegan Style with stuffed portabella mushrooms and grilled purple cabbage wedges
Valentine's Day Vegan Style with stuffed portabella mushrooms and grilled purple cabbage wedges

We paired this with grilled balsamic purple cabbage wedges and served it with the L’Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.

L’Ecole No. 41 2017 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

This wine comes from Washington’s largest AVA the Columbia Valley AVA.  It covers a full 1/3 of the landmass of Washington.  It is sourced from vineyards across this AVA that L’Ecole No. 41 has built a relationship with over the years.

You’ll find a blend of fruit from a few vineyards in here:  Candy Mountain, Estate Seven Hills, Alder Ridge, Klipsun, Summit View, Bacchus & Dionysus, Pepper Bridge, Stone Tree, Loess, Yellow Jacket, Estate Ferguson & Stone Valley

100% Cabernet Sauvignon – 5,600 cases produced – $29.00 SRP

Of all the dishes that we paired with this wine, this was surprisingly the best.  Don’t get me wrong, all our pairings were delicious, This Portabella Mushroom dish just had a little extra something.  I think that it was the sundried tomatoes.

L’Ecole No. 41 is located in Walla Walla Washington in an old schoolhouse.  You can read more about them here and here.

*We received this wine as a media sample.  No other compensation was received.  All opinions are our own.

L'Ecole No. 41 2017 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon for Valentine's Day
L'Ecole No. 41 2017 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon for Valentine's Day
L'Ecole No. 41 for Valentine's Day Vegan Style with stuffed portabella mushrooms and grilled purple cabbage wedges
L'Ecole No. 41 for Valentine's Day Vegan Style with stuffed portabella mushrooms and grilled purple cabbage wedges

Check out our Full Story with all of our Valentine’s Pairing Suggestions!

Stuffed Vegan Portabello Mushrooms and L'Ecole Cabernet
Yield: 2

Stuffed Vegan Portabella Mushrooms

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

This recipe has variations to be Vegan Vegetarian or Gluten-Free, depending on the breadcrumbs and cheese (or cheese substitute) that you use. It is filled with onion, zucchini, red pepper, garlic, spinach, and sundried tomatoes with breadcrumbs and parmesan (or nutritional yeast to make it vegan).

While this does take a bit of time in the oven, it's really delicious.

This is a dish that is great with Cabernet Sauvignon. Yes, red wine with a dish that isn't meat!

Ingredients

  • • 2 large portabella mushrooms
  • • 1 tbs olive oil +
  • • 1/2 large sweet onion diced
  • • 1 medium zucchini diced
  • • 1/2 red pepper diced
  • • 4 sun dried tomatoes chopped
  • • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • • 1 cup of fresh spinach
  • • ¼ tsp dried thyme
  • • freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • • 2 tbs dried breadcrumbs (gluten free)
  • • 2 tbs grated Parmesan (vegan parm or use nutritional yeast)
  • • 2 tbs shredded vegan mozzarella

Instructions

    Stuffed Vegan Portabello Mushrooms and L'Ecole Cabernet

    1.   Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

    2.   Line a sided baking sheet with a silicone pad or parchment paper.

    3.   Brush the mushrooms with a paper towel, pull out the stem and scrape out the gills with a spoon

    4.   Rub the mushrooms with olive oil and set them on the baking sheet,

    5.   Heat a sauté pan over medium-high heat, add the olive oil to warm it.

    6.   Add the onions and sauté for 3 or 4 minutes

    7.   Add the zucchini and cook until the zucchini begins to soften.

    8.   Add the red pepper and sundried tomatoes. Cook for 2 or 3 minutes.

    9.   Add the garlic. Cook for one minute

    10.  Add the spinach.

    11.  Once the spinach wilts, remove it from the heat

    12.  Add the thyme, rubbing it between your fingers to release the oils, then the black pepper, breadcrumbs, & Parmesan (or nutritional yeast).

    13.  Stir to combine.

    14.  Fill the two mushrooms with the mixture

    15.  Bake in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes.

    16.  Top each mushroom with a tablespoon of the mozzarella and continue baking for another 10 to 12 minutes, or until the cheese is just beginning to get golden on top.



Notes

For gluten-free: use gluten-free breadcrumbs

For vegetarian; use Parmesan made without animal rennet or use nutritional yeast.

For vegan: use vegan mozzarella and substitute the Parmesan with nutritional yeast.


Serve this with a side dish of grilled purple cabbage with a balsamic marinade!

Nutrition Information

Yield

2

Serving Size

1

Amount Per Serving Calories 220Total Fat 11gSaturated Fat 3gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 7gCholesterol 10mgSodium 228mgCarbohydrates 24gFiber 5gSugar 11gProtein 9g

Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

© Robin Renken
Cuisine: Vegan / Category: Recipes and Wine Pairings
Stuffed Vegan Porabello Mushrooms and Lecole Cabernet 133534 2 scaled

Valentines Day Menu Ideas

Cabernet Sauvignon truffles with espresso and cocoa or cranberries and pistachios scaled

L’Ecole No. 41 Cabernet Sauvignon Wine Truffles

These delicious wine truffles are completely decadent. We created two, one with chopped dried cranberry inside, dusted with ground pistachio, and one with a touch of espresso powder inside, then dusted with cocoa.

The wine we used was the L'Ecole No. 41 2017 Walla Walla Cabernet Sauvignon, which is also the perfect wine to pair with these truffles.

Thank you to L'Ecole No. 41 for the delicious sample that inspired these truffles.

LEcole Valentine Day Burger Mushroom Bacon Jam and Blue Cheese 134641

Burgers with Mushrooms and Blue Cheese

Based on Bobby Flay's recipe for the Perfect Burger which keeps your burgers perfectly juicy! It's important to use at least 80/20 ground beef to keep the burgers juicy and the thumbprint? Well, a thumbprint in the middle is key to keeping the burgers cooking evenly.

We topped our burgers with sautéed shitake mushrooms, blue cheese, arugula, and bacon jam. (there is a recipe for that too!)

Steak with Gorgonzola and LEcole Cabernet 01 2 scaled

Steak with Gorgonzola sauce

These dishes cook simultaneously and you will end up with lots of leftover gorgonzola sauce. That's really okay. It's so good on almost anything. I drizzled it on pizza the other night.

This is an elegant dish, but not too tough to make! Get the polenta going first and set that on a back burner to cook while you make the steak and gorgonzola sauce.

We paired this with a Cabernet Sauvignon and it was heaven!

The recipe came from "The Anthony Kitchen"

Steak with Gorgonzola and LEcole Cabernet 01 scaled

Cheesy Polenta

Polenta is simple but takes a little time. I love cooking it in my Dutch Oven. I can get other dishes going while it cooks, and the big heavy dutch oven lid keeps the splatter down.

You can also pour your finished polenta in a dish or pan and refrigerate it, then cut it when it is firm and pan fry it. I like to do this and serve it covered in sautéed vegetables.

Bacon Jam and LEcole Cabernet 135139 scaled

Bacon Jam

This bacon jam is based on a recipe from Mom's Dinner. We substituted dried cranberries for the raisins, which brings a bigger fruit note to the dish and paired great with the Cabernet Sauvignon we chose.

Bacon jam is life-changing. How did I ever live without this stuff! You can serve it with crackers or bread. The other night we topped a pizza with some. Quite honestly, had I been home alone, I would have made this and sat on the couch and eaten the whole bowl with a spoon.

Stuffed Vegan Porabello Mushrooms and Lecole Cabernet 133534 2 scaled

Stuffed Vegan Portabella Mushrooms

This recipe has variations to be Vegan Vegetarian or Gluten-Free, depending on the breadcrumbs and cheese (or cheese substitute) that you use.

This is a dish that is great with Cabernet Sauvignon. Yes, red wine with a dish that isn't meat!

Grilled Balsamic purple Cabbage and Lecole Cabernet 130722 scaled

Grilled balsamic purple cabbage

This is a perfect side dish and it's vegan! The marinade gives this so much umami. With a stovetop grill pan this is a delicious grilled dish that you don't have to go outside for!

Chocolate Tart with Forest Berries and Lecole Cabernet 153535 scaled

Chocolate tart with forest berries

This looks so fancy, but it's really easy. I found this recipe on Rachel Cooks. No-bake, 4 ingredients (+the berries and powdered sugar). So easy and delicious.

I suggest starting with a full pack of Oreos. For a 9 inch tart, use 32. Mine was actually an 8-inch tart pan, so I sadly destroyed too many Oreos. Somehow I ended up with just 3 left?

Oreos and melted butter for the crust, chocolate, and creme make a ganache for the filling and then berries to decorate just before serving. Pretty simple

Get artsy with your decoration. I used strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and mint, but you could use a variety of fruit. I think I might try adding just a little orange liqueur and candied oranges to decorate next time. There are so many variations you can take with this.

As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and sign up for our monthly newsletter to keep up to date on all of our posts.

Robin Bell Renken I have always loved people’s stories. I spent a career in Theatre helping to tell stories, as a Stage Manager. Daily enabling artists to freely and safely tell stories through their art. Then I fell in love with wine. There are so many details, so many nuances, not just in the glass, but in the vineyard, the region and the people. As I met winemakers and vineyard owners and even the people in the tasting room excited to pour me a glass and tell me the story of this wine, I knew these were stories I wanted to share. I completed my study and became a Certified Specialist of Wine and continue learning daily as I meet and interview people in this industry.

Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.

When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.

Share this:

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Reddit
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Like this:

Like Loading...
Grilled balsamic purple cabbage and a L’Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Grilled balsamic purple cabbage and a L’Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Feb 7, 2021

Want a Vegan side dish that is delicious and full of umami?  This is your dish.  You can cook it outside on the grill, but I like to cook it the easy way, on a grill pan on my stove.

Shout out to Diethood for the inspiration for this recipe.

Grilled Balsamic Purple Cabbage

What you will need:

  • 1/2 head of purple cabbage
  • 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tbs of balsamic vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp of dijon mustard
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • 1/2 tsp of honey
  • salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
  • fresh parsley, for garnish
Marinated purple cabbage wedges on the grill
Marinated purple cabbage wedges on the grill

Directions

  1. Cut the cabbage into wedges, cutting out the stem.
  2. In a mixing bowl, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, mustard, garlic, honey, salt, and pepper; mix well until combined.
  3. Brush the cabbage steaks with the prepared balsamic glaze on both sides.
  4. Heat a grill pan on the stove add oil and sprinkle with salt
  5. Grill for 8 minutes on each side
  6. Garnish with fresh parsley and additional glaze
Valentine's Day Vegan Style with stuffed portabella mushrooms and grilled purple cabbage wedges
Valentine's Day Vegan Style with stuffed portabella mushrooms and grilled purple cabbage wedges

We served this as a side with stuffed portabella mushrooms and paired it with the L’Ecole No. 41 2017 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.

L’Ecole No. 41 2017 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

We paired this with a Cabernet Sauvignon from Washington.  This was from L’Ecole No. 41 and it is their 2017 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.

This wine comes from Washington’s largest AVA the Columbia Valley AVA.  It covers a full 1/3 of the landmass of Washington.  It is sourced from vineyards across this AVA that L’Ecole No. 41 has built a relationship with over the years.

It is 100% Cab Sav from the Columbia Valley AVA and runs $29.00.

L’Ecole No. 41 is located in Walla Walla Washington in an old schoolhouse.  You can read more about them here and here.

*We received this wine as a media sample.  No other compensation was received.  All opinions are our own.

L'Ecole No. 41 2017 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon for Valentine's Day
L'Ecole No. 41 2017 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon for Valentine's Day

Check out our Full Story with all of our Valentine’s Pairing Suggestions!

Grilled Balsamic purple Cabbage and L'Ecole Cabernet
Yield: 4

Grilled balsamic purple cabbage

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes

This is a perfect side dish and it's vegan! The marinade gives this so much umami. With a stovetop grill pan, this is a delicious grilled dish that you don't have to go outside for!

The marinade also makes this a great side for any meal to pair with red wine.

Ingredients

  • • 1/2 head red cabbage
  • • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • • 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
  • • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • • 1/2 teaspoon honey
  • • 1/4 tsp salt
  • • 1/4 tsp pepper

Instructions

    1.    Cut the cabbage into 4 wedges, removing the stem at the bottom

    2.    In a mixing bowl, add the balsamic vinegar, mustard, garlic, honey, salt, and pepper. Drizzle in the olive oil, whisking the mixture to emulsify the oil and integrate it into the mixture

    3.    Coat the cabbage wedges with the mixture on both sides.

    4.    Heat a grill pan on the stove add oil and sprinkle with salt

    5.    Grill for 8 minutes on each side basting with any remaining marinade, as you go.

    6.    Garnish with fresh parsley and additional glaze



Notes

We paired this with Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms and a Cabernet Sauvignon,

Nutrition Information

Yield

4

Serving Size

1

Amount Per Serving Calories 160Total Fat 14gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 11gCholesterol 0mgSodium 193mgCarbohydrates 9gFiber 3gSugar 5gProtein 2g

Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

© Robin Renken
Cuisine: Vegan / Category: Recipes and Wine Pairings
Grilled Balsamic purple Cabbage and Lecole Cabernet 130722 scaled

Valentines Day Menu Ideas

Cabernet Sauvignon truffles with espresso and cocoa or cranberries and pistachios scaled

L’Ecole No. 41 Cabernet Sauvignon Wine Truffles

These delicious wine truffles are completely decadent. We created two, one with chopped dried cranberry inside, dusted with ground pistachio, and one with a touch of espresso powder inside, then dusted with cocoa.

The wine we used was the L'Ecole No. 41 2017 Walla Walla Cabernet Sauvignon, which is also the perfect wine to pair with these truffles.

Thank you to L'Ecole No. 41 for the delicious sample that inspired these truffles.

LEcole Valentine Day Burger Mushroom Bacon Jam and Blue Cheese 134641

Burgers with Mushrooms and Blue Cheese

Based on Bobby Flay's recipe for the Perfect Burger which keeps your burgers perfectly juicy! It's important to use at least 80/20 ground beef to keep the burgers juicy and the thumbprint? Well, a thumbprint in the middle is key to keeping the burgers cooking evenly.

We topped our burgers with sautéed shitake mushrooms, blue cheese, arugula, and bacon jam. (there is a recipe for that too!)

Steak with Gorgonzola and LEcole Cabernet 01 2 scaled

Steak with Gorgonzola sauce

These dishes cook simultaneously and you will end up with lots of leftover gorgonzola sauce. That's really okay. It's so good on almost anything. I drizzled it on pizza the other night.

This is an elegant dish, but not too tough to make! Get the polenta going first and set that on a back burner to cook while you make the steak and gorgonzola sauce.

We paired this with a Cabernet Sauvignon and it was heaven!

The recipe came from "The Anthony Kitchen"

Steak with Gorgonzola and LEcole Cabernet 01 scaled

Cheesy Polenta

Polenta is simple but takes a little time. I love cooking it in my Dutch Oven. I can get other dishes going while it cooks, and the big heavy dutch oven lid keeps the splatter down.

You can also pour your finished polenta in a dish or pan and refrigerate it, then cut it when it is firm and pan fry it. I like to do this and serve it covered in sautéed vegetables.

Bacon Jam and LEcole Cabernet 135139 scaled

Bacon Jam

This bacon jam is based on a recipe from Mom's Dinner. We substituted dried cranberries for the raisins, which brings a bigger fruit note to the dish and paired great with the Cabernet Sauvignon we chose.

Bacon jam is life-changing. How did I ever live without this stuff! You can serve it with crackers or bread. The other night we topped a pizza with some. Quite honestly, had I been home alone, I would have made this and sat on the couch and eaten the whole bowl with a spoon.

Stuffed Vegan Porabello Mushrooms and Lecole Cabernet 133534 2 scaled

Stuffed Vegan Portabella Mushrooms

This recipe has variations to be Vegan Vegetarian or Gluten-Free, depending on the breadcrumbs and cheese (or cheese substitute) that you use.

This is a dish that is great with Cabernet Sauvignon. Yes, red wine with a dish that isn't meat!

Grilled Balsamic purple Cabbage and Lecole Cabernet 130722 scaled

Grilled balsamic purple cabbage

This is a perfect side dish and it's vegan! The marinade gives this so much umami. With a stovetop grill pan this is a delicious grilled dish that you don't have to go outside for!

Chocolate Tart with Forest Berries and Lecole Cabernet 153535 scaled

Chocolate tart with forest berries

This looks so fancy, but it's really easy. I found this recipe on Rachel Cooks. No-bake, 4 ingredients (+the berries and powdered sugar). So easy and delicious.

I suggest starting with a full pack of Oreos. For a 9 inch tart, use 32. Mine was actually an 8-inch tart pan, so I sadly destroyed too many Oreos. Somehow I ended up with just 3 left?

Oreos and melted butter for the crust, chocolate, and creme make a ganache for the filling and then berries to decorate just before serving. Pretty simple

Get artsy with your decoration. I used strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and mint, but you could use a variety of fruit. I think I might try adding just a little orange liqueur and candied oranges to decorate next time. There are so many variations you can take with this.

As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and sign up for our monthly newsletter to keep up to date on all of our posts.

Robin Bell Renken I have always loved people’s stories. I spent a career in Theatre helping to tell stories, as a Stage Manager. Daily enabling artists to freely and safely tell stories through their art. Then I fell in love with wine. There are so many details, so many nuances, not just in the glass, but in the vineyard, the region and the people. As I met winemakers and vineyard owners and even the people in the tasting room excited to pour me a glass and tell me the story of this wine, I knew these were stories I wanted to share. I completed my study and became a Certified Specialist of Wine and continue learning daily as I meet and interview people in this industry.

Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.

When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.

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Syncline Winery Stunning Wines in the Tortured Topography of the Columbia Gorge AVA

Syncline Winery Stunning Wines in the Tortured Topography of the Columbia Gorge AVA

Feb 3, 2021

A Visit to Syncline

Each year, with the exception of 2020, we typically take a 1 to 2 week trip to wine countries.  Yes, plural.  These are road trips and often involve multiple states.  In the summer of 2019, this was the case.

We traveled north through Nevada and into Southern Oregon through the Willamette Valley and the Columbia Gorge, to the Yakima Valley and Walla Walla.  Oh, and then back again.

During this trip, we visited Syncline on the Columbia Gorge.  We’ve posted a little from our visit in “The Scenic Route – Flash Tour 2019 Part 3 – Columbia Gorge to the Yakima Valley” as well as a bit on their wines each year with our 12 Days of wine: “Syncline Subduction Red – Day 3 of the 12 Days of Wine 2020” and “12 Days of Wine Day 12 – Syncline” (back in 2019).

Our morning at Syncline was full and while we’ve shared bits and pieces with you, we wanted to share more of our interview with James Mantone, the owner/winemaker at Syncline.

He has a breadth of knowledge of this region that is detailed and eloquent and is best heard from his lips, so we will share with you some of our interview today.

Syncline interview behind the scenes
Syncline interview behind the scenes

Syncline Winery

Syncline Winery is located in the Columbia Gorge AVA which straddles the Washington Oregon State line.  Syncline sits on the Washington side of the Gorge.  The Steep Creek Ranch Vineyard is their estate vineyard, planted to Gamay, Furmint, Mondeuse, Syrah, Viognier, and Grüner Veltliner.

The name “Syncline” comes from their view of the Coyote Wall Syncline; 300-foot cliffs coming straight up from the Columbia River.

James and his wife Poppie made their first vintage in 1999.  In addition to fruit from their estate vineyard, they source from many vineyards across Washington, but Rhône varieties are their focus.

You don’t just find their wines anywhere.  Their production stays at around 4000 cases annually. These are special wines.

Syncline Winery on the Washington side of the Columbia Gorge AVA
Syncline Winery on the Washington side of the Columbia Gorge AVA
Washington State Wine AVA Map Oct 2020 - courtesy Washington State Wine
Washington State Wine AVA Map Oct 2020 - courtesy Washington State Wine

Columbia Gorge Soils and the soils of Steep Creek Ranch

When we hear about the soils in Washington and Oregon often we hear about the Missoula Floods (Link to Rudy). In addition to Missoula flood soil, you find a series of cobbly sandy soil for 3 to 6 feet then gravel with no organic matter for the next 90 feet.  You find Mount Mazama ash deposits.  Pure volcanic ash from the eruptions from the Crater Lake Caldera south of them in Oregon as well as outwash soils.

Thinking of all these soils I’m picturing one of those “this is your life” videos for the Gorge. Flood followed by eruption, followed by winds, rain, and more flooding, cliff walls crumbling, rivers washing soils away and bringing new soils in.  It puts our tiny bit of time on this planet in perspective.

The Columbia Gorge AVA

James speaks of the “tortured topography” of the gorge.  The Steep Creek Ranch Vineyard sits in that section of the Gorge where it is transitioning from the cool marine influence vineyards of the West to the continental and high desert climate of the east. Rainfall decreases by about an inch per mile as you drive west to east.

Diurnal shifts can be dramatic. In the summer days can be 95 degrees with nights in the low 50s.  They are protected here from winter kill by their position in the west and the river.

Here at Steep Creek Ranch, they get about 14 inches of precipitation annually.  Just 15 minutes away the rain is 56 inches annually and the fruiting wires get buried under snow all winter.

The marine climate to the west and the hot desert to the east fuel strong summer winds. Plus they have a sub-alpine effect from the canyons on each side of the gorge which drives cold air in the morning and evening.

James calls it “one of the most tortured and broken up AVAs out there”.

“There is no simple way to define the Gorge”

The unifying factor he says is the wind.

Biodynamics and sustainable farming

James and his family use biodynamic practices with their vineyard.  But he is not dogmatic in his winemaking.  He sources from vineyards and believes the vineyard owner, who is there day and night, all through the year, is the person best suited to decide the methods used in the vineyard.

“Wine is really a mysterious beverage, and one of the things that I pursue in wine is, I want wine to have energy and vitality. And that is more than just intensity and concentration.  I want wine to be vibrant and electric. For me, living soils and healthy vines are the best way to do that.”

He and Poppie have been involved in biodynamics for over 20 years.  They do it for themselves, their family, their work environment.

“If you look it’s only been in the last few hundred years that we’ve detached spirituality from farming.  Food and beverage should do more than just provide fats, carbs, and protein.”

Large Format vessels for fermentation and aging

In the winery, they lean toward large-format vessels for aging.  While we were visiting they had two large upright wood fermenters they were working on, sanding down on the inside.  They also have 4 concrete tanks. James likes wood for the oxygen exchange and stabilization it brings.

The larger formats have a larger thermal mass, so temperatures change more slowly.  He finds the wines aged in concrete to be less round, and leaner and walk the unique line of savory notes from reduction and bright fruit notes.

“You walk this line of 2 things that shouldn’t exist at the same time, and that’s a little bit of reduction, so some savory earthy flavors and also really bright fruit.  So two things that usually contradict each other, that you never see together, but in concrete we see it.”

They like the better mouthfeel that they get this way, gaining texture. The format also allows them to take these bigger wines and craft elegance and lightness into them.

Sustaining the property of Steep Ranch Vineyard and building sustainably

We continued speaking with James, he told us of the old oaks one that might be 500 years old on the property.  These are Oregon White Oaks.  When they built the winery they carefully situated it so that they only had to remove one oak.  This 8-inch oak was likely 120 years old.

“It’s a lot of hubris to take out a 200-year-old tree.”

Much of the wood you see in the winery is beetle kill wood.  It has been made into stunning raw edge tables and bars.  The posts on the patio are juniper posts that were salvaged from Eastern Washington.  Fire suppression policies mean that junipers don’t periodically burn and as a result, they become more fragile.  They suck up the water and grow much taller than normal.  When they do burn, they burn very hot and scorch and sterilize the soil around them.

Juniper is also rot-resistant, so these posts are 50-year posts.

The landscaping here is stunning, a garden filled with Western US plants that were selected for xeriscaping to save water.  The garden is magical with small and larger seating areas scattered about.

Into the vineyard

We take the shorter steep route to the upper vineyard. You can feel the temperature change as you climb.  It is warmer on the slope, cooling from the wind as you reach the top the difference is typically 6-8 degrees.

We pass the baby furmint, which was the first planting in Washington in the spring of 2019.  It is planted on the deepest volcanic ash.  It is also the only part of the vineyard that might possibly get botrytis, although that is something they have yet to see.

They have also planted the first Mondeuse in Washington.  These vines are vigorous with huge long clusters. There is also Gamay, which is not nearly as vigorous and has more compact clusters.

We continue climbing toward the top of the vineyard where they have Syrah planted.

James points out the curves in the rows in the vineyard.  This land had never been farmed before.  Instead of ripping and amending the soils, they dug 300 holes, filled them with water, timed the drain, and then planted accordingly.  The blocks follow the soil, not straight rows.

The view of the “Tortured landscape” of the Gorge

We turn at last to take in the stunning view, listening to the hawks in the background.  The gorge majestically lays before us.  It’s a dramatic view where you can see the Coyote Wall Syncline, Catherine Creek, the town of Mosier, and the Mosier Syncline. You can see the stratification on the Mosier Syncline from here.

He points out gravel bars from the floods and the layer cake of basalt above the crest of the top flood.  He points out buttes that are the toe ends of lava flows, one from Central Oregon another from Goldendale. The Columbia river moved all this, the river predates the landscape here.

“One of the things that’s really cool about this area is that you don’t have contiguous vineyards, and so you have vineyards tucked into these wild areas.  The wine should reflect this little bit of wildness. It’s a landscape of abrupt edges and wind. The wines should be a little uncomfortable a little energetic.”

Steep Creek Ranch Vineyard at Syncline Winery with Mount Hood in the background
Steep Creek Ranch Vineyard at Syncline Winery with Mount Hood in the background

He points out the beginning of the constriction in the Gorge. The soils on one side are fine-grained high water-holding soils from the ponding that occurred.  These are great for wheat but too vigorous for grapes.  On the other side, you have large rocks and gravel of varying size depending on the velocity of the flood at that point.

But soil is just one of the factors that make the various parcels of land in this area so diverse.  The river turns a little north right here and the Mosier Valley runs east-west.  When thunderstorms bump the syncline they go up the Mosier Valley, while here they stay dry.

James says they are just beginning to see what these different areas bring to the grape.  They measure in miles, as opposed to the Mosel, where they have been growing for so long, they can tell you block by block what the climate and soil are like and how they affect the grapes.

The next planting of 500 vines will be all head-trained. They don’t rip the soils, something I am grateful to hear as I learn more about Regenerative Agriculture.  They don’t worry if there is a missing vine here and there.  It’s tougher for netting when the birds move in since they are on the eastern flyway, but he feels it’s worth it.

As we head back down he points out native vegetation.  We smell biscuit root, which smells like celery. They want to leave the native plants intact here.  They don’t bring in animals.  The animals would select for grasses, rather than the diversity of plant life that they want.

Into the winery

We head into the winery.  There are the two large wooden fermenters outside that they are sanding down, plus more inside.  They have 1 concrete egg that holds 33 hectoliters and 3 concrete cubes that hold 41 hectoliters each.

The walls in the winery are 85% post-consumer Styrofoam and concrete. The floor has radiant heat.  The concrete tanks take on the temperature of the floor. So they can turn the radiant floors to 70 degrees and kick off the fermenters without having to heat the room.

They like the large format. They are also using cigars (320 liter) and puncheons (500 liter).  With wood, they want a super long very light toast.  While most barrels are toasted in 25 to 40 minutes, their barrels toast over 2 hours to a barely blond color.

In addition, they use Acacia puncheons.  He is careful with this word as it can be aggressive in its first vintage, turning the wine yellow from the extraction of the wood.  This wood gives notes of yellow flowers as opposed to the spice notes from oak.  With a looser grain in this less dense wood, you get more oxygen.  James likes the way it rounds out the palate and doesn’t mind the floweriness.

Tasting with James

James uses Acacia for his Grüner Veltliner from Bloxom Vineyard, just east of the city of Yakima.  As we taste this wine, he fills me in on a detail I was unaware of, Grüner is traditionally barrelled in Acacia!

After tasting the Grüner, we move to a Picpoul from Boushey Vineyard in the Central Yakima Valley.  This is a racy wine made in Stainless Steel to preserve that sharpness.  It concrete it would broaden the palate and he believes Picpoul should be focused.

We taste their first harvest of estate Gamay. This was a tiny 3rd leaf harvest and it was barrelled as they did not have enough to fill a concrete cube.  The destemmed this first vintage to see how it would do. The 2018, which they had just bottled they determined they would go 75% whole cluster, which is semi-carbonic, so it is a completely different animal.

James finds that Gamay fits the landscape, while they are still exploring what this grape can be here.  He thinks the Gorge might be like Friuli or Alsace or the Canary Islands

“Your white wines are serious wines and the red wines are what you drink while you wait for your white wines to come around.”

We taste his Syrah from Boushey.  This is blue Washington fruit from the original Syrah planting at Boushey from one little hillside.  His estate syrah, he tells me, is radically different. It’s like the difference between the Northern and Southern Rhône.  While the Boushey Syrah is blue and plush the Estate Syrah is delicate.

We discuss the difference between warm and cool climates and he adds to that,  differences between sunny and cloudy climates and then also the topography and how that shapes a wine’s flavor.

“I often think wine tastes as a landscape looks.  I have a little synesthesia so when I taste wine I see colors and shapes… wines from vertical places should have some elbows and should have some angles to them.  In round places, wines tend to be more plush and lush. Flat hot places wines tend to be that way, they are more straight forward.”

A final surprise – Bubbles

He has one more crazy thing for us before we leave and asks us to join him outside.  He brings out a bottle of Sparkling Grüner Veltliner from the Gorge. These grapes come from the Underwood Vineyard which he believes might be one of the best vineyards for sparkling wine grapes in the country.  This is the 2017 and they are currently riddling it (there were riddling racks inside).

It is all elbows and sharp. James is a sparkling wine fan.  You can see it in the joy he has opening this wine.  This was a project that they started in 2014 from a shady section of Grüner at Underwood. They made it for the crew and liked it so much that they adjusted the farming method to focus on sparkling wine from here.

These bubbles made for a joyous end to our tasting and we headed off for our next stop with Seth Kitzke in Candy Mountain.  We stopped again on our return trip to pick up a few bottles of wine when the tasting room was open.

How can you taste the wines of Syncline?

With the pandemic, Syncline is open only for outdoor tastings with reservations from Friday to Sunday from 12-5.  They do have take-out sales available without pre-order during those hours also.  You can also order online.

The are located west of Lyle at 111 Balch Road, Lyle Washington 98635

You can reach them by phone or email also: 509.365.4361  [email protected]

Sources and Resources

  • http://synclinewine.com/
  • https://www.washingtonwine.org/wine/facts-and-stats/regions-and-avas/columbia-gorge
  • https://www.gorgewine.com/
  • https://www.bendbulletin.com/localstate/central-oregon-fire-suppression-drought-increasing-mortality-among-trees/article_136d61cb-81a6-5086-b5a4-89d187d96c5c.html

As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and sign up for our monthly newsletter to keep up to date on all of our posts.

Robin Bell Renken I have always loved people’s stories. I spent a career in Theatre helping to tell stories, as a Stage Manager. Daily enabling artists to freely and safely tell stories through their art. Then I fell in love with wine. There are so many details, so many nuances, not just in the glass, but in the vineyard, the region and the people. As I met winemakers and vineyard owners and even the people in the tasting room excited to pour me a glass and tell me the story of this wine, I knew these were stories I wanted to share. I completed my study and became a Certified Specialist of Wine and continue learning daily as I meet and interview people in this industry.

Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.

When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.

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_____  Wednesday is Tannat Day and we will be celebrating with that beautiful bottle, then watch for more pairings with the other wines coming soon!
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roasted cashew.  I was not disappointed. While this wine would develop further (in 
case you are lucky enough to have a bottle in your possession), it was beautiful and took me back to the golden glow of that evening at Tablas Creek standing next to that head-pruned Roussanne.
_____  We paired this with Carrot, Leek, and Potato Soup, (recipe courtesy Tablas Creek Vineyard), that we added a bit of crab meat to, some lobster cakes that Michael picked up, and crostini with ricotta, roasted golden beets, candied bacon, and thyme (that was the pairing Chef Jeff Scott served on our visit in 2013 to Tablas Creek).
 this made for a luscious lunch.
_____  We refrained from finishing the whole bottle (that was tough) and had a cheese plate for dinner pairing a pastry-wrapped brie with wine-poached apples.
_____  Read the whole story at CrushedGrapeChronicles.com 
AND... join the French 
#Winophiles Saturday, March 20th at 8 am PDT to discuss French grapes outside of France!  @tablascreek
#youshouldsipwithus
#agedroussanne
#Winophiles
#frenchgrapesoutsidefrance
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Loki giving approval of our tannat pairing! It's Loki giving approval of our tannat pairing!  It's #Uruguaywineweek!  Wait 'til you see our pairings!  We will fill you in tomorrow on #Tannantday!
(You known it's good if it has Loki approval!)  @uruguay.wine 
@southamericawineguide 
@establecimiento_juanico 
#TannatDay 
#Uruguaywineweek 
#wineandfood
#samples Check out these 3 lovelies that arrived t #samples
Check out these 3 lovelies that arrived today from @establecimiento_juanico in Uruguay!
_____  This is Uruguay wine week!  Do you know Tannat?  Is the delicious deep dark wine that originated in Southern France, but has found a home in Uruguay!
_____  Wednesday is Tannat Day and we will be celebrating with that beautiful bottle, then watch for more pairings with the other wines coming soon!
______  #TannatDay
#Uruguaywineweek
#storiestotaste
#sample It's Spring and it's Earth Month and we ar #sample It's Spring and it's Earth Month and we are celebrating with earth friendly wines!
_____  Normally we find great low intervention wines that are off the beaten path.  We get to discover great wines and people, but often these wines might be hard for you to find.
_____  Today we share 2 Sav Blanc for spring that are easy-to-find, affordable, earth-friendly and delicious.
______  At @bonterra they take taking care of the planet seriously.  They have organic and biodynamic vineyards and are a leader in sustainability. 
______  @loveblockwine in Marlborough NZ they are organic and are part of the New Zealand Sustainable Winegrowing Programme.
_____  Of course we have some suggested pairings for you!  Head to CrushedGrapeChronicles.com and check out the whole piece!
_____  #earthmonth 
#sustainableviticulture
#goodfortheplanet
#SauvignonBlanc
#wineandfoodpairing 
#Australianwine 
@pickaustrailianwines
Just a simple Easter brunch with a little sav blan Just a simple Easter brunch with a little sav blanc