Kind of Wild Wines with foods on the grill

Getting Kind of Wild with Some Simple Backyard Grilling

July 27, 2021 Posted by Robin Renken Chile, Recipes and Wine Pairings, Vineyard's and Winery's, Wine and Wine Pairings, Wine Tasting, Wine Travel 4 Comments

You remember a while back when we trekked into the wild at Mt. Charleston and picnicked with a view and a wonderful Rosé from the Hérault department in the South of France? (Kind of Wild in the Wild)

Well, when we received that #sample from Kind of Wild they included 2 other wines, that we couldn’t fit in our backpack that day. We saved those to pair with a bit of grilling.

Kind of Wild Syrah Grenache Rose and a picnic with a view at Mt. Charleston

Kind of Wild Wines

In case you missed our previous post, Kind of Wild is the brainchild of Adam and Jordan Sager, two brothers in the wine import business. They wanted to bring delicious wines from growers who were out there working hard for the planet, growing organically and regeneratively, to the people. They started with an Indiegogo campaign, that hit its target in just 2 weeks, and now are off and running.

Not only are the wines certified Organic, but they are also certified Vegan. What does that mean? It means that no animal byproducts were used in creating the wine. Sometimes egg whites or fish bladders are used as a method of fining wine (fining, that’s kind of like filtering, but you add something, like egg whites and the particles, etc, bind to that substance and drop out of the liquid so they can separate it).

The bottles we received were the Kind of Wild 2020 Sauvignon Blanc from Valle de Lolol, Chile, and the 2020 Malbec-Cabernet Sauvignon from Mendoza, Argentina, so we were doing a bit of a South American theme!

These wines were received as media samples. No other compensation was received. All opinions are our own.

Adam and Jordan of Kind of Wild Wines (photo courtesy Kind of Wild)

Kind of Wild 2020 Sauvignon Blanc, Valle de Lolol, Chile

If you are familiar with Chile, this is in the Colchagua region of the Rapel Valley. This is about a couple of hours south of Santiago. Valle de Lolol is pretty close to the Pacific Ocean, giving it a cooler climate and as a result, making for happy Sauvignon Blanc grapes. The estate here has been organically farmed for almost 25 years and is now farmed biodynamically.

13% abv – $25.00 SRP

It poured a soft rosy lemon tone in the glass. My nose picked up grapefruit, apple, pear, lime gooseberry, and soft white floral like elderflower. Bright on the nose, it is round on the palate with a luxurious softness.

Kind of Wild Sauvignon Blanc and Malbec Cabernet Sauvignon

Kind of Wild 2020 Malbec-Cabernet Sauvignon, Mendoza Argentina

A blend of 70% Malbec and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, this wine hails from Mendoza. This region accounts for over 70% of Argentina’s vineyard acreage. The estate is a third-generation family estate that is about 30 outside of the city. The vineyards are in the foothills of the Andes at near 3,000 ft.

13.5% abv – $25.00 SRP

Deep and rich in color, this wine is juicy with balanced tannins. My nose picked up blackberry, black cherry, cassis with cocoa and coffee, and just a hint of cumin. This wine is joyful, but with a bit of depth. Really enjoyable.

Pairing on the Grill

I will admit, we are hot these days! Grilling is done in the afternoon in the shade in the backyard and still, you will roast. It does, however, keep the kitchen cooler! So we prepped a couple of dishes that wouldn’t take too long on the grill to pair with these Kind of Wild Wines, that we could then take back inside to enjoy in the comfort of the AC. (We did take some photos out in the sunshine, before bringing these back in and devouring them!)

Kind of Wild wines and pairings on the grill

Grilled Edible cheese plate!

I know, cheese plates are edible, but we mean the actual plate! I found this recipe on FoodNetwork.com

This was not perfect, but it was delicious. I look forward to trying it again with some tweaks.

The base is pizza dough. Rather than make it from scratch (this was supposed to be easy!) I used refrigerated dough (you know the ones that are like canned biscuits). The recipe said to lay everything out on an oiled sheet pan, scattering red grapes, dried apricots, walnuts, and rosemary.

I added some fresh thyme from the garden. Then I used some of my various sized round cutters to layout my design, leaving a spot for a wheel of brie, honey, nuts, and salami. I made aluminum foil disks in these and placed them on the sheet. Then I rolled out the dough and laid it across the top. This went into the oven for an hour to prove.

It was supposed to rise according to the recipe, but not according to the canned pizza crust directions. So, we shrugged and moved on to the next step. 10 minutes on the grill. Then we flipped it. Michael said the grapes had stuck so rather than putting it directly onto the grill he flipped it over onto another pan. It cooked 10 minutes here, then we added the brie and cooked it another 5 minutes.

We burnt some edges, but overall this came out delicious! We added blueberry goat cheese, salami, walnuts, & honey.

Edible Cheeseboard to pair with Kind of Wild Wines

But that was just the start. I marinated a flank steak for 30 minutes in olive oil, minced garlic, soy, honey, red wine vinegar, and pepper, in a ziplock in the fridge, then it grilled for 2 to 3 minutes per side, then we moved it to the cooler part of the grill while we cooked the shrimp.

The Shrimp were tossed in garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper and skewered. They got a minute per side and they were done.

The flank steak was cut against the grain, on an angle in thin strips.

We rounded things out with a broccoli salad, with purple cabbage, broccoli, sliced grapes, and a simple dressing of honey, cider vinegar, and mayonnaise.

Everything paired well. A big surprise was how well the sauvignon blanc paired with the slightly charred apricots in the edible cheese plate. It was nice with the goat cheese and great with both the shrimp and the broccoli salad.

The Malbec was terrific with the flank steak and the charcuterie as well as the blueberry goat cheese!

Broccoli slaw with purple cabbage and grapes

Finding Kind of Wild Wines

If you want to find these wines, look no further than the Kind of Wild Website. You can purchase them online, or sign up for the club and save 20%. To make you feel even better about your purchase, they donate 1% to invest in soil health as a climate solution with the help of Kiss the Ground and the Organic Farming Research Foundation.

(BTW if you have not caught “Kiss the Ground” on Netflix, I highly recommend it!