Beer and Food, who knew………….
September 20, 2010
Actually, a lot of people know that beer is a great accompaniment to food. And not just the standard burgers, wings and ribs. The carbonation (cleanses your palate), lower alcohol level (no hot finish) and acidity of beer often makes it a better beverage with most foods than other alcohol choices (yes, wine, I’m looking at you). As 10th and Blake Trade Brewer, Ryan Johnson stated, “Beer is better with food than wine could ever hope to be…. Pairing food with wine is like hunting with a rifle and scope – you better be dead-on accurate or you go hungry. Pairing food with beer is like hunting with a shotgun – even if you miss perfection, it will still delight if you follow the basic rules.”
Over the years, I’ve been to countless wine & food dinners – even “hosted” or moderated a few. And, yes, I’ve had the occasional perfect pairing, but believe me, I’ve also had my share of misses. However, the wine industry has done a much better job of marketing and romancing the paring of food and wine. Beer lovers and brewers are beginning to understand and promote the same. In the last month, I’ve been fortunate to enjoy two such beer and food dinners. Both upscale with chefs fully engaged in both cooking with the beers and creating excellent matches of beer to food – across all courses of the meal.
The first was a four course meal. Appetizer, salad, entree and dessert. Created by the Executive Chef at the Grand Traverse Resort in Grand Traverse Michigan. Excuse the photo quality – at both dinners I only had my phone, which let’s just say lacks in photo quality.
Appetizer course: Meyer Lemon Encrusted Sea Sea Scallops with a pepper caper pipperade finished with a Peroni drizzle, accompanied by Peroni Nastro Azzurro. Peroni Nastro Azzurro is an Italian import Pilsner with a refreshing and dry taste, a crisp lager.
Salad Course (this was wow, I love Blue Moon, and didn’t realize how great it is with salads.) Heart of Romaine salad with toasted walnut crisp, orange supreme and Walnut Belgian white vinaigrette. Blue Moon Belgian White is a medium bodied, unfiltered Belgian-style wheat ale spiced with fresh coriander and orange peel.
3rd course – 5 Onion Strip Steak with classic Amber cipolini, grilled scallion mash, amber beer battered vidalia, shallot demi and asparagus braised with leeks. Leinenkugel’s Classic Amber was the paired beer. Leine’s Amber is a Vienna style lager brewed with a blend of three malts to provide a bright copper hue and intense malty aroma – four types of hops give it a floral and spicy aroma.
Finishing off the meal was Berry Weiss Bread Pudding with a raspberry white chocolate anglaise accompanied by Leinenkugel’s Berry Weiss. This fruit wheat beer is flavored with Wisconsin loganberries, elderberries, and blackberries this tasty fruit beer was a Bronze Medal Winner at the 2004 Great American Beer Festival, and a Gold Medal at the 2007 GABF.
A couple of weeks later, I was back in Michigan. This time Grand Rapids, where I attended the dinner for the Meijers Charity Classic (affiliated with the LPGA). This beer and food dinner was hosted by 5th generation brewing legend Jake Leinenkugel. Dinner was created by the Executive Chef for the JW Marriott in Grand Rapids (one of my very favorite hotels, BTW). Three courses this time, all featuring Leine’s beers.
First course: Crispy Kurobota Pork Belly, salted caramel, candied kumquat, arugula accompanied by Leinenkugel Honey Weiss. Honey Weiss is an American Wheat Lager with a delicately sweet, malty flavor with a nice balanced hint of bitterness and a teasing taste of pure Wisconsin honey.
Main course was a filet of beef. with olive oil whipped potatoes, spiced pears, peppered spinach and a sage glace. The beer was Leinenkugel’s Oktoberfest, their fall seasonal beer (in your stores now, but hurry!). Oktoberfest is a traditional German beer brewed with Pale, Caramel and Munich malts, and a blend of cluster, Tettnang, Hallertau and Perle hops. This medium bodied beer has caramel malt flavors balanced with spicy hop overtones. Great with steak – and the sweetness of the pears and the pepper of the spinach. Yum.
Leine Berry Weiss once again was paired with the dessert. Double chocolate panna cotta, genoise, raspberry anglaise with hazelnut. And wow, the Berry with this chocolate, oh my. The stuff of dreams.
Wine Country Trip: Part 4 Biking
August 28, 2010
Alright, this 4 part series on my trip to wine country is finally coming to a close. You can catch the other pieces, by clicking below:
Wine Country Bikes is located a couple of blocks outside downtown Healdsburg. They rent Trek bikes with a variety of options from Hybrid/fitness style Trek 7200 to high end Trek Madone road bikes for those wanting to feel like Lance Armstrong for the day. I knew our day riding in Sonoma would be the longer and hillier of our routes, and decided to go with their Trek 2.1 Road bikes. These bikes were nicely equipped with a computer to track mileage, time and speed, a back rack and expanding trunk bag big enough to hold a bottle of wine, or pair of shoes, a jacket or lunch – or a combination of the above. They’d also swapped out the standard pedals for a set of Shimano SPD Sport clips. A couple of spare tubes and a multi tool completed the package.
Well, not quite….the rental also includes free roadside service within the area shown on their guide maps. Which proved to be a good thing.
Wine Country Bikes location in Healdsburg gives you the option of heading south towards Windsor/Graton/Sebastopol for a much more challenging hilly route, west out River Road towards the coast, or north through Dry Creek Valley. We choose to head north, creating a 26 mile route through somewhat rolling terrain (a bit over 1000ft elevation gain/loss). The shop suggested that with winery stops, lunch etc this would make a good days ride.
We rode a quick tour of Healdsburg then west to pick up the southern end of West Dry Creek Road (which parallels Dry Creek Road). The shop had warned us the only place to pick up lunch would be the Dry Creek General Store, requiring a quick mile across Lambert Bridge Road (and the actual Dry Creek) then back after grabbing our lunch to go. The plan was to continue onward with the lunches, picnicking at either Preston or Bella. The plan got slightly altered when in a bit of deja vu to our Ride for the Arts experience, my husband got a rear flat.
Wine Country Trip: Part 3 Gardens
August 27, 2010
Recently returned from a 5 day trip to the California wine country of Napa and Sonoma counties. This was a personal/pleasure trip with professional overtones (and perks), as my husband is “in the trade”. Splitting the trip review into 4 sections:
Part 4. Biking
The gardens at Korbel Champagne Cellars in Guerneville have been at the top of my list of must visit and re-visit gardens for some time. When Adolf Heck bought Korbel from the Korbel family; he and his daughter restored not only the Korbel family house, but also the gardens. Close to the house are some formal bed areas.
Old garden rose aficionados know that OGRs are a mainstay of the gardens, particularly around the old homestead (my old CompuServe friend and rosarian, Rosemary Simms, raved about the varieties in this garden). Unfortunately, mid-August is not prime rose season. There were a few blooms sprinkled throughout the property, including an all time fav of mine, the Hybrid Musk, Buff Beauty.
Because we were fortunate enough to be guests of Korbel and staying on property, I had leisurely access to the property – both around the Korbel homestead and throughout the winery grounds. The area around the vineyard house, where we were staying, provided a small glimpse of what was to come.
Most of the grounds are not a formal garden, rather they contain mixed borders – an incredible mix of perennials, annuals, flowering shrubs, evergreens and trees. Throughout paths and walkways invite you to explore.
Just down the path from the vineyard house was what appeared to be the gardener’s office and nursery area. On my early morning stroll through the grounds, saw ample evidence of the crews needed to maintain Korbel in such beautiful and impeccable condition.
Can you imagine being able to do your morning walk/run through this grand scenery?
The pool area is fun to visit, shaped like a wine bottle, surrounded by gardens and areas for entertaining.
In addition to the roses, other plants are repeated throughout the property. Dark leaved dahlias, agapanthus, hydrangeas, and surprise lilies ( lycoris?)
The Korbels originally purchased the property for it’s lumber to fuel their cigar box business. Remnants of this time and the lumber town provide a charming feel as you wander the gardens. The brandy tower built by Fredrick Korbel as an exact replica of the brandy tower he saw outside his cell during his days in jail under Hapsburg rule in Czechoslovakia.
While I may have had insider’s access to wander the grounds, the public has a not to be missed opportunity for garden tours, offered in season Tues-Sun at 1 and 3 pm. I’d call ahead to ensure a spot! Korbel Cellars: well worth the 13 mile scenic drive out River Road, for both the champagnes and the gardens.
We had a laugh here, when I told my husband if he ever decides to erect a statue in my honor, he had better *not* place it behind a bed of marigolds. Yuck.
Moving from the purely ornamental to the functional, but still highly beautiful, while riding the bikes into Yountville for lunch, we stumbled upon the kitchen garden of the French Laundry. Impeccable. Proving that vegetable gardening can also be art. And making me want to eat at this restaurant the next time we visit – no matter what it takes!
Wine Country Trip: Part 2 Napa
August 27, 2010
Recently returned from a 5 day trip to the California wine country of Napa and Sonoma counties. This was a personal/pleasure trip with professional overtones (and perks), as my husband is “in the trade”. Splitting the trip review into 4 sections:
While both areas produce great wine, enjoy an excellent climate, are incredibly beautiful, and have more than their share of wonderful restaurants; there is a slightly different feel to the two counties. Sonoma has more of the agrarian, and almost hippy feel; while Napa seems more upscale. Or nouveau riche or something. Both are great in their own way. I’d be content living in either.
So, it seemed appropriate that upon leaving the quaint Korbel vineyard house in Sonoma, we would spend the next two nights at the BV Rutherford House…or better put mansion. The Rutherford House is a 10,000 sq foot mansion Chateau and Estates (owners of Beaulieu Vineyards) uses for hospitality and training.
The first floor is set up for entertaining, wine tasting and other large public events.
The second floor contains five guest suites, a communal living/relaxing space and office/work area. We were staying in the BV suite – others were the Carneros suite, de Latour suite, Hewitt suite, Sterling suite and Rutherford suite. All names rich in Napa culture (not to mention Chateau and Estates wines).
I loved the kitchen and outside spaces.
We had this all to ourselves. Literally. The security guard had given us keys to the house and our suite when we arrived on Wednesday, and did not see another person in the house until we were loading the car Friday morning.
In our previous 2 nights at Korbel we’d discovered some great local cheeses (both in our well stocked kitchen and at the Duck Club), and in addition to bringing the leftovers from Korbel, we’d made a stock-up run at a fabulous market in Sebastopol in Sonoma county – Andy’s Produce. Each night I’d put together a wine and cheese tray, and we’d debate front veranda or back deck. The veranda won. I mean, how could it not with this view.
We enjoyed some great meals in Napa. Breakfast each morning at Pacific Blues, outside of which I noticed this delivery truck. And was able to enjoy my fav, Blue Moon with lunch at Hurley’s. Where I devoured the two course “Vintners special” of a watermelon feta salad and fettuccine with diver scallops and a saffron cream sauce. OH my. But the most memorable meal of the whole trip was at Chef Michael Chiarello’s Bottega. Yes, I admit to being a Top Chef fan girl – and this will make my 3rd “master’s” restaurant meal. The short ribs were to die for. Amazing. I must go back. Not to mention I earned a foursquare Top Chef badge for checking in here. BONUS!
We only visited one winery in Napa – Provenance Vineyards. Having the opportunity to taste 3 vintages of Hewitt vineyard Cabernet side by side. Yum. A bottle of the incredible 2006 Hewitt Cabernet followed us home as did their Winemakers Reserve Blend and a couple of bottles of the estate Sauvignon Blanc. Great stuff – plus their Director of Winemaking, Tom Renaldi, is an avid cyclist , both mountain and road. In fact one of our servers was telling us how Tom was trying to organize a ride from Napa to Tahoe. Now that would be one heck of a ride! We may not be up to such a ride – but a couple of Provenance Vineyard bike jerseys also made their way into our suitcases.
The rest of our Napa days were spent on bikes…in both Sonoma and Napa. We’ll get to that in part 4. Next up the gardens…….
Wine Country Trip: Part 1 Sonoma
August 25, 2010
700+ pictures later, I ‘m back from vacation. 5 days in wine country with my husband. A personal/pleasure trip with professional overtones (and perks), as my husband is “in the trade”.
As the effects of so much good food, good drink (wines and of course, a beer or two), fresh air and sunshine wear off; I’ve been slogging through the pictures trying to figure out how to organize a blog post,a trip review. Realize that *a* blog post won’t cut it, but probably neither will posting 700 pictures – which even with editing out the crap ones is still close to 600. Decided on four posts:
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Part 1. Sonoma
At least that’s my intent at this minute. This summer has not been great for getting all my mental ideas into blog posts, so we’ll see how it goes.
We’d flown into San Francisco on an evening flight, a delayed evening flight, arriving close to 11pm, and spending the night in the airport area. The San Francisco morning proved cool and foggy making conditions for viewing and picture taking at the Golden Gate Bridge somewhat less than ideal.
However, as we drove north the fog cleared, and by the time we arrived at Sonoma-Cutrer winery, for our first appointment/tour of the trip, the weather was perfect. Located in the rolling hills west of 101 at Windsor, Sonoma-Cutrer is known for their chardonnays, which are done in a Burgundian style. For the last few vintages they have been producing Pinot Noir, staying true to the Burgundy theme. We were met by Scott, the tour center director, who first took us through the vineyards, explaining their trellis styles, philosophy and general winery history.
All around us the views were stunning.
Next up a quick winery tour, where the workers were busy preparing for harvest; cleaning and moving barrels.
Finally, Scott took us through the wines. These have been some of my favorites since I sold them in my Kentucky distributor days in the late 90’s. It was a treat to sit out on their patio overlooking the tournament croquet courts (who knew the North American Croquet championships were played here each year – not I, not until this day).
Sonoma-Cutrer has an excellent line-up of wines. Until recently, they were only open to the trade. Our tour was arranged as members of the trade – so I’m unsure what the public sees on their tours. Nonetheless, if you love California Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grown and produced in a Burgundian style, I highly recommend a visit!
Leaving Sonoma-Cutrer, we headed west out River Road toward Guerneville to Korbel Champagne Cellars where we were staying for the next two nights in their vineyard guest house. I’d stayed in this house in ’95 or ’96 while on a trip with the KY distributor – the only female manager on the trip, I had the house to myself, while the men stayed in the larger guest house. I love Korbel, not only for their méthode champenoise champagnes, but also for their gardens (more on those in part 3). The vineyard house is surrounded by a small portion of these gardens.
Korbel has a rich history with the Korbel brothers immigrating to California in the late 1800’s, fleeing Habsburg rule in Czechoslovakia. Originally purchasing the land for the timber, they first moved into brandy making, and then champagnes. Both of which they still produce today. The tour offers glimpses of both the history of the Korbel family (which includes the first female winery president in California) and the true process of making champagne known as méthode champenoise. And of course, samples of their excellent wines. On property is an excellent deli with ample picnic area, a charming gift shop, and the not to be missed opportunity for garden tours. Korbel – for the champagne lover, brandy fan, or gardener, it is a must visit.
While in Sonoma, we enjoyed several great meals, two in Bodega Bay – dinner at the Duck Club and lunch at Lucas Wharf.
We were charmed by the historic railroad district of Santa Rosa – home of Peanuts creator, Charles Schultz. Here we had a fabulous dinner at Lococo’s Cucina Rustica.
And in our family tradition of documenting accomodations, the charming vineyard house. Loved the view from the breakfast room, the well stocked kitchen, know my Mom would love that each bedroom included a flashlight. The hospitality and graciuosness of everyone at Korbel can’t be beat, and for that I say a huge thank you!
