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Today I am sharing a food and wine pairing prepared by David Crowly from the blog Cooking Chat. David created and prepared a delicious lamb ragu rigatoni for a food and wine pairing project for local wineries.
Recipe inspiration
I had a chance to talk with second-generation Dineen Vineyards owner Marissa Dineen while getting ready to write this piece. She gave me an overview of their wines. They all sounded great, but we wound up landing on the Heritage Blend (cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and merlot) as the focus for this piece.
My first instinct when thinking about food to go with a cabernet-based blend was a meat-centric dish, maybe something from the grill. But while chatting with Marissa, she mentioned that this wine goes quite well with Italian dishes. She also mentioned herbal notes, which got my wheels turning.
What makes the recipe work
Based on the conversation with Marissa, I decided to make a ragu sauce with some ground lamb. We tend to associate lamb with spring, and we are on the cusp of a new spring season.
Our lamb ragu sauce has the ground lamb simmering with beef broth, some fresh rosemary and a small amount of tomato. We also added some mushrooms, which provided nice flavor and tends to enhance many wine pairings.
The wine
I opened the Dineen Vineyards Heritage Red Wine. The wine is a blend of 40% cabernet sauvignon, 40% cabernet france and 20% merlot.
I get red berries, nutmeg and spiced oak on the nose. On the palate, black cherry fruit, vanilla, licorice and notes of cinnamon. Moderate, well-integrated tannins. Just enough acidity, enhancing the food-friendliness of the wine.
It’s an excellent red wine blend, well-balanced with layers of complexity. As anticipated, it is a great pairing for the Lamb Ragu Rigatoni.
Barbara Glover is executive director of Wine Yakima Valley, an industry group representing member wineries.
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