Monthly Archives: September 2009

Cono Sur 2008 Organic Pinot Noir

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I love a good red wine that pairs well with vegetarian fare, and affordable wine of this type even more so. Last Saturday, September 19, I randomly selected this wine to drink alongside some delicious and cheesy Eggplant Lasagna and was pleasantly surprised with its silky mouthfeel and developed flavours.

If you enjoy Chilean Pinot Noirs, try this organic version from Colchagua Valley, which you’ll recognize on shelves with its cute cruiser bike on a cream-coloured label. (Calling all hipsters!)

Last I heard in 2008, the vineyard from which the grapes for this wine was sourced was on its way to becoming fully organic. (Many vineyards take several years for a full organic transition, in order for the chemical effects in the soil to grow out of the vines.) According to Cono Sur’s website, the vineyard appears to still be in transition.

Cono Sur 2008 Organic Pinot Noir

Tasting Notes

A curiously clear garnet colour with a heavier nose than expected of this light-looking wine. Chocolate-covered cherries and mocha come to mind upon inhaling the fragrantly rich and sweetly earthy aroma, which isn’t shy about letting up its relatively high alcohol. (The 2008 is 14% a.b.v.) On the palate, this smoothly textured wine evokes notes of cigar smoke, more cherries and other wild red berries. A ripe, mulled finish to this medium-bodied red makes for lovely sipping.

Vegetarians take note, as this pairs excellently with savoury tomato-based pasta sauces. On the multicultural veggie front, I suggest sticking with the eggplant theme and going with Lebanese roasted baba ghanoush dip. Otherwise, try the popular Chinese Buddhist vegetarian dish of “roast goose.” The crispy, shiitake mushroom-stuffed rolls of dried beancurd, gamey like its meaty idol, will really sing next to this sustainably-grown Pinot Noir. $15

Eggplant Lasagna

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Recipe-sharing wasn’t an initial goal for this blog, but this dish was so yummy, I couldn’t help myself.

My cooking normally manifests itself out of what I happen to have in the refrigerator at any given moment; in today’s case, it was Japanese eggplants.

I love Greek moussaka and lasagna, but was hoping to make a less dense, carb-less version using eggplant slices as the noodles. I’m glad to share that it was a success!

Eggplant Lasagna

You'll want to have seconds.

Ingredients

  • 2 Japanese eggplants (the long, skinny, light purple kind)
  • 1 package frozen spinach
  • 300 ml passata (strained Italian tomato sauce)
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tsp. dried oregano
  • 1/2 tsp. cayenne
  • 100 – 150 g aged Manchego cheese
  • 100 – 150 g cheddar cheese
  • 8 – 10 large brown mushrooms or 2 Portobellos
  • 2 shallots
  • 3 tbsp. butter or bacon drippings (grapeseed oil works well too)
  • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 425 °F. Oil the bottom of a rectangular Pyrex or baking dish and set aside.
  2. Prepare frozen spinach according to manufacturer’s directions. (Tip: I like adding 1 tsp. of grapeseed oil to the water to keep the spinach from burning and sticking to the saucepan.) Once the block has fallen apart and begun to cook, add passata, cayenne, oregano and bay leaves, plus salt and pepper to taste. (Add more passata according to how much sauce you like in your lasagna.) Cover and let simmer on low heat.
  3. Shred the cheese coarsely and set aside.
  4. Slice eggplants length-wise into 1/2 – 3/4 cm-thick slices. Set aside. (If you want, lay these on parchment paper or a baking sheet and sprinkle a bit of salt on them to let out the bitter juices.)
  5. Heat butter in saucepan over medium-high heat until it starts to brown, or in the case of bacon drippings, keep watching for the pan to become hot. Meanwhile, roughly chop shallots and brown mushrooms, and add to butter / bacon drippings once the pan is hot. Sauté until shallots are translucent and mushrooms have softened. If you want, pour 1 oz of dry vermouth into the sauté mixture while the heat is at its highest to bring out a rich, earthy wine flavour. (Let the vermouth dissolve or evaporate into the mixture.) Enjoy the fragrance.
  6. Layer your eggplant lasagna into your oiled Pyrex or baking dish as follows: Eggplant, then mushroom mixture, then spinach sauce, then a thin layer of the two cheeses. Repeat until you have filled the dish. Top with a final layer of eggplant and sprinkle any remaining cheese over top. You can also grind some fresh black pepper on the top at this point.
  7. Bake in the oven for 18 – 20 minutes or until the top layer has begun to form a crispy but not burnt crust. Cut into sections and serve.
  8. Serves 3 – 4. Leftovers can be microwaved and saved for up to 3 days (if it lasts that long!).

Eggplant Lasagna Serving

Wine Suggestion

An earthy, medium-bodied Pinot Noir. This is one of those vegetarian meals that pairs better with red wine. The vermouth-sautéed mushrooms and the Manchego’s gameyness complement the trademark Pinot Noir flavours of earth, leather and cherries well.

ChefmeetsGrape 2009

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The BC Wine Institute hosted its fifth annual ChefmeetsGrape festival of British Columbia food and wine on Thursday, September 17, at the Westin Bayshore.

The event was a veritable love-in for locavores, wine lovers and local foodies alike – BC wineries hooked up with top-drawer Vancouver restaurants to create sensational dishes paired with quality vino. This year’s food theme centered upon the OceanWise sustainable seafood program, so guests were treated to amazing appetizers based on delicious wild fish and shellfish such as salmon, sablefish and scallops.

I was in paradise.

You’re probably thinking, Get on with it already and tell us what you ate!

I must confess, I wasn’t able to try everything within the three-hour event, but I did make a valiant effort. (So did my pants, in order to not burst at the seams.)

Favourite Pairings

I have to hand it to all the restaurants that quite literally made culinary magic at this event – you guys are all pros. (Okay, that goes without saying, but…) Squeezed into booths of less than 100 sq. ft. and geared only with small tools and appliances, kitchen blow torches and single-burner butane stoves, each and every crew turned out incredible-looking (and -tasting!) dishes that wouldn’t look the least bit out of place in their actual establishment.

Goldfish Pacific Kitchen: Sandhill 2008 Pinot Gris + Pan seared sablefish

This is what I was spoiled with the moment I entered the Bayshore’s ballroom.

Sandhill 2008 Pinot Gris + Pan seared sablefish

William Tse of Goldfish Pacific Kitchen crafted a sublimely tender and flaky sablefish topped with Thai basil pesto that sat atop a bed of scallions and a crispy miso-flavoured crust. Savoury and nutty, the flavours were a perfect marriage with the round, buttery, ripe apple and pear notes present in Sandhill 2008 Pinot Gris. I could have eaten an entire fillet of this dish.

Joe Fortes: Black Hills 2008 Alibi + Sablefish in creamed King corn, uni and smoked steelhead caviar

Regular creamed corn will never taste the same to me again. This piece of wild sablefish was dressed in an haute couture sauce of creamed corn accented with a Chanterelle mushroom hat, and accessories of uni (sea urchin) and salmon caviar. I actually drooled.

The Alibi, a 80% unoaked Sauvignon Blanc and 20% oaked Semillon blend, was a sweetly balanced, fruity pairing with the sablefish, mostly due to the sweet corn. However, noticing that I detected a hint of oak in the wine, the Black Hills staffer picked me out as a guinea pig to try his alternate wine pairing, Black Hills 2007 Chardonnay. What a treat that was.

Fully oaked as opposed to the Alibi, the Chard proved a more woodsy, creamy, and generally stronger pairing alongside the lovely sablefish and all its accoutrements; the tiny pustules of salmon caviar exploding decadent mini-bursts of salt in your mouth were in complete harmony with the wine.

Regrettably, I have no photos of this dish, nor of the next favourite:

Mosaic Restaurant @ Hyatt Regency Vancouver: Red Rooster 2006 Meritage + Duck confit shepherd’s pie

This was a perfect example of how big, dark reds can accompany more than simply heavy red meats. The lovely, creamy shepherd’s pie with fresh peas and duck confit tasted so rich against the Meritage, which yielded to the gamey duck flavours without any trouble. Luscious, with dark, juicy notes of berries, dried black Mission figs and pipe tobacco, the wine might as well have been made into this shepherd’s pie’s gravy. Mouth-wateringly satisfying.

Other Delectable Dishes When I Had Time to Grab My Camera

La Terrazza: Monster Vineyards 2008 Man Made + Pacific sablefish, Canadian maple glaze, sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts and figs with toasted Israeli couscous

La Terrazza's Pacific sablefish

It was nice to catch up with La Terrazza owner and chef Gennaro Iorio, who spotted me staring curiously at his booth and this sablefish creation, and came over to say hello. This dish was wonderful in that it was one of the only offerings at ChefmeetsGrape that wasn’t loaded with cream, lard, butter or miscellaneous fatty animal derivative. Anyway, it proved to be the perfect pick-me-up for my palate.

Despite having tried quite a few of Gennaro’s creations at various other events where we’ve worked together, I still haven’t had the chance to visit La Terrazza’s actual location in Yaletown. This light and flavourful dish, however, made quite the convincing argument that I should hurry up and book a dinner there soon!

Diva at the Met: Arrowleaf Cellars 2008 Pinot Gris + Pan seared salmon, squid ink risotto with clams, brown butter emulsion

Diva at the Met - Pan Seared Salmon

Dino Renaerts’ dish was certainly one of the most filling of the evening. I’m not a huge fan of risotto or squid ink, but both were used here to great effect, and I rather liked the texture of chewy clams embedded within blacker-than-black creamy arborio rice. The amount you see here in the photo is about 2 square inches of salmon and 1 heaping tablespoon of risotto, but even that was enough for me to warrant a break from eating.

Arrowleaf Cellars’ Gris was fittingly rich, toasty and fuller-bodied than most whites, making it an appropriate salmon wine pairing. At a pocketbook-friendly $16, I think this will go down in my books as a reliable, affordable go-to dinnertime white wine.

(Tip: If you can lay your hands on some Arrowleaf Pinot Noir, do it. The reserve label vintage that was bottled a year prior to their “Solstice” re-brand is most excellent.)

ChefmeetsGrape is put on every September by the BC Wine Institute.

Tickets to the 2009 event were $75 each, and guests took home a complimentary Riedel O glass courtesy of Puddifoot, as well as copies of BC Business and Granville magazines.

See you there next year!

http://www.winebc.com/chefmeetsgrape.php