Cabernet Franc is a varietal which some may know, some may not know; some may pass over, and some may smartly cherish.

Often found as a blending grape in well-know Cabernet Sauvignon wines, from time to time when a winery has exceptional fruit and/or an exceptional year, Cabernet Franc will be bottled as a stand-alone single varietal.  For those in possession of Cabernet France single varietal 2007 vintages, you know that a good thing is waiting in your wine cellar.

It is not a surprise that a winery such as Hall Winery (“Hall”, which is known for its prowess in Cabernet Sauvignon) would also excel with a single varietal bottling of Cabernet Franc.  Obtained from the winery nearly a year ago, I have allowed the 2007 Cabernet Franc to continue to sit and rest.   Opening it this past week proved that a year’s worth of waiting was well worth the effort.

While many other Cabernet Franc wines may be an almost red cherry color, Hall’s 2007 Cabernet Franc sends a message that it is a serious contender from its dark, almost eggplant coloring.  While admiring the wine’s coloring, the nose is seduced by predominate aromas of black cherry and French vanilla, accompanied by gentle comforting aromas of anise and a subtle hint of eucalyptus.  Not to be disappointed, the wine is deliciously smooth and caressingly soft on the palate as it slips past as smooth as a kitten’s purr.  The longer that the wine is allowed to either decant or open up in the glass, the wine’s flavor profile and texture deepens.  Black cherry, which is rich enough to fool the senses into thinking that cherry season is right around the corner, rolls across the palate from front to back.  Leveling out the mid-palate are pleasant flavors of fennel.

Tannins are present to give a simple elegant sense of structure and reminds oneself how Cabernet Franc can emerge at fine dining; although, pairing should be conscientious as Cabernet Franc could be overwhelmed by heavy main courses but fairs wonderfully with earlier courses, including appetizers.

The other day while reading I came across a foreword written by Thomas Keller that succinctly captures much of the premise of my wine and food pairings, “Deep inside, all of us feel a need for food that nourishes both body and soul, but for many of us this awareness may lie dormant for years until we come face-to-face with what we’ve been missing.”  Many people have often admitted to me that pairing wine with food can be daunting and particularly when left to their own devices in their home kitchens.   Most know rule of thumb pairings with protein regarding red or white wines, but as familiarity wanes, often a good rule of thumb is to remember where certain grapes grow best and think of regional cuisine from same area.  In this respect, Cabernet Franc often finds its true sense of home with ingredients from the Bordeaux region of France or similarly, from Northern California.

With this in mind, this week’s menu simply hosts:

            ~ Gorgonzola Fig Pecan Multigrain Crostini.

To commence, find a true hearty multigrain baguette freshly baked at your favorite local shop.   When you leave the store, the baguette should be tormenting your senses with its rich earthy aroma (which is a good sign of a true medley of grains having been used).

Next, shallots are thinly sliced and slowly caramelized with chopped fresh thyme.   Slices of the baguette are lightly topped with a bit of butter before placing a thin slice of gorgonzola cheese on top and dressing with the shallots.   Adding a dollop of fig preserves next and decorating with chopped pecans, these anticipated sinful bites are popped into the oven to warm and melt.

Emerging bubbling from the oven, these delights are rich, rustic and savory.   They serve as a perfect prelude to a simple braised steak with mushrooms.   When paired with the wine the combination is intuitively mesmerizing.  Hall’s 2007 Cabernet Franc can romance even a skeptical palate to an enamored frenzy and it is easy to linger over such an appetizer as each savory bite intuitively ties to the wine.   It is a balanced harmony of earthy, rustic, sweet and mildly biting flavors, which layer to create a subtle complexity that does not clash with the simple elegant of Cabernet Franc.

If you are looking for a full meal plan, consider following with a simple salad of microgreens with fresh raspberries and thinly shaved fennel.  If you are entertaining, dig out the hot pot and sear slices of fresh steak while you continue to linger over such courses, good conversation and wine.  It is in moments such as these that you find yourself lingering and simply satisfied, suitably culturally in line with “joie de vivre”.

It is winter throughout the United States.  For many it involves more time spent indoors with ample opportunity for contemplation.  In the last week Napa Valley at long last received anticipated rainfall.  While many folks have enjoyed a warmer than average winter, I envision many a vintner watching those long overdue raindrops and wondering what the 2012 growing season will bring. 

Their contemplation is merited and not unlike that of many Americans.  Just as the economy has been a slow project of improvement and most look longingly at 2012 with the hope that things will once again flourish, 2010 and 2011 for the Napa Valley grape growing community has been challenging, at best.  Thus, with two difficult back to back harvests in the cue, it is readily understandable if vintners are doing a rain dance or two this year.

Despite the fact that the wine industry is glamorized and romanticized, our favorite vintners are farmers.  And just like any crop in agriculture, a winery is a business faced with its own set of challenges. 

Two years ago I sat down on a random Monday with the head of a major winery to chat and taste older vintages of a certain varietal.  The Napan in question has long been in the wine industry and part of its growth and success in the 1970’s.  As fascinating and entertaining as this conversation was, one realistic note resonated and it was this individual’s lament that so many Napa Valley wineries rush to release their vintages, long before they are ready.

For the economic oriented, this is not a shock as vintages aging on the books of wineries are inventory and inventory can be expensive to store (particularly wine).  Nevertheless, this man’s statement was a sobering point and reality that accompanies me when I visit wineries and seek to select wines to feature.  Yet despite this, when it is discovered that a winery has the tenacity and business planning to wait and hold back vintages, such discovery is a gem.  When it is discovered at a family-owned winery, it is all the better.

Elyse Winery (“Elyse”) has such tenacity.   The economy is far better today than it was in 2009 or 2010 and people are feeling a bit more confident about making wine purchases.  While many wineries rushed to release 2007 vintages in the last year or so, Elyse continues to patiently wait.   For those who have also waited patiently to “splurge” on wine, finding the 2007 vintages is a terrific find.  2007 was a perfect textbook growing season in Napa Valley and there was generally a large surplus of wine due to bountiful harvests.  2007 was the best year for grapes in Napa Valley in a very long time and there has not been another equal harvest since.  For the patience extended by both the public and by Elyse winery, both are symbiotically poised to reap the benefits of a wait that was well worth it.

Presently, Elyse is still selling its 2006 Tietjen Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon.  If you cannot wait for the release of the 2007 vintage, this wine vintage after vintage shows a wonderful consistency due to the quality of its Rutherford Bench located vineyard.   The 2006 vintage is highly enjoyable and bears the stamp of its harvest well.  Rated 90 points (or above) by most professional wine rating publications, picking up a 2006 vintage today would be a worthy purchase.   For some, however, the 2007 vintage has been made available and after tasting it, a sneak preview for the reading community is more than merited.

Pouring the wine into the glass, the coloring of Elyse’s 2007 Tietjen Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon wine flaunts a beautiful rich, deep garnet color.  It is easy to get lost while admiring the coloring, as it is deeply colored, contemplative and indicative of the strong year from which the historically concentrated grapes came.   The wine offers a seductive rich nose characterized by delicious aromas of red raspberry preserves coupled with smoky anise and a candy like tease.   Taking a sip, rich roasted fennel races past, leveling a distinct path for roasted black raspberry fruit to follow.   Deliciously rich roasted fennel warms the soul on a January day whether you are housebound due to snow, sleet or rain.  The finish of the wine is sweet, yet smoky and returns the flavor of berry preserves, sprinkled with bits of toffee and chewy roasted cherries.  At the moment that you believe that the wine has finished, roasted fennel revisits the palate and encourages that next sip.  Unique to this vintage (and setting it aside from most other wines), when the wine glass is empty, the bouquet of the wine still resides prominently in the glass.   Deep aromas of anise, toffee, cedar and cherry linger forth to almost replicate the finish of the wine itself.   While the 2007 vintage is readily enjoyable today, it will still go far in aging.   A sip of the wine quickly confirms that the palate has only begun to experience all that this vintage has to offer.  

This week’s menu simply holds the beauty of pairing a steak, cheese and roasted mushroom Panini with Elyse’s 2007 Tietjen Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon.   This is not that difficult to understand as an entire city in the United States became known for its steak and cheese creations.  Understated as it may be, however, much can be said for the straight-forward pairing of bistro styled cuisine.  It is further a welcome reminder to one and all that when pairing food at home that sometimes straightforward and simple is what one wants.   As winter continues to limit the sun’s hours, it is easy to feel like the day escaped us before it truly well began and a simple wine and food pairing is merited.

Thick slices of bakery bread encourage Panini sandwiches and in the winter, few can resist melted goohey cheese, leftover roasted mushrooms, shallots and herbs.  Thin slices of steak are flash-seared and simmered in Kentucky Bourbon Sauce before being added to the ensemble.  The result is simple, savory and delicious.

Pairing the sandwich with a Cabernet Sauvignon or any other Bordeaux varietal shows the wine’s natural inclination towards cozy bistro fare and encourages warm casual comfort creations.    It is a truly guiltless way to enjoy a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon.   Perhaps the day after you have opened a bottle, sit back and reflect on the natural attributes of the varietal and the places that increased aging may take it.   You can certainly let your Cabernet Sauvignon age, but when you have a winery as attentive as Elyse, why not enjoy a vintage once they have released it?   Sipping it, anyone will set economies aside and easily surrender to the romance for which the Napa Valley wine industry is so well-known.

With the arrival of the New Year, everything is seemingly up for scrutiny, contemplation and improvement.   In a rush to leave the holidays behind in the rear view mirror, 2011 sits in the background obscured by a cloud of dust.   While innovation, progress and growth are welcome there is still room for reminiscence.  Perhaps the best form of nostalgia to a wine connoisseur is revisiting older vintages.

Rummaging through my wine collection, periodically I revisit my Cabernet Sauvignon wines to ensure that I am consuming them in a timely manner.   I do not necessarily always try to enjoy them at their peak, but instead find that enjoying a specific vintage either annually or every six months is educational as I learn where a wine is going.   Moreover, it is a great challenge to my palate to determine whether or not I was on the mark when I first sipped the vintage years ago in a tasting room.  For this week, I selected a 2005 vintage.

In Napa Valley, 2005 was a wonderful year for red wine grapes.   While it did not match the perfection of conditions of 2007, 2005 still comes in at a close second when analyzing the past ten harvests. 

As I type, I can hear the anguished cries of frustration from some readers because this means that this week’s wine is not going to be at their local wine shop.  So the vintage is not presently for sale . . . anyone in the “know” knows that you let your Cabernet Sauvignon wines sit, age and develop in the bottle.   The benefit of this week’s article, however, is that  you can affordably find a recent vintage of this week’s featured wine, set it aside and in a couple of years enjoy something similar.

While many wineries rush to bottle and sell their Cabernet Sauvignon wines, if you can muster the patience and skill to set aside and cellar properly this varietal, your bottle aging efforts will reward you.   Not only will your palate be delighted with flavor and unparalleled texture, but your wine cellar will be prepared to weather the future vintages when weather conditions are far from optimal, yields are non-existent and exorbitant prices are affixed to the few bottling that emerge.

This week, selecting a 2005 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon from Sequoia Grove Vineyards (“Sequoia Grove”) is a reliable and easy pick.  Mike Trujillo at Sequoia Grove has long been recognized for his talent with all things Cabernet Sauvignon.   The winery is readily recognized for its talent with the varietal and while many of the special single vineyard varietals are not easily found, the Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is widely distributed throughout the United States.   Given that the wine is labeled “Napa Valley” this also means that the Cabernet Sauvignon will be sourced from a variety of vineyards in Napa Valley and traditionally will not cellar for ten or twenty years (like single vineyard wines sometimes can).    As such, it is a little bit longer than six years post-bottling and given the arrival of the new year, it is a nice time to inquire as to how this vintage is “doing” in the bottle.

The wine meets the glass, presenting rich dark garnet color.  A bouquet emerges which is distinguishingly smoky and accompanied by aromatic hints of cedar chips.   When a Cabernet Sauvignon ages, the fruit will often thin.   However, the oak will always remain.   This is important to remember when trying to age and cellar a Cabernet Sauvignon.  If the winemaker is talented, the right amount of oak exposure will occur during the winemaking so that if you cellar the wine, you will not find seven years down the road nothing but oak.

In the mouth, the texture of the wine is beginning to turn velvety such that it touches the lips and mouth softly with an undeniable caress.  While initially the fruit is slightly acidic, it turns juicy quickly like freshly picked blackberries.   With a single sip, your mouth salivates.

Notes of vanilla come forth with a finishing swallow of blueberry at the end.  The anise has mellowed with almost a subtle caramelized roasted fennel added to the wine in exchange.

The 2005 Sequoia Grove Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is a wine that reminds you of those friends that we all have:  those who love a good cigar.   This is their sipping wine, the seductress that would accompany the cigar.

For the rest of us who do not smoke, this wine is recognizably enjoyed alone and its food pairings range from a perfectly prepared filet mignon to a good expensive cheese.   Taking the concept of steak and cheese together, this week’s menu creatively hosts:

• Steak Spanakopita Cigars with Caramelized Vidalia Onions

Traditionally, Spanakopita are those delicious phyllo dough triangles stuffed with spinach, garlic, feta and onion.   This pairing takes a favorite appetizer and upgrades it with finely chopped steak (flash sautéed in worchestershire and seasoning salt), sautéed minced Vidalia onions and a mixture of Point Reyes Farmstead Bleu Cheese and gorgonzola.

This really is a sinful combination and one that Jan Littlefield of The Rocky Mountain Vine column of this site helped me brainstorm.  Savory tidbits of flash seared steak easily make any dish and further, any chef using Point Reyes Farmstead Bleu Cheese adds depth and richness that is unparalleled.  Phyllo dough is used as opposed to puff pastry because it is not as heavy.   Puff pastry would weight down with the cheese, butter and beef.  Similarly, since the tannins are refined in the wine due to aging, the wine is better suited to pair with phyllo dough.  It simply does not need the additional fat.

Pairing the wine with the food is introducing richness destined for one another.  The rich flavors of the food encourage the wine’s fruit to awaken from an aged slumber and race forward.  The wine’s round supple berry fruit embraces the spinach, steak and ultra-creamy nature of the cheese.   Each sip is like the commencement of a love story.  The wine’s sensuality is unlike anything you will experience in a tasting room or buying a bottle for impetuous consumption from your local wine merchant.   Similarly, a thoughtful pairing such as this can take a meal from good to exquisite no matter how simply served.

While you may enjoy a good glass of Cabernet Sauvignon, exercise discipline this year and factor into your wine budget to purchase an extra bottle of your favorite vintage.   If you adhere to a resolution to set the bottle aside, this varietal will strut its stuff and show you what it and time in a bottle can accomplish.

December with its holiday hustle and bustle does not leave much time or room for belabored culinary efforts.   Similarly, with the month’s increasingly chillier temperatures, warm comfort food beckons.   Yet, despite the harried schedules and the inclement weather outside, on a week night one still can find time to pause, pour a good glass of French inspired wine and pair it with something simple, yet dimensionally gourmet.

During the winter months, wine drinkers reach for their favorite hearty reds with a particular focus on Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.   While each of these varietals pair exceptionally well with hearty comfort food, other varietals can also pair well and bring unexpected structure to the wine glass. 

Elyse Winery (“Elyse”), located in Napa Valley near Yountville, offers a red wine that is not common to most tasting rooms.   Elyse’s Le Corbeau is composed with 90% Grenache and 10% Syrah.   Grenache can typically be a very easy drinking red varietal, but given the fruit that Elyse uses and the caliber of its winemaking, Elyse’s Le Corbeau comes to the table with confidence, structure, delicious fruit, spice and an intoxicating bouquet.  The manner of how this wine is crafted is with the intent to emulate the winemaking style of the Chateuaneuf du Pape region of the Rhone Valley of France.   This fall Elyse rewarded the consuming public by releasing the long-awaited 2007 vintage of Le Corbeau.   As you will find on this site, two years ago I featured an aged vintage of this wine.   It drinks exceptionally well aged but if you are fortunate enough to find the 2007 vintage, you will find that it marvels your senses today.

Pouring the wine into the glass, beautiful dark ruby notes are apparent and become jeweled if sitting in the sun.   The nose is intoxicatingly enchanting offering aromas of raspberries, spice, pepper, plum and with a hint of floral violets.   As the palate experiences the 2007 Le Corbeau, it meets a bevy of changing and melding flavors of raspberries, citrus rind, vanilla, allspice, cinnamon and mace.  Sipping the 2007 Le Corbeau, it is clear that this is a glass of wine with which you intend to linger and contemplate.  

If a wine is complex or is a “thinker’s wine”, that does not mean that the home chef should be intimidated when it comes to pairing food.   It simply means that there are more components that can be flushed out with your paired ingredients and room to accentuate the texture of the wine.   Seeking to pair something regionally matched to the Rhone Valley style of Elyse’s 2007 Le Corbeau, this week the menu hosts:

• Roasted Mushroom Toasts with Poached Egg, Bacon and Chives

In California, mushrooms are a welcomed arrival as a result of recent rains.   Similarly chives and spring onions can thrive.   Combining mushrooms, shallots, garlic, lemon thyme, butter, olive oil in the oven to roast, a roasted mushroom casserole emerges ready to shine in this week’s pairing.  

Next thick slices of bakery bread are dipped in melted butter and olive oil, seasoned with sea salt and black pepper, and placed in the oven to bake and slightly crisp.   The interior remains soft, while the exterior firms capable of holding a mushroom casserole on top and a goohey poached egg later.

Gently poached eggs and crumbled center-cut bacon are placed on top and garnished with freshly clipped chives from the garden.

Slicing into the egg, the yolk runs like clockwork, coating the remainder of the toast to help bind the ingredients together.

Grenache with its ripe lush fruit combines with the smokiness and deeper flavors of Syrah make a wine perfect for embracing flavors like the creamy nature of poached egg, savory mushrooms and the irresistible flavor of bacon.  The sauciness of fresh healthy chives clean the palate and the Grenache similarly eggs the ingredients on for more.

With a swallow, there is a burst of bacon, lingering roasted mushrooms or the seductive texture of poached egg.  After the bite is long gone, black pepper may linger and the Syrah in the wine steps forth to dance toe to toe.  In whole, the combination is delicious and worthy of daydreaming of farm fresh country eggs.

All in all, this is an outstanding way to enjoy a good glass of French-inspired red wine.

Exactly one year ago this week, I met and became friends with a colleague who shared my love of wine and food pairing.   Throughout the course of the past year, whenever the topic of wine and food pairing would arise, my colleague would always suggest Merlot with thoughtful remembrance.   Perhaps it was due to the varietal’s versatility in pairings and characteristic soft round mouth feel that would inspire his predictable suggestion.  However, as time wore on, it came about that it so happened that Merlot was his wife’s favorite varietal.   Individual thoughtfulness and delightful as Merlot can be, to this date I believe that my colleague’s dependable suggestion was instead driven out of a genuine endearing fondness for his wife.

While Merlot may have a soft spot in that couple’s relationship, it is a varietal that should never be overlooked.   Its soft comforting red profile can turn velvety if well-grown grapes are later equally aged well.   When these two aspects come together, this wine varietal can trigger a lasting love affair with merited dedication.

Markham Vineyards (“Markham”) has been recognized for its past Reserve Merlot vintages and while the vineyard that supplied those grapes is long gone, it merely means that the vintner can focus more acute attention to the Merlot vintage that the winery distributes nationally.   For the consumer, this is a boon.   Couple in the fact that the winery’s current release is a 2007 vintage; suddenly a moderately priced Merlot can readily compete with those in the $50 a bottle range.   As a reminder, 2007 was a year in Napa Valley where a vintner simply could not go wrong with red wine grapes.   A combination of perfect weather and growing conditions and vintner’s were graced with text book perfection grapes to bottle.   Similarly, because the fruit was of such a wonderful quality and strength, the 2007 vintage wines will age well.   To realize that a bottle of Merlot sitting on your local grocer’s shelf will age wonderfully is a handy tip to turn a bottle into a nice investment (if you have the discipline to set it aside).

The wine sits in the glass with its classic dark ruby jewel tones welcoming the nose and the palate forth.   Its bouquet offers an array of aromas ranging from cherry, cola, vanilla, mocha, toast and herb.   Packed with personality of distinct tannins, Markham’s 2007 Merlot delivers on the palate with flavors of cherry, berries, chocolate and cream soda.   This is not merely a “best value” wine, it is flat out a steal.   It is rare to find a wine of this caliber in this price range and if you have a love for Merlot, you will want to place a few of these in your cellar to age over the next few years. 

Just as Merlot is a varietal suggestion that I fondly receive, similarly I have friends who suggest dishes from time to time.   Sitting in California, our winters are not that of the Midwest or the Northeast but eventually our cold chilling damp prolonged rains arrive and we, too, seek soul-warming comfort foods.

In October while I was basking in warm 70 to 80 degree days and coasting into a warm November, my friend James was starting to freeze in Wisconsin.  James is a highly adept home chef and has lived and studied extensively in France.  Being an amateur culinary heavyweight, James’ suggestions are always taken with careful consideration.   Since the inception of this web site, James has nudged me and asked, “What about some classic French cooking?”

Thinking of friend and colleagues as we find ourselves in the midst of this busy holiday season, this week’s menu hosts:

• Kristin’s Tricked-Out Caramelized French Onion Soup with Portabella and Cheese Bread Dippers

There is a reason why Bordeaux originating varietals pair so closely and intuitively with the regional cuisine of France:   simply, there were intended to.

Depending on how French Onion soup is prepared, the result can be sweet, savory and decadent.   To commence, onions slowly caramelize in butter, lemon thyme and a bay leaf to become a sweet pile of goodness.   In order to take the recipe to a higher level, four types of naturally sweet onions of varying flavor profiles are added:   Vidalia, Maui, Shallot and Spring Onion.   Once caramelized, sherry deglazes the pan, to be followed by some unoaked chardonnay and ultimately combined with beef broth.  The staging of these ingredients is crucial as it give the onions a chance to absorb the flavors of each ingredient before taking on another.

The flavors of the soup are rich, sweet, delicious, succulent and harmonious.   While the flavor profile has depth, there is a readily recognizable softness in how the flavors seamlessly intertwine.   With a simple taste, it is intuitive that this soup will be a well-aligned match with Merlot.

Beef and red wine go together naturally but often we forget that soup pairs well with wine.   These pairings become harmonious when a beef-based broth meets a Bordeaux varietal.   While steak may not be on the plate, portabella mushrooms dunked in the French onion soup trigger the same palate pleasure points.

To glam up the portabella slices, they are slowly cooked in melted butter and minced herbs.   Herbs are fresh from the garden involving rosemary, marjoram and lemon thyme.   In the last stage of cooking balsamic vinegar is added to glaze the slices and allow them to caramelize.   Eaten alone, these are delicious; taken with the soup, they become a five-star meal.   Similarly the mushrooms also diversify the traditional bread and cheese dippers for the soup.

But why should one go “boring” with a bread and cheese dipper?   White Cheddar and Garlic Bread Slices are toasted and topped with shredded black pepper fontina to melt in the oven.  A guilty pleasure alone, dunked in the soup they become downright sinful.

So this winter, when inclement weather has you locked indoors, do not forget that soup can surprise you.  And while Merlot is patiently waiting for its invitation, do not let this varietal’s soft polite nature fool you.   Pair it with something native to its origins and let this varietal “wow” you and show off what it is intended to do.

Bundle up, stay warm, simmer some soup and sip a Bordeaux varietal.  It makes wintery weekends worth waiting for.