John Brown has been a wine and food columnist in West Virginia since the 1980’s. His regular columns appear in the Charleston (WV) Gazette-Mail under the title Vines & Vittles.
Pour yourself a big glass of Zin and forget the bills
While we all await with great trepidation the inevitable onslaught of post holiday bills, I’ve got the prefect tonic to assuage our collective mental anguish: open a bottle of good, inexpensive, mood enhancing red wine and sip it with your favorite comfort food.
Hey, there’s no shame in feeling a little down after all that celebrating. The real shame would be neglecting our primal need for hearty sustenance beginning with a spirit warming red wine. We’ll get to the food later.
While I dearly love cabernet sauvignon, Bordeaux varietals such as merlot and cabernet franc as well as those full-bodied reds such as syrah, Barbaresco and Barolo, I invariably fall back on my favorite go-to big red – zinfandel.
Benjamin Disraeli was famously quoted as proclaiming: “The magic of first love is our ignorance that it can never end.”
With all due respect to the late and esteemed Mr. Disraeli, I must say that I disagree, particularly when it comes to wine. The first grape I ever had the pleasure of making into wine more than 30 years ago was zinfandel. And even though the resulting liquid was so over-oaked that it resembled toasted wood more than it did wine, I still love zinfandel (made by professionals) to this day.
[caption id="attachment_254" align="alignleft" width="125"]
One of my favorite Zins
Zinfandel is a very versatile wine. While the actual origin of the grape has been genetically traced to Croatia, it is widely thought of as “America’s wine.” This is a wine many people think is white (as in White Zinfandel) or blush, but of course it is one of California’s greatest red wines.
And while Napa Valley is the premier growing area for most red wines, I feel zinfandel does best in Sonoma and Amador Counties. Sonoma zinfandel is a characteristically full-bodied wine with loads of blackberry –like flavors that, while classically dry, has an almost mouth-filling fruit sweetness.
I suggest you try these Sonoma zinfandels: Ridge Lytton Springs, Ridge Geyserville, Ravenswood Sonoma, Quivara, Dry Creek, Seghesio, Foppiano,
Mazzocco and Pedroncelli.
While Sonoma zins showcase berry fruit, Amador County zinfandel has more coffee, mint and chocolate-like qualities. There are some berry flavors too, but they are not as prominent as in the Sonoma-made wine.
Amador can produce some very highly concentrated wines, but they are wonderful matches with garlic-infused dishes. Try Renwood Old Vines, Montevina, Terra d’Oro, Shenandoah Vineyards, Folie a Deux , Easton and Amador Foothill Winery.
As noted earlier, zinfandel is a wonderful match to fuller flavored foods and hearty dishes. Here is one of my favorites: Pasta with red sauce, peppers and Italian sausage.
One pound of linguine
One-half cup of Peccorino- Romano finely grated cheese
One pound of Italian sausage without the casing
Three garlic cloves finely chopped
One large can of whole tomatoes (San Marzano if you can find them)
One large onion chopped
One hot banana pepper chopped (optional)
Two red peppers and one green pepper cut into two-inch long strips
One teaspoon each of ground black pepper and kosher salt
Sauté the sausage until cooked, drain off fat and remove from the pan
Sauté garlic, onion and peppers until translucent and add sausage
Add the tomatoes and cook for about 15 minutes
Cook linguine and drain
Add linguine to tomato, sausage and pepper sauce
Plate and add cheese
Then pour yourself a big glass of zin and forget about the bills to come.
Hey, there’s no shame in feeling a little down after all that celebrating. The real shame would be neglecting our primal need for hearty sustenance beginning with a spirit warming red wine. We’ll get to the food later.
While I dearly love cabernet sauvignon, Bordeaux varietals such as merlot and cabernet franc as well as those full-bodied reds such as syrah, Barbaresco and Barolo, I invariably fall back on my favorite go-to big red – zinfandel.
Benjamin Disraeli was famously quoted as proclaiming: “The magic of first love is our ignorance that it can never end.”
With all due respect to the late and esteemed Mr. Disraeli, I must say that I disagree, particularly when it comes to wine. The first grape I ever had the pleasure of making into wine more than 30 years ago was zinfandel. And even though the resulting liquid was so over-oaked that it resembled toasted wood more than it did wine, I still love zinfandel (made by professionals) to this day.
[caption id="attachment_254" align="alignleft" width="125"]
One of my favorite ZinsZinfandel is a very versatile wine. While the actual origin of the grape has been genetically traced to Croatia, it is widely thought of as “America’s wine.” This is a wine many people think is white (as in White Zinfandel) or blush, but of course it is one of California’s greatest red wines.
And while Napa Valley is the premier growing area for most red wines, I feel zinfandel does best in Sonoma and Amador Counties. Sonoma zinfandel is a characteristically full-bodied wine with loads of blackberry –like flavors that, while classically dry, has an almost mouth-filling fruit sweetness.
I suggest you try these Sonoma zinfandels: Ridge Lytton Springs, Ridge Geyserville, Ravenswood Sonoma, Quivara, Dry Creek, Seghesio, Foppiano,
Mazzocco and Pedroncelli.
While Sonoma zins showcase berry fruit, Amador County zinfandel has more coffee, mint and chocolate-like qualities. There are some berry flavors too, but they are not as prominent as in the Sonoma-made wine.
Amador can produce some very highly concentrated wines, but they are wonderful matches with garlic-infused dishes. Try Renwood Old Vines, Montevina, Terra d’Oro, Shenandoah Vineyards, Folie a Deux , Easton and Amador Foothill Winery.
As noted earlier, zinfandel is a wonderful match to fuller flavored foods and hearty dishes. Here is one of my favorites: Pasta with red sauce, peppers and Italian sausage.
One pound of linguine
One-half cup of Peccorino- Romano finely grated cheese
One pound of Italian sausage without the casing
Three garlic cloves finely chopped
One large can of whole tomatoes (San Marzano if you can find them)
One large onion chopped
One hot banana pepper chopped (optional)
Two red peppers and one green pepper cut into two-inch long strips
One teaspoon each of ground black pepper and kosher salt
Sauté the sausage until cooked, drain off fat and remove from the pan
Sauté garlic, onion and peppers until translucent and add sausage
Add the tomatoes and cook for about 15 minutes
Cook linguine and drain
Add linguine to tomato, sausage and pepper sauce
Plate and add cheese
Then pour yourself a big glass of zin and forget about the bills to come.
