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To make sure our employees are able to enjoy the upcoming holiday with friends and family, our Tasting Room will be closed Easter Sunday, April 8. We will reopen with regular hours (11am-5pm) on Monday, April 9.
Have a wonderful Spring season. Cheers - from the Sokol Blosser family to yours!
Everyone around here knows that Lee Medina, our Regional Sales Representative, and his wife Debbie are masters in the kitchen, but they've really outdone themselves this time! Bringing some of their favorite Sokol Blosser wines out to pair with the meals really set these dishes (I mean the food, not the Medinas!) apart. Here, Lee and Debbie share their latest culinary triumphs with you.
PENNE IN COUNTRY RAGU
Paired with Meditrina, III
Recipe originally found in Bon Appétit
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 oz Italian sweet sausage, casings removed
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/8 tsp dried crushed red pepper
2 medium carrots, finely chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
2 cups finely chopped canned whole Italian-style plum tomatoes
1 cup (or more) low-salt chicken broth
1/2 cup Meditrina
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
12 oz penne pasta
1 cup freshly grated pecorino Romano cheese
1. Heat 2 tbsp oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add sausage, garlic, and crush red pepper; sauté until brown, breaking up with fork, about 6 min. Add carrots, onion, and celery; sauté until brginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Mix in tomatoes. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 15 min, stirring occasionally.
2. Add 1 cup broth and wine; simmer uncovered until liquid is slightly reduced, about 15 min. Add basil; cover and simmer until vegetables are very tender, adding more broth by 1/4 cupfuls if liquid evaporates too quickly. Stir occaisionally, about 40 min. Simmer uncovered until ragu thickens to desired consistency, about 10 min longer. Season lightly with salt and pepper.
3. Cook pasta in large pot o fboiling water until al dente. Drain, return pasta to pot. Mix in ragu, 1/2 cup cheese, and 2 tbsp oil.
Lee's Note: Ragu can be prepared 1 day ahead... I recommend this to let the flavors really come out! We served this pasta with polenta instead of penne, and layered the polenta with the ragu like lasagna. Wonderful!
PERSIAN ROASTED CHICKEN WITH DRIED CHERRY-SAFFRON RICE
Paired with 2006 Rosé of Pinot Noir
Recipe originally found in Food & Wine
1/4 cup extra virigin olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp saffron threads, crushed
6 lbs chicken breasts, thighs and legs, with skin, on the bone
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Water
2 cups basmati rice
1 stick and 2 tbsp (5 oz) unsalted butter
1/2 cup dried sour cherries
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, combine olive oil, onion, lemon juice, cumin, and half of the saffron. Add the chicken, season with salt and pepper and turn to coat. Let the chicken stand at room temperature for 1 hour.
2. Drain chicken, scraping off onion and saffron and transfer it to a large metal roasting pan. Add 1/2 cup water, cover with foil and bake for 20 min. Uncover and back for 25 min longer, or until chicken is cooked through.
3. Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan or salted water to aboil. Add rice and cook until almost tender, about 10 min. Drain the rice in a colander and shake out excess water. In a small bowl, disolve remaining saffron in 1 tbsp water. Return rice to saucepan and stir in the saffron water.
4. In a small skillet, melt butter with the dried sour cherries and sugar. Spoon one third of the rice into a buttered 2 qt soufflé dish. Top with half of the sour cherries and slivered almonds. Cover with half of the remaining rice and the remaining cherries and almonds. Top with a final layer of rice and pour any remaining butter on top. Cover soufflé dish with foil and bake for about 20 min (while the chicken is baking), or until rice is tender and fluffy.
5. Preheat broiler when the rice is done. Broil chicken, skin side down, for 2 min. Turn chicken and broil until skin is brown and crisp, about 3 minutes. Transfer chicken to a platter. Pour pan juices into a warm gravy boat; serve chicken with rice, passing pan juices at the table.
Above: Susan Sokol Blosser takes a group of 15 wine enthusiasts on a tour of our organic vineyards.
Could the weather have been any better?!? The 2nd Annual Dundee Hills Passport Tour was in full force this last Saturday and Sunday, celebrating the Dundee Hills appellation with food, wine, prizes and lots of Oregon sunshine (the real stuff, not the liquid kind!). Nearly 400 people visited and found out first hand why the Dundee Hills are the epicenter for Oregon Pinot Noir.
Above: Jim and Nicole celebrate with two very different Sokol Blosser Pinot Noirs - our 2003 Dundee Hills Pinot Noir and our newly released 2006 Rosé of Pinot Noir.
26 wineries and vineyards throughout the Dundee Hills participated, giving visitors to the area a chance to learn from experts and seasoned Dundee Hills growers, like the Sokol Blossers, about the unique climate, red volcanic soil, geology and earth-friendly farming practices that make this appellation so special.
Above: Owen pours our 2005 Dundee Hills Cuvée Pinot Gris, a Spring and Summer favorite, for visitors to the Winery.
If you haven't turned in your completed Passport (with stamps from 4 or more wineries and/or vineyards), be sure to mail that in! The drawing for prizes takes place soon, and you won't want to miss out. See you next year in the Dundee Hills!
Above: Daffodils blooming on the drive up to the Tasting Room, and a bluebird that looks a little ruffled from the trip North this Spring!
All of this Spring happening around the Winery lately is making me thoughtful and hopeful. With the Spring season comes new beginnings, longer days and greener surroundings, and I find my thoughts straying constantly. I think about what new birds are going to come and perch on my feeder next, what I'm going to successfully grow in my organic garden this year, and whether or not #3 ranked University of Oregon will go all the way in the NCAA championships. These are serious topics, and the warm weather makes me optimistic about them all.
It's also a wonderful distraction when the daffodils (my favorite flower!) are jumping up in such abundance that you can't go anywhere outside the Tasting Room here without a bunch of bright yellow buds in tufts staring you in the face. The bluebirds are also back in the Vineyard to nest, and every once in a while a streak of bold cerulean will catch my eye outside the window. Soon the Pinot Noir vines will sprout tiny buds from the two fruiting canes they've been pruned back to, and we can look forward to budbreak in mid-April. Right now, we're all getting ready for the big release of our 2006 Rosé of Pinot Noir, definitely a Springtime wine favorite of mine, at the Dundee Hills Passport Tour this weekend. If you haven't had the pleasure of visiting our Tasting Room in the Spring, this is a perfect reason to make the trip!
It's definitely going to be a great Spring. Now, what to plant in my garden...
On a recent work visit to Boise, I realized that this little mountain town once thought of the potato capital of the United States has evolved to a culinary city of food and wine. I was visiting a friend who showed me around town to some his favorite places that have supported Sokol Blosser wines. We ate and drank our way through Boise like men on a mission, sampling appetizers to full dinners and pairing up Northwest wines. I consumed things like pear & gorgonzola with pistachio pizzas (Berryhill & Co.), flat bread pizza and salads (Flat Bread Community Oven).
Wait - is there a theme going on here? I did notice that there were more gourmet pizza houses then there were national chains. How cool is that? Pizza lovers unite! Okay, pizza was not the only thing consumed. I did indulge on some elk tenderloin with a blackberry compote (The Gamekeeper Restaurant) and some calamari cooked up in the Spanish tapas style - yummy (Six One Six in Eagle)!
As it turned out, there were too many places and not enough time. I look forward to returning to Boise and taking in a little fly fishing in the Boise River (which runs through downtown), changing out of the gear and taking on the dining scene once again. For the record - not one potato was harmed on this visit. Below are few places I visited if you are driving through.
Cheers!
Lee Medina
Angell's Bar & Grill
999 Main St.
208-342-4900
Berryhill & Co. Café & Wine Bar
2170 Broadway Ave.
208-387-3553
www.berryhillco.com
Gamekeeper Restaurant - Owyhee Plaza Hotel
1109 Main St.
208-343-4611
www.owyheeplaza.com
Murphy's Seafood & Steakhouse
1555 Broadway Ave.
208-344-3691
www.murphyssteakhouseandseafood.com
Six One Six
1065 Winding Creek Rd.
Eagle, ID 83616
208-938-3010
www.restaurantsixonesix.com
8th Street Wine Co.
405 S. 8th St., Suite 100
208-426-9463
www.8streetwine.com
Grape Escape Wine & Remembrance
800 Idaho St.
208-368-0200
Pair - eat drink share
601 Main St.
208-343-7034
www.eatdrinkshare.com
Flatbread Community Oven
The Marketplace at Brown Crossing
3139 S. Brown Way
208-343-4177
www.flatbreadpizza.com
Proto's Pizzeria Napoletana
345 South 8th St.
208-331-1400
www.protopizza.com
The Front Door NW
105 South 6th st.
208-287-9201
www.thefrontdoorboise.com
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