Holiday Special Event!

Hey guys, special event on a·pair·i·tif coming up in December, and I need you all to participate!

Send me your favorite Holiday recipe and I will prepare it and find something to pair with it either from my cellar and yours (if you have CellarTracker and if I can find it locally or it's something we have in common). If I don't have/can't find the wine in your cellar that I would pair the item with, I will choose something from my own cellar to do a pairing and rating on, but will also suggest the wine from your cellar.

This event will be limited to the first 5 people I receive recipes from, due to time constraints. Please send the recipes to me via email at cheron at apairitif dot net.

Dinner Fit for a Super Hero

This evening's wine comes to us from Super Hero Wines, one of the labels produced by Scott Harvey. This is the latest in his line of InZINerator wines, all zinfandel, with charming, comic-book style labels. The 2006 featured here is represented by the Femme Knight, given a touch of sweetness by the addition of 2% Forte, Scott's own port-style wine. It is because of this that I chose this wine to go along with my port-reduction glazed pork chops, and it works well!

Wine: 2006 Super Hero Wines InZINerator
Meal: Port-reduction Glazed Pork Chops with potatoes and green beans

Color: 5/5
Deep plum, excellent clarity. Color just slightly pulls back from the glass, but only barely.

Nose: 12/15
The first scent to come to mind was of roses, followed by violets. Very floral nose, with a finishing scent of spices, predominantly cinnamon. A very mixed potpourri nose, but kind of simple at the same time.

Taste: 7/10
Start with a bite from a fresh plum. Pop in a few chocolate-covered raspberries and cherries. Take another bite of the plum. That's it. Not very complicated, on the sweeter side, really needs some food to temper it.

Finish: 7/10
The plum continues on the finish along with the sweetness, and a touch of vanilla with a little bit of cherry cough syrup. The finish goes on and on, but it's mostly plum. I like the finish more than the palate.

Aging: 2/5
I'd say this will probably stick around until 2012. 6 years from vintage date.

Overall: 3/5
Certainly not my favorite from Scott Harvey. I liked the 2004 vintage better, which does not have the Forte addition. Apparently when bottling the magnums of the 2006, it was a different blend that is more in the dry style, closer to the 2004. It's tasty, definitely a food wine. Trying to drink it alone is tough.

Total: 86pts

The port sauce really helped to temper the sweetness, as its own sweetness overpowered the wine's, allowing a better flavor to come out. Really good pairing.

Want to make this meal?

Port-reduction glazed pork chop
1 cup Port (or port-style wine)
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 Tbsp vanilla
1 pork chop, bone-in
1 sprig thyme
2 tsp Lawry's seasoning salt

Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Season the pork chop with the salt and place on the tray, with the sprig of thyme on top. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small sauce pan, begin heating the port. Once it begins to steam, stir in the sugar and vanilla. Bring to a boil, then allow to reduce until the desired consistency is achieved.

Baby White Potatoes
Melt 1 Tbsp butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add a can of whole white potatoes, drained, with a pinch of Kosher salt, a sprinkling of ground pepper, and 1 tsp dried rosemary. Heat until golden brown and slightly crispy on the edges.

Green beans
Prepare cut green beans in your favorite method. Mine are canned and microwaved just to give me some delicious green.

Enjoy!