I just had one of those perfect experiences where food and wine come together with fun and interesting people. Acacia Vineyard in Napa held a cooking demonstration by Joey Altman where they paired Joey's superb food with some of their highest-rated and most delicious wines. It was heaven in a winery. Joey Altman is a professional chef whose cookbook, Without Reservations, is perfect for home cooks who want to up their games. I bought the cookbook before the event at Acacia, and found it to be inspirational and fun, with recipes that were well within my capabilities and just plain delicious.
Joey Altman is quite inspirational and fun himself, and although this is totally irrelevant, he is quite a dishy guy, which just made the event even better. Joey shared some really great tips with us as he cooked each dish, and he made the preparations seem effortless. This guy knows his flavors, and his explanation of balancing salt, sweet, and acid in any dish was probably the single most important piece of information anyone has ever given me. It sounds basic and logical, I just never thought of cooking that way. Guess that's why he's a professional and I'm not!
Below, rather than using my usual wine blog format, I am going to explain each food and wine pairing and what I loved about each one. There was nothing in the food or wine that I found to be anything other than delicious and perfect, so I'll share some of the preparation tips and what I especially liked about each combo. Also, I tasted each wine prior to and then with the food and my notes reflect both states.
Honey Roasted Spiced Carrot & Fregola Salad with Arugul, Pistacios, and Green Goddess Dressing paired with Acacia 2008 Sangiacomo Chardonnay
The honey-roasted carrots were a revelation! Joey placed honey around the perimeter of a hot pan and let it carmelize for a moment, then added sliced carrots and tossed them together for another few minutes. Once the carrots were softened, he added a sprinkling of cumin seed. These tasted so good, and I generally don't like cooked carrots. Fregola, which coincidentally was recently featured on an episode of Chopped: All Stars, is a pasta that has been formed into small beads and toasted. The components of this dish worked so well together, all you heard from the audience was a collective, "YUM!" The wine had a wonderful, full and complex nose of oak, apple, peach, guava and honey, and the front of the wine reflected this lovely and smooth balance. The mid-palate brought some tannins and stronger notes of honey and guava. The finish was velvety smooth and had light tannins with lingering notes of honey and peach. It was a flawless match to the salad. So delicious!
Cauliflower Bisque, Chanterelles, and Bacon paired with Acacia 2008 Winery Lake Pinot Noir
Yes, I know what you're thinking, I thought the same thing. Cauliflower bisque? As Joey pointed out while making this, the cauliflower really did not have a strong presence in the bisque other than to make it impossibly velvety with a lovely creamy finish. The bisque was topped with chopped chanterelles that had been carmelized a hot pan, and then croutons that had been toasted in bacon fat were added to give the topping a wonderful crispy texture. I tried the bisque with both the chardonnay from the previous dish and the pinot noir, and while I liked the pinot pairing a bit better, the chardonnay was a good combination as well. The pinot noir started with a medium-bodied nose of smoky oak, roses, and bright cherry. The front of the wine had a wonderful brightness to it, with flavors of red cherry, roses, watermelon, and a hint of oak. The mid-palate brought in some nicely balanced tannins and more of the smoky oak flavor, and the finish was smooth and soft with lingering notes of oak and cherry. I thought the smokiness of the wine perfectly complemented the bacon components in the topping on the dish, and the creaminess of the soup.
Seared Tuna, Buttered Leeks, Lentils, Pancetta, and Red Pepper Vinaigrette paired with Acacia 2008 Lone Tree Pinot Noir
Prior to searing the tuna, Joey crusted it with a mixture of cracked black and pink peppercorns, which added a wonderful peppery flavor that complemented the tuna without overwhelming it. This was placed on a bed of French green lentils that were cooked perfectly, with some bite to them, and served with the buttered leeks and a wonderful olive and roasted red pepper tappenade that I could not get enough of. In fact, I would have plated the dish with less lentils and more tappenade, it was so, so good and went perfectly with the tuna. The buttered leeks were delicately shaved and again a perfect pairing with the other components. The Lone Tree pinot noir is one of my favorites from Acacia because, although it is a good wine on its own, it is a great wine with food. The nose was medium-bodied with notes of smoky oak, chocolate, and black cherry. The front of the wine brought in a juicy blackberry flavor along with the smoky oak and black cherry. The mid-palate was a lovely, warm balance of tannins, oak, and fruit, and the finish was smooth and had lingering notes of pepper and oak. This just went so well with the dish, I wrote, "OMG delish!"
Warm Salad of Duck Confit, Red Cabbage, Apples and Goat Cheese with Candied Walnuts paired with Acacia Barrel Select Lone Tree Pinot Noir
It would take too long to explain the process of confitting the duck here, but I will say that Joey did not use fat in the confit so rather than a heavier, fattier dish, the duck flavor was prominent in all of its ducky yumminess. We all begged for the candied walnut recipe, and it actually is not that hard. I'll write it out below. Again, the components of the dish were beautifully balanced, and included some shallots that had been marinated in lemon juice, something I am going to try as soon as I get some shallots from the market. The red cabbage was shredded and sauteed just until it was dark red, so it was sweet and mild. Altogether perfect. The Barrel Select Lone Tree was a blend of Lone Tree pinot vintages, and one of the best pinot noirs I have ever tasted. Ever. I only bought one bottle of this wine and already I am wishing I had bought more. The nose was deep and rich, of smoky oak, black cherry, and rose. Throughout, the wine was full, rich, and beautifully balanced. The front and mid-palate were complex and had flavors of black cherry, chocolate, rose, and a hint of oak. The finish was rich and full, with stronger notes of oaky tannins, and long, lingering notes of pepper, oak and cherry. Pow! Bam! WOW.
Joey's Candied Walnuts
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2 C fresh walnut halves
1/4 C white sugar
2 Tbls. kosher salt
Add these to a hot pan and allow the sugar to carmelize and "get chunky" around the walnuts. At that point, add:
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
freshly ground black pepper
Add a little water to the pan to make a syrup of the carmelized sugar, swirl to coat. Dump the walnut mixture onto a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet. Place in 350 degree oven, bake for about 8 minutes until crunchy.
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