Episode 67: Summer Wine and Jam Session

This week we are talking a little heat, a little sweet, and wine entertaining tips that can’t be beat. Oh, and apparently we’ve ‘busted a rhyme.” Sharing some personal pearls of summer sipper wisdom, we offer more choices, less work and simple patio pickings that will rock your guests’ worlds in original ways. Sweet and spicy preserves from PRiMO Specialty foods with fun cheese and wine pairings are riding shotgun as we jam into summer with white, rosé, red, and even apéritif and fortified options. Jam. Bam. Thank you ma’am. [ad]

Wine Chatter

Val: “Welcome back listeners! This is episode 67. Steph – how’s your summer going, besides way too fast?”

Steph: “Yes, it is flying by, that’s for sure. But it’s awesome! I’ve had some fun trips, opened some great wines, and am really enjoying it. Speaking of enjoying … I’m enjoying this wine right now!”

Val: “Well it is wine o’clock all day every day at Wine Two Five, so what’s in your glass that you are enjoying so much this afternoon?”

In the Glasses

Steph: “Oy vey, I have upwards of 5 bottles of wine open right at this moment so it was hard to decide what to drink on the show. So, I decided to drink the 2015 Montes Cherub Rosé because after all, we highlighted the Montes winemaking family a few episodes back when we covered Argentina and Kaiken Winery in Episode 58. This bottle of rosé is made from Syrah grapes from Colchagua Valley, Chile and has intense color (hot pick!), attractive strawberry and rose notes, and a screw top to make it accessible.”

Val: “I’m in the same boat with several bottles open and three rose’ wines right in front of me. One of them is a 2015 German Trocken (which means dry) rose’ from Knipser. This is a $9 beauty made from Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and other “Cabernet Crosses”. The acidity is truly refreshing and it’s also a screw cap. Not as fruity as I would have chosen for our “Summer Jam” session, but it works and we’ll talk about why.”

Discussion

Steph: “Well, here we are right smack in the middle of summer. Most of us are having parties, hanging out on the patio and jamming to our favorite beats. We decided to make this episode about summer entertaining with wine, because that’s what we do. We’ll be talking about cool new ways to keep your wine, well, cool, as well as cool wines we’re enjoying this summer!”

Val: “And we are calling the episode our “Jam into Summer” because I was recently contacted by PRiMO specialty foods about pairing some wines with some of their products. We at Wine Two Five were sent some samples that deliciously combine heat with sweet – perfect for summer treats – and Steph and I found some wines that can’t be beat (yo). Had to get one rap jammed in there.

“We not only got to fix a variety of cheese and wine appetizers great for summer patio picking, but we also have some summer wine recommendations. So let’s talk about what makes a great summer sipper:

1.Lower Alcohol – (alcohol increases the burn with spicy foods, but also can be a bad combination with hotter temperatures)
If red, simple, fruity, not a lot of tannin – (makes spicy foods feel hotter – chemesthesis)
Bubbles – (refreshing, salty foods)
Higher Acidity (foods w/ fruit acids or vinaigrette)

We found some wines that we liked, along with some cheeses to compliment the PRiMO preserves. Additionally, we have a special recipe video that creator/founder Chef Vic has developed. (This is for the Strawberry Jicama salad on their website.) We think you’re going to love it with some of the wines we mention this week.

Val’s been a fan of these for a long time, and when her friend was here visiting about five years ago we fell in love with these products. Said friend returned to the East Coast and was unable to find them. Now, at least, you can get them all online.

Steph’s take

Steph: “This PRiMO Preserves tasting was a fun wine adventure and my Justin thought so too! I want to share with our listeners three useful pearls of information. You know, something useful you can remember… and I will also tell you what some of my personal favorite pairings were (but as you know pairings are highly subjective.)

“Okay – so that takes us directly into the pearls…

Drink What YOU Like – and pair wine with people.
Add a little salt to your food to make it more wine friendly. This worked great with the fresh cheeses, like mozzarella and goat cheese.
Experiment and entertain guests with a Taste Test of their own! You host the delicious bites of food with PRiMO Preserves, and assign guests different bottles of wine to bring. Everyone gets in on the wine & food pairing scavenger hunt for what they enjoy the best.

“Now, here are some of my favorite combos

PRiMO Berry Pasilla Preserves dolloped on top of Whole Food’s Provolone Valpadana paired with
1. Whistling Dog Heritage Blocks Pinot Noir from Eola – Amity Hills, OR
2. Byrrh – an aromatized wine from France that we mentioned in Ep 42
PRiMO Strawberry Ancho Preserves served on a slice of Kirkland Pecorino Romano paired with
1. Elio Perrone – Sourgal – Moscato d’Asti
2. Montes Cherub Rosé
3. Antica Formula – Italian sweet Vermouth

“Val, did you have some winning combos?”

Val’s take

Val: “I did! There will be more about the wines, cheeses and preserves in my Vino With Val blog.

PRiMO Berry Pasilla Preserves
1. On Cambozola – Knipser “Clarette” Rosé Trocken, Pfalz, Germany
2. On Drunken Goat – Row Eleven Rosé, California
PRiMO Strawberry Ancho Preserves
1. On Mahon – Finca Torremilanos, Montecastrillo 2015 Rosado, Ribera del Duero, Spain
2. On Harissa-Rubbed Fontina – Casa Santos Lima, Monte das Promessas 2014 Tinto Red, Vinho Regional Alentejano, Portugal

Factoid

Val: “The best way to chill your wine? Decanter magazine had a cool feature (get it? Cool? Eh hem…) this week on this. Well, according to Master Sommelier Xavier Rousset somm/restaurateur you can actually wet a dish towel or cloth, wrap it around the bottle and jam it in the freezer for about 10 minutes. Usually we do the ice, cold water and salt combination in an ice bucket method, but I may try the cloth!”

Wino Radar

Steph: “I visited America’s Mart in Atlanta for the first time and was introduced to some new products this weekend. One company that goes along with our summer theme today is the Wild Hibiscus Flower Co., and in particular, their Wild Hibiscus Flowers in Syrup that bedazzle your sparkling wine service or you can use the syrup to glaze a pork loin on the grill or you can stuff the flowers with goat cheese and sprinkle with fresh chives for an appetizer. Plus, the company also has a Wild Hibiscus Flower Salt that is the artistic finishing touch on cucumber slices. So, so easy! Healthy! Delicious!”

Shoutouts

Val: “Shoutout to everyone who tweeted, retweeted, engaged and played with us on social media this week, particularly Matthew from Exotic Wine Travel, and your nice comments about our Karen MacNeil interview.

“Annnnd that’s all we have for this week. Connect with Val on Twitter @WineGalUnboxed and on the Vino With Val FB page, and on instagram as Vino with Val. You can find Steph on Twitter @TheWineHeroine .

We hope that you’ll share Wine Two Five with your friends and online community and appreciate all your involvement and feedback and especially iTunes reviews. One more thing… Don’t forget to use the #W25Challenge when you are trying new wines and drinks. So until next week – Cheers!