Pairing Sauvignon Blanc: The Perfect Accompaniment to Cheese, Salami, and Apples

The secret to a perfect pairing is balance, not just of flavors, but of texture and acid as well. For a perfect cheese and salami platter to serve with your Cultivar Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc, you’re looking for some creaminess and just a hint of sweetness or spice. You want to select foods that will complement or amplify the notes in your wine and not overpower it.
 
Because Sauvignon Blanc has grassy notes, it’s a great wine to pair with goat’s and sheep’s milk cheeses. Cow’s milk cheeses are trickier to pair with Sauvignon Blanc as they are fairly acidic. You want to select a mix of unaged cheeses with light flavor, such as Idiazabal Raw Sheep Milk Cheese, Petite Basque Sheep’s Milk Cheese, and Goat Milk Cheddar Cheese.

 
For that hint of sweetness, choose in season apples that are a little more tart and have a bit of crunch, like Fuji or Gold Rush. Chili-dusted candied pecans are also delicious, delivering both sweetness and spice.
 
Similar to cow’s milk cheeses, salami can be challenging to pair with Sauvignon Blanc. Look for meats that are lower in salt and milder in flavor, such as Olli Organic Norcino Salami or have a little kick, such as Fra Mani Salametto Piccante.

Bon Appetit!

Our Balboa & Cultivar Wine Bus Party

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What better way to spend a Saturday than being surrounded by our wine club members and friends enjoying delicious food and drinking fabulous Cultivar wines? And a couple of Saturdays ago, that's exactly what we did!

Our first stop: Balboa Cafe in San Francisco. We got the party going with our Cultivar Napa Valley wines (2013 Cultivar Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc and 2012 Cultivar Napa Cabernet Sauvignon).

        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a quick headcount, we left overcast San Francisco in search of the sun, which we found just on the north side of the Rainbow Tunnel in Marin County. While on the bus, guests enjoyed our 2013 Cultivar Napa Valley Rose (currently sold out in bottles, but still available in kegs). 

At Balboa Cafe, situated in downtown historic Mill Valley, we introduced our September 2014 wine club selections. There on the outside patio while sampling our wines, we enjoyed light bites styled by executive chef, Rick Edge, and live music by Tom Rhodes.

The light bites provided by PlumpJack Catering that we enjoyed were:

• Shrimp gazpacho shooters with chilled prawns paired with 2013 Cultivar Rutherford Sauvignon Blanc
• Carmelized onion and Carmody cheese skewers with sherry vinegar glaze and Piment d'Espelette with choice of pairing: 2013 Cultivar Rutherford Sauvignon Blanc (classic) or 2011 Cultivar Leaky Lake Vinegard Cabernet Sauvignon (daring)
• Braised chicken meatballs with arugula pesto paired with 2011 Cultivar Coombsville Cabernet (daring)
• PlumpJack sliders (beef sliders with cheddar and pickles) paired with a Cabernet Sauvignon (classic), either 2012 Cultivar St. Helena Cabernet Sauvignon or 2011 Cultivar Coombsville Cabernet

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To learn more about the pairings, some classic and some others daring, check out our Food Pairings for Our September 2014 Wine Club Selections where we break the matches down for you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Be sure to check out our Facebook page for more photos from the event. Also, if you'd like to hear about further upcoming events in San Francisco and Wine Country, be sure to like our page. In addition to news about events, you'll get behind the scenes peeks into how we make our wines along with recipes and pairing tips for entertaining in your home.

Mikkeller Happy Hour Event Food & Wine Pairings

For those of you who made it to our ‘Cultivar Wine Club & Friends’ happy hour event last week, I’m sure you can agree that it was a fun evening of wine, food and great conversation. More photos from the Mikkeller Bar are below, along with what we served to pair with our wines on tap. See which wines worked with certain menu items and why!

Even if you didn’t make it, you can still grab a bottle of your favorite Cultivar wine and test out your own food and wine pairings. You never know what perfect pairing you might find. And be sure to look out for details on our next event later this week on the blog.

2013 Napa Valley Sauv Blanc -

Endive Cups with pine nuts, blue cheese and apples

Salt Cod Croquets with dill, parsley and lemon garnish

Assorted Olives

Why it worked: Sauv Blanc is a light-to-medium bodied white with green and citrusy notes. A natural pairing for salads, herbs (like dill and parsley) as well as lemony flavors, it also goes well with oily foods (like the herb/oil marinated olives). Yum!

2013 Rosé -

Salt Cod Croquets with dill, parsley and lemon garnish

Lil’ Smokies wrapped in bacon with Smoky BBQ

Fries

Why it worked: Rosé is one of those awesome wines that work with a lot of foods. Ours is crisp, minerally and delicate enough to pair with light foods yet big enough in body to withstand bolder foods like bacon and fried food. A tiny hint of sweetness helps cut through the smoky flavors of the bacon and bbq sauce as well as the saltiness of the cod.

2012 Oak Knoll Cab Franc -

Lil’ Smokies wrapped in bacon with Smoky BBQ

Why it worked: Cab Franc and pork work well together, because both are more medium in weight (as opposed to a hefty Cab paired with a giant steak). Our 2012 Cab Franc has notes of pepper, tobacco and spice, which complemented the smoked, spicy flavors of the Lil’ Smokies.

2012 Cabernet -

Pork & Garlic sausage in puff pastry

Lil' Smokies

Why it worked: Full-bodied and big on tannins, Cabernet can withstand bigger, fattier meats and sausages. The rich pastry and garlic-y pork sausage seemed to pair nicely with our rich and structured Cabernet. With wines big on tannins, it’s best to avoid spicy foods - so the Lil’ Smokies would work with the Cab if you omitted the spicy BBQ sauce.

 

Wine in Kegs

You've heard of beer in kegs, but have you heard of the newer trend of wine in kegs? Wines on tap seem to be popping up in wine bars all over the nation, but is this a trend that will last? I bet so. Cultivar has actually been producing several varietals in kegs since its start, as the wines were originally targeted for by-the-glass programs in restaurants and bars. A keg of wine actually holds 26 ½ bottles - more than two cases! - think of how many bottles of wine are saved right there. And, since the kegs are reusable, they’re cost effective and ‘green,’ creating less waste. Just like wineries are tending to gravitate toward screw caps to eliminate cork taint or oxidation, kegs preserve the wine, allowing consumers to get a better glass of wine at a restaurant every time (no 3 day old opened bottle for you!).

Of course, making wine for a steel keg will change the way a wine is made in most cases. Wine on tap is designed to be consumed within roughly 90 days of being ‘packaged,’ so the winemaker may produce the wine with more fruit-forward characteristics and less structure (aka less tannins since the wines will not be aged).

So which wines can you find of Cultivar’s on tap? The 2013 Rosé, 2013 Sauvignon Blanc, the 2011 and 2012 Napa Cabernet! I recently enjoyed the Sauv Blanc on tap at a wine bar in Southern California… refreshing and perfect for summer!

Don’t you think it’s time to forget the beers on tap and head straight for a freshly poured glass of wine? I'm in! Cheers.

  

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