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Wine Pairing Weekend #5: Fall Fruits and Wine
Wine Pairing weekend is a monthly collaborative event for wine/food bloggers. This month’s theme is “Fall Fruits and Wine”.  If you’d like to see what others in our group are doing, scroll to the bottom of the post for links.

Join the #winePW conversation: Follow the #winePW conversation on Twitter throughout the weekend and beyond. If you’re reading this early enough, you can join us for a live Twitter chat on our theme “Fall Fruits and Wine” on Saturday, October 11, from 10-11 a.m. Central Daylight Time. Questions for the chat are posted here on the #winePW site. You can also visit our group Pinterest board to pin some great pairing ideas for later!

Which wine would you prefer with pork tenderloin?

White Wine or Red With the Pork?  Yes!
Do you pair a white wine or red wine with pork tenderloin and roasted fall fruits/vegetables?  Trick question!  We found two great wines that pair beautifully.  You can have your pick, guaranteed.

For our fall harvest menu, we raided our next-to-last Bossy Acres CSA box and added a trip to the Fulton Farmers Market: celeriac, parsnips, potatoes, brussels sprouts, onions, butternut squash.  Minnesota grown apples and ground cherries provide a bit of sweetness to contrast and lift the savory side.  Finally, pork tenderloin as the protein.  Early fall is the best time of year, the variety of choices is exciting!

Potatoes, Parsnips & Celeriac
No beauty contest winners here, but the three together make a nice twist on what might normally be just mashed potatoes.

Not the pretty vegetables in the garden: potatoes, parsnips, celeriac

Fruits and Vegetables Together?
The apples and ground cherries provide a nice surprise when mixed in with the savory vegetables and roasted together.

Apples & ground cherries add sweet highlights to brussels sprouts, onions & butternut squash

Herbs
The cilantro is done, the basil is done, the remaining tomatoes are all green and don’t stand a chance.  Some of the hearty herbs are still doing just fine and will hang around a while longer, and they are naturals with the fall fruits of the harvest.

Hardy herbs are still doing just fine in my Minnesota garden

Pork Tenderloin on Puréed Root Vegetables with Roasted Medley of Fall Fruits & Vegetables
The title is quite a mouthful, but the meal is very easy to make once all the chopping is done.  All the elements fit together so nicely; the apples provide a nice contrast to the roasted veggies and pair beautifully with the pork.  The puréed root vegetables provide a creamy textural contrast to the “bits” of roasted veggies.

A beautiful plate, it’s very easy to prepare

JL Chave Selections St. Joseph (white) “Celeste” 2011 ($28 at Sunfish Cellars)
Eye: Clear bright rich yellow-green.
Nose: Rich, a bit of beeswax, ripe pear
Mouth: Rich full mouthfeel, good acidity but seems very smooth at the same time. A touch of bitter or mineral something in the finish

JL Chave Selections “Celeste” St. Joseph

Tenuta Sant’Antonio Valpolicella Superiore Ripasso DOC 2010 ($20 Sunfish Cellars)
Eye: Dark but still translucent, clear. Edge is hard to read, sometimes seems warm toned, sometimes pure garnet.
Nose: Pine needles, black cherries. Rich and deep. Smoky & leathery.
Mouth: Lively red fruit, plus plenty of soft tannins.  Nice long finish.
I get the impression this is on the lighter end of Ripasso, closer almost to Valpolicella Superiore.

The Valpolicella is dark but clear; you can see the image of the sun and clouds refracted in the glass!

Wine Pairing Success!
St. Joseph White Rhone: In several experiments, I’ve found white wine to generally be a better pairing than red wine when it comes to pork. As expected, the Chave St. Joseph was very nice with the pork and fall vegetables. This wine has the full body to match hearty roasted vegetables. The slight bitter finish disappeared when consumed with the food.  Nice rich body and good acidity cleansed the palate between bites.

Valpolicella Superiore Ripasso: The key to successful pairing red wine with pork seemed to be choosing a wine that wasn’t too fruit forward.  Normal Valpolicella wines can be pretty strongly cherry influenced, but the ripasso technique to provide additional depth and richness also seems to bring the non-fruit flavors to the front. The added depth of flavor also seemed to match the depth of earthy flavors brought out in roasting the fall vegetables.

Either wine is a winner, you simply choose whether you prefer white or red.

Wine Pairing Weekend # 5 Bloggers: Be sure to check out what my fellow bloggers have come up with for the October Wine Pairing Weekend!

Wine Pairing Weekend #5 Bloggers

Here’s what all of the bloggers have created for the October Wine Pairing Weekend!

Savories
Pumpkin Lasagna with Halter Ranch’s Côtes de Paso by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
Squash and Sausage Soup with Pumpkin Cornbread and McKinley Springs 2010 Bombing Range Red by Tasting Pour
Linguine with Roasted Carnival Squash and a Garnacha by Cooking Chat
Pinot Vs. Syrah – Pork Tenderloin with Fig & Apple Sauce by Confessions of a Culinary Diva
Apple Cider Pork with Red Cabbage and Oak Aged Apple Cider by Curious Cuisiniere

Sweets
Harvest Fruits-Maple Crisp paired with a Riesling by Eliot’s Eats
Caramelized Almond Apple Upside Down Cake with a Late Harvest Riesling by A Day in the Life on the Farm
Forgotten Fire Late Harvest Riesling and Warm Apple Crisp by Grape Experiences
Peach and Ginger Cobbler and Tablas Creek Petit Manseng by ENOFYLZ Wine Blog

Surprise!
Wines for a Sweet & Savory Fall Harvest Meal by foodwineclick
Fall Fruit and Wine Pairing by Rockin Red Blog
Autumn Pumpkin Food Flair by Vino Travels — An Italian Wine Blog
Butternut Squash Risotto: White Wine or Rosé by Pull That Cork
Autumn Puff Pastry Tart and La Crema Chardonnay by It’s Okay to Eat the Cupcake

Join Us in November!
Sarah of Curious Cuisiniere will be hosting November’s ‪#‎winePW‬ with the theme of Creative Thanksgiving Pairings. Join the fun on November 8th!