foodwineclick

Tweet Your Recipe
Imagine squeezing a recipe with local ingredients into a single 140 character tweet.  Recently, Rick Bakas challenged his readers to tweet food pairing submissions in a competition featuring a different Washington State wine every day.  Sponsored by @2DaysinSeattle, the wine assignment for Wednesday was Andrew Will Sorella 2004, a bordeaux style blend with a few years of age.  The winner would receive a bottle of the wine; how much fun is that!

The prize winning meal – it was very nice!

I knew I would need to keep it simple, but Rick also made it clear that Washington State ingredients should be incorporated into the recipe.

• I love lamb chops with a wine like the Sorella
• My son goes to Whitman College in Walla Walla, home of the famous onion
• Melted blue cheese seals the deal

I did a little research on local producers in Washington.  I knew just what local ingredients I would use in Minnesota, but the contest wasn’t organized by @2DaysinMinneapolis!  Here’s the recipe in 140 characters:

	Jeff Burrows (@foodwineclick)
2/20/13, 12:41 @RickBakas Bone Dry Ridge lambchops, grilled-top w/carmelized #WallaWalla sweet onions & Willapa Hills LittleBoyBlue cheese #2daysinseattle

I won!

	Rick Bakas (@RickBakas)
2/21/13, 10:25 @foodwineclick congratulations on winning the ’04 Sorella yesterday, Jeff. Follow @2DaysInSeattle to collect your winnings.

After winning, I promised to actually make the meal and to show off the results, so here goes.  Since I don’t live in Washington, I used Minnesota local ingredients, in keeping with the local theme.

Main Dish Ingredients

• Farm raised lamb chops from Sunshine Harvest Farms , my favorite local family farm
• Marinade of: rosemary, a bit of the Sorella, and a bit of local Sunflower oil.  Just enough to coat the lamb chops
• Onions – we don’t get local onions, or Walla Walla onions, or even Vidalia onions in the winter.  Even from the co-op, the best I could do was onions from Mexico.  I tried!
• Northern Lights Blue Cheese – I dare you to find this cheese anywhere outside the immediate Minneapolis – St. Paul area!

On the side

• Baked potato
• Green beans with chopped almonds

Andrew Will Sorella 2004
The grapes were sourced from Champoux Vineyard, a highly regarded vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA in Washington State.  37% Block 1 Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot, 18% Cab Franc, % Petite Verdot.  The vines in block 1 are over 30 years old.

Overall: very nice, and Julie likes it!  This is a big deal, as Julie doesn’t go for very tannic reds.  I think the extra bottle age has softened the tannins to the point where Julie can really enjoy the wine.
Eye: Deepest darkest warm red but not brown.  Only translucent at the very edge.  Looks to be unfiltered.
Nose: Dark fruits and pine forest in a very gentle way, very nice.  Not young, but still fresh and nice, like walking in a pine forest.
Mouth: Dark fruit, tannic but the tannins are so nice and smooth.  This wine shows why one would age a wine. It still has years left to go but it was very nice with lamb chops (me) or steak (Julie).

Andrew Will Sorella 2004 – a lovely Bordeaux style blend from Washington State

You need bread to soak up extra juices from the lamb chops

Carmelized Onions – difficult to find local onions in Minnesota in the winter!

Northern Lights Blue – I dare you to find this outside Minneapolis – St. Paul

Sunshine Harvest Farms lamb chops – farm raised local lamb

Creamy blue cheese melts into the onions

Thanks to Rick Bakas, Two Days in Seattle, and Andrew Will winery for a fun competition and a lovely bottle of wine.

Note: The Andrew Will Sorella was provided as the contest prize.