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Wine Pairing Weekend #3: Summers’ Bounty
Wine Pairing weekend is a monthly collaborative event for wine/food bloggers. This month’s theme is “Summers’ Bounty”.  If you’d like to see what others in our group are doing, scroll to the bottom of the post for links.

Summers’ Bounty or Attack of the Killer Turnips?
Is your garden going crazy? Is your CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) box a riot of veggies? Overwhelmed?  Psssh. Embrace it! Our summer bounty meal raids our CSA box to the max, joined with a nice locally raised lamb steak. Rather than being overwhelmed, we are enjoying new flavors in a healthy summer meal fresh off the grill.  Oh, and you’ll never need to turn on a burner or the oven!

Grilled meat usually calls for a substantial red wine (Syrah is my fave).  Summer nights, however, tell us to lighten up a bit.  Today we’re trying a Cabernet Franc from the community of Bourgeuil in France.

Grilled veggies, an unusual slaw and grilled lamb steak paired with Bourgueil

Domaine des Ouches Bourgueil “Igoranda” 2011 ($20 in a local wine shop)
Eye: Opaque center with blue/purple edge.  Wine is clear in the glass.
Nose: Dark cherries, a touch of green pepper in the background
Mouth: Dark fruit, good acidity and pretty tannic finish.  Medium body, not super rich, nice and lean.

Cabernet Franc from the Loire – medium body is nice in the summer

If you’re not familiar with Cabernet Franc, it’s one of the 5 grapes allowed to be used in French Bordeaux wines, and is often found in new world “Meritage” wines.  Cab Franc is aromatic and medium bodied, and if it’s not too ripe, can have a bit of vegetal (think green pepper) characteristics.  You needn’t be afraid of that touch of green pepper, it provides a natural bridge to the veggies on the plate.

Cabernet Franc is often the main grape in red wine from the Loire communities of Bourgueil and Chinon.  In the new world, it has found a home in New York State wines and in a few spots in California and Washington.  It’s a bit lighter in body than Cabernet Sauvignon or Syrah, so it’s a good choice in the summer.  Also, you can serve it with just a bit of a chill, which can be nice on a warm summer night.

The color may hypnotize you!

Summer Bounty from the CSA Box
We belong to a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) hosted by Karla and Elizabeth, our Bossy Acres farmers.  Julie and I are signed up for a 1/2 share.  We get a big box of fresh local organically grown produce every other week starting in June and ending in September.  This week’s box included 2 kinds of kohlrabi, 2 varieties of turnips, a head of cabbage, broccoli, zucchini, cucumbers, a head of fennel, green onions, as well as some fresh herbs.

Our CSA box presents a fun challenge.  It’s a bit like those cooking shows with a box full of secret ingredients which you open with 30 minutes to have something on the table.  You can’t start with a cookbook idea of what you want to make, you react to what’s in the box.  This is where the internet is so useful!  Try googling: fennel kale slaw.

The lamb comes from our favorite local family farm, Sunshine Harvest Farms.  We love chatting with farmers Mike (the dad) and Brandon (the son) at Mill City Farmers Market and Kingfield Farmers Market in Minneapolis.  I hope you find local farmers you can get to know and you have a local farmers market for fresh, local products!

Nearly 100% local, fresh & organically raised

The turnip green salad is one of my favorite elements of this meal

Cabernet Franc pairs well with lamb on a summer evening

Wine Pairing Weekend # 3 Bloggers: Be sure to check out what my fellow bloggers have come up with for the August Wine Pairing Weekend!

Pull That Cork shared “Wine for Summer’s Bounty. Will Garnacha Do the Trick?”

Meal Diva paired “Summer Vegetable Red Sauce with Amarone”

Culinary Adventures with Camilla posted “Pan-Seared Padròns with DeRose Vineyards’ Négrette”

Vino Travels — An Italian Wine Blog shared “Tomato, toe-mah-toe: Summer’s bounty with Sicilian wine Donnafugata”

Grape Experiences paired “Cecchi Chianti Classico 2010 and Vegetable Lasagna”

Curious Cuisiniere shared “Chipotle Garden Salsa with Wild Hare Petite Sirah”

ENOFYLZ Wine Blog posted “Grilled Paiche with a White Greek Blend”

Take a Bite Out of Boca shared “Quinoa-Crusted Eggplant and Heirloom Tomato Stacks paired with Monrosso Chianti”

foodwineclick shared “Summers’ Bounty or Attack of the Killer Turnips?”

Confessions of a Culinary Diva blogged about “Lobster Paella and Albarino”

Tasting Pour shared “Summertime and the Cooking is Easy”

Cooking Chat paired “Linguine with Pesto, Fresh Tomatoes and a Sauvignon Blanc”

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 “Wine for Summer’s Bounty” on Saturday, August 9, from 11 a.m. to noon Eastern 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! Stay tuned for the September Wine Pairing Weekend, which will focus on “Regional Food and Wine Pairings” on Saturday, September 13.