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Wine Pairing Weekend #4: Regional Food and Wine Pairings
Wine Pairing weekend is a monthly collaborative event for wine/food bloggers. This month’s theme is “Regional Food and Wine Pairing”.  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 “Regional Food & Wine Pairings” on Saturday, September 13, 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 October Wine Pairing Weekend, which will focus on “Fall Fruits and Wine Pairings” on Saturday, October 11.

Midwestern Regional Wine Pairing

Minnesota Wine at the Midwestern Table
Until a few years ago, we would have been reluctant to pair a local Minnesota wine with much of any meal; sad, but true.  Minnesota winters routinely feature periods of cold that Vitus Vinifera vines wouldn’t survive.  Our so-called wine grapes didn’t produce much worth drinking.  Then, those crazy Agricultural Researchers at the University of Minnesota turned their eyes away from exclusively working on apples (HoneyCrisp anyone?).  Over a period of many years, they cross-bred cold hardy grapes with various strains of traditional wine grapes. No GMO work here, just traditional cross-breeding.  Eventually, they had some success;  hybrid grapes started to emerge that could stand the cold winters and produce a good tasting wine, too.  Jackpot! We now have:

• La Crescent (2002) for aromatic whites,
• Frontenac (1996) for rosé, red and port,
• Frontenac Gris (2003) for rosé and dessert wine, and
• Marquette (2006) for nice red table wines

I have been wanting to go truly local with a meal for some time, so our monthly challenge of a regional food and wine pairing seemed like the right time to jump in.  With the exception of salt, pepper and a bay leaf, everything for this meal was grown or raised within 25 miles of our home.  Cool!

Wine from the Marquette grape, specifically bred for harsh Minnesota winters

Parley Lake Winery Marquette 2011 ($25 at the winery)
Eye: Opaque center lightening to garnet at the edge.  Quite dark
Nose: Dark blue/purple fruit.  A little barnyard immediately on opening (behind the fruit).  A touch of herbs.Nose seems a touch sweet, but not overly rich, not candied.
Mouth: Good acidity, not quite tart. Just a bit of tannin.  Good length.  Pretty strong fruit gives the impression of a bit of sweetness, but I don’t think it is actually sweet.  Gives this impression even though it’s not overly ripe.
A very nice wine, we’re happy to have it at the table.

Parley Lake Winery Marquette 2011

Midwestern Cuisine
When many people think of Midwestern cuisine, hot dish comes to mind.  Or pot roast.  Summertime?  Pan-fried Walleye in a shore lunch.  Indeed, if I look to my history, there are plenty of comfort foods on the list, like Mom’s “swiss steak”. If you look a little closer, you’ll notice this is a budget version of a braised beef recipe, so why not dress it up just a bit?

Mother Jane’s “Swiss Steak”

We’ll depart a bit from french onion soup, go with fresh, local ingredients, and incorporate some of our local wine into the recipe in a very traditional braised beef short ribs meal.

Everything on the plate was grown or raised within 25 miles of the Twin Cities

Midwestern Food and Wine, a Pairing Success?
This wine pairing was an absolute success.  Using the same wine in the braising liquid as the wine at the table provides a continuity of flavor that makes both the food and the wine sing.  You’d have a tough time placing the wine if you tasted it blind as it had deeper flavor than a typical Pinot Noir, but had a lighter body and less tannins than something like a Cabernet Sauvignon.  The Marquette had sufficient structure and body to handle the rich short ribs with the deeply flavored sauce.  All in all, a very nice meal with a very nice bottle of wine.  Well done University of Minnesota and Parley Lake Winery!

After years of research at the University of Minnesota, we can pair a regional wine with cuisine!

Sources for the ingredients in our meal:

Marquette Red Wine from Parley Lake Winery

Short ribs from Sunshine Harvest Farm

Potatoes and Vegetables from Bossy Acres CSA

Roma tomatoes and herbs from our backyard garden!

Wine Pairing Weekend #4

Be sure to check out these great pairings from my fellow #winePW 4 bloggers!

Culinary Adventures with Camilla posted “Chuletas de Cordero + Tempranillo”

Vino Travels — An Italian Wine Blog shared “Piedmont Pleasures”

Grape Experiences is pairing “Avantis Estate Malagousia 2013 and Greek Shrimp”

Curious Cuisiniere shared “Cheddar Cranberry Grilled Cheese with Door Peninsula Winery’s Peninsula Red”

foodwineclick is sharing “Minnesota Wine at the Midwestern Table”

Pull That Cork posted “winePW 4: Sicily”

Confessions of a Culinary Diva blogged about “New Mexico: Burgers, Bubbles and Beer”

Rockin Red Blog shared about “A Rustic Meal in Valpolicella”

Cooking Chat blogged about “A Paso Pairing: Grilled Tuna with Halter Ranch Syrah”

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 “Regional Food & Wine Pairings” on Saturday, September 13, 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 October Wine Pairing Weekend, which will focus on “Fall Fruits and Wine Pairings” on Saturday, October 11.

Why not join us in October? “Fall Fruits and Wine Pairings” on Saturday, October 11.