Cork Sunday Sports Pairing: Wings, Wine & Football

If you are in Hoboken today stop by Cork around 2:00 pm, there just might be a wing for you to sample with this wine!

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The Wine

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Columbia Winery, Merlot 2014

The 2014 vintage was warm all season long providing a large, uniformly excellent crop that came in about two weeks earlier than usual. Grape quality was superb, with Merlot developing ripe dark fruit notes and soft tannins. Winemaker Sean Hails selected the best grapes (85% Merlot, 8% Syrah, 5% Malbec, 2% Select Red Varieties), from the best vineyards within Columbia Valley, creating this rich, full-bodied wine that opens with a dark purple color and enticing aromas of plum, clove and baking spice. The pallet is fruit-forward with, flavors of black cherry, wild blackberry and juicy plum, complemented by notes of sweet oak, vanilla and hints of mocha and a round, mouthfeel, leading you to a finish that lingers with notes of ripe raspberry and caramel. This wine is a really great pairing for mild to medium traditional Buffalo wings, and a good value at $16.99.

Here is what two acclaimed critics had to say:

WE88 Exuberant aromas of cocoa and raspberry with light herb accents are followed by fresh, forward fruit flavors backed by lightly grainy tannins that bring some astringency.

WA87 Deep ruby colored, the 2014 Columbia Valley Merlot offers a classic bouquet of plums, caramelized black cherries, and chocolate and tobacco leaf in its forward, charming, enjoyable style

The Pairing

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Oven Roasted Buffalo Wings

I researched 14 oven recipes, before picking this one and it is the best I have made. It takes some extra prep time but it’s worth it. No time, need it now, want the real thing, my Buffalo, Boeheim, turned me on to http://www.duffswings.com/   

What you will need:

5 pounds chicken wings, cut into drumettes and flats, (I recommend using organic air dried chicken wings if you can they provide better taste and texture)

5 teaspoon baking powder

5 teaspoon kosher salt

For the sauce:

1 cup Louisiana Hot Sauce (I used Frank's)

2 sticks unsalted butter

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

Cayenne pepper to taste (optional)

How to prepare it:

Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and set a wire rack inside. Carefully dry chicken wings with paper towels. In a large bowl, combine wings with baking powder and salt and toss until thoroughly and evenly coated. Place on rack, leaving a slight space between each wing. Repeat with remaining 2 batches of wings. Place baking sheet with wings in refrigerator and allow to rest, uncovered, at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours. Adjust an oven rack to upper-middle position and preheat oven to 450°F (230°C). Add chicken wings and cook for 20 minutes. Flip wings and continue to cook until crisp and golden brown, 15 to 30 minutes longer, flipping a few more times towards the end.  

The sauce: Melt the butter over low heat in a sauce pan and add the remaining sauce ingredients, whisking well to combine. Keep the heat low and only as long as necessary to melt the butter: you don't want the butter to separate. Taste for spiciness, and add cayenne if desired. When the wing are finished cooking, pour the Buffalo sauce into a shallow bowl (you'll probably have to do this in batches) and add a few wings at a time. Turn them in the sauce until well-coated, then transfer to a warm platter. Repeat with the remaining wings. Serve with celery sticks, and a blue cheese dip Recipe adapted from seriouseats.com

Cheers, The Wine guys

How Merlot Can You Go?

The Wine

Chateau Siaurac, Lalande de Pomerol 2009 

Made from vineyards that were founded in the 18th and since 1832, the vineyards have been tended to by generations of the same family creating consistency and reliability in the style of the fruit. The 2009 vintage was made from 80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, fermented in a combination of concrete and stainless steel vats followed by aging in 15%, new, French oak barrels for an average of 12 months.

This very well balanced wine is medium in body with enticing aromas of dark plum cherry and black currant, followed by subtle earthy spice. Fine tannin structure and 6 years of bottle aging have given this wine a supple mouth feel and an integrated richness revealing flavors of plum cherry and mocha with a slight truffle-like earthiness, leading you to a finish that lingers just the right amount of time. This layered bottle wine can be enjoyed by itself or will complement most medium fare very well.

Both of the wine guys have this wine on our personal wine lists, and it a bargain at $27.99 (even a better bargain if you assorted it with 5 other bottles for 10% or assorted with 11 bottles for 20% off) RP88,WE90

The Pairing

Pairing-Herb Roasted Beef Tenderloin

Beef tenderloin is a special (and expensive) meal to serve, so you want to be sure to cook it just right.

What you will need:

1 (3-1/2- to 4-pound) center-cut beef tenderloin, trimmed of silver skin and fat (Grass feed if possible, ask the butcher for a choice or prime and well marbled) 

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons kosher salt

1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temperature

2 medium garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves

butcher’s twine, as needed.

How to prepare it :

Heat the oven to 400°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Meanwhile, pat the beef dry with paper towels. (If one end of the beef is noticeably thinner than the other, tuck the thinner end underneath and tie where you tucked with butcher’s twine. This will help it cook more evenly.)

Using your hands, rub the tenderloin all over with the oil, sprinkle with the salt and pepper, and rub until evenly coated; set aside. Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat until just starting to smoke. Place the beef in the pan and sear, turning occasionally, until golden brown all over, about 10 minutes.

Transfer to a 13-by-9-inch baking dish and set aside until the surface of the beef is no longer hot, about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, make the butter mixture. Place the butter, garlic, rosemary, and thyme in a medium bowl and smash with the back of a spoon or a rubber spatula until evenly combined.

When the beef is ready, evenly rub the butter mixture on the top and sides of the tenderloin. Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the beef registers 120°F to 125°F for rare or 125°F to 135°F for medium rare, about 25 to 35 minutes.

Transfer the beef to a cutting board and tent it loosely with foil. Let it rest at least 20 minutes before slicing 3/4 inch. Collect the pan drippings in a dish to spoon over beef after serving.

I served the beef with mashed turnips and potatoes with sautéed spinach and a glass of the delicious mostly Merlot.

Enjoy your new discovery,

The Wine Guys