Domaine Prieur Brunet Bourgogne Chardonnay Paired with Chicken in a Mushroom Cream Sauce

The Wine

Domaine Prieur Brunet, Bourgogne, Chardonnay, 2014

Domaine Prieur-Brunet is a classic Burgundy producer, located in Haut Santenay, in the Côte de Beaune, where it has been since 1804. In 2017, Maison Louis Jadot, one of Burgundy’s top négociant purchased the domaine, and today, the eighth generation (Dominique Prieur and her son Gillaume) run the estate, and continue to make world class Burgundian wine. This Chardonnay made from some of the very best estate vineyards in the area. The wine is barrel fermented and barrel aged, with battonage (stirring of the lees) every 15 days, for 12 to 18 months resulting in a wine that has a pleasant bouquet of citrus, peach, lemongrass, and acacia. On the palate, this wine has a medium/light body with a subtle creamy texture and notes of roasted hazelnut nuts that combine with well-balanced acidity and, terroir de Bourgogne leading you to a medium/short clean finish. This wine should be served cool not cold and will pair very well with medium to full flavored fish, poultry with a light cream sauces, and just fine with a little cheese and a baguette. $19.99 is a great price for this classic white Burgundy

The Pairing

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Chicken with a Mushroom Cream Sauce

What you will need:

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 tablespoons butter

3  cups mushrooms (any mix, such as cremini, chanterelle, blue foot and shiitake), sliced 1/4-inch thick

3  sprigs thyme

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

4  chicken thighs, preferably organic

4  chicken drumsticks, preferably organic

½  cup chicken broth

¼  cup finely diced onion

⅓  cup Riesling

¼  cup heavy cream

How to Prepare:

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Heat 1 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. When melted and bubbling, add mushrooms and thyme. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and browned on edges, 10 to 15 minutes. Discard thyme, and season with salt and pepper to taste; set aside. Heat remaining oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper and add it skin-side down to the hot pan. Brown well on all sides, about 10 minutes. Pour in broth and bring to a boil. Cover and place in oven until very tender, about 30 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate, and pour pan juices into a bowl. Return pan to medium heat, and add remaining 2 tablespoons butter. When it foams, add onion and sauté until translucent. Add Riesling and bring to a boil, reducing by half. Add 1/2 cup of cooking juices, and reduce by half. Add cream and simmer for 3 minutes. Return chicken to pan, and add mushrooms. Simmer, basting, about 2 minutes. Serve hot.

Serves 4, takes about an hour, and fifteen minutes. Recipe adapted from the nytimes.com.

Cheers, The Wine Guys

Winter Cream of Turkey Mushroom Soup Paired with a French Chardonnay

The Wine

Domaine de la Garenne, Macon, Azé, 2014

This wine is made from hand harvested estate grown fruit. The vines grow in stony soils, of clay and limestone in a climate that’s cool, which is very well suited for Chardonnay, and the 2014 vintage has turned out to be one of the best in recent years. Traditional vinification is done in vats, preserving the freshness of the fruit, then 100% of the wine goes through malolactic fermentation, giving the wine a little more weight and roundness, 90% of the wine sees stainless steel conditioning and the remaining 10% seeing oak. Pale gold in color with light green reflections this wine has aromas of, Asian apple pear, citrus, almond and light fresh herbaceousness. Medium in body with a round bright mouth feel, flavors of clean apple and flint like minerality combine with a touch of delicate salinity to lead you to a pleasant crisp finish that lingers just long enough. This wine is drinking very well and will continue to develop for the next 3 to 4 years, and can be enjoyed as an aperitif, or pair it with a hearty cream based dish, or as always a great piece of cheese.

The Pairing

Hearty Cream of Turkey Mushroom Soup

What you will need:

1 tablespoon olive oil

12 ounces turkey loin, cut into ½ inch chunks

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

¼ teaspoon of Bells poultry seasoning,

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 cloves garlic, minced

16 ounces cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 white onion, diced

3 carrots, peeled and diced

2 stalks celery, diced

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

5 cups chicken stock

1 bay leaf

1/2 cup half and half, or more, as needed

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

1 sprig rosemary

How to prepare it:

Heat olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Season turkey with poultry seasoning salt and pepper, to taste. Add turkey to the stockpot and cook until golden, about 2-3 minutes; remove and set aside. Melt butter in the stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add garlic, mushrooms, onion, carrots and celery.

Cook, stirring occasionally until tender, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in thyme until fragrant, about 1 minute. Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Whisk in chicken stock, bay leaf and turkey, and cook, whisking constantly until slightly thickened, about 4-5 minutes. Stir in half-and-half until heated through, about 1-2 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste. If the soup is too thick, add more half-and-half as needed until desired consistency is reached.( If you desire a more hearty soup add 1 and ½ cup cooked barley). Garnish with parsley and rosemary, Serve immediately with crusty French bread and a green salad. (Serves 4 entrées or 6 sides) Recipe adapted from damndelicious.net

 Cheers, The Wine Guys

Vice Chardonnay, Batch #1 Paired with Chicken and Mushroom Sauce

The Wine

Vice Chardonnay, Batch #1

"Wow this is really good" is the first thought I had when I tried this wine. Rich creamy extracted and handsomely oaked yet amazingly balanced, something very hard to achieve without overdoing it. Made from a blend of 75% Sonoma County and 25% Napa Valley Chardonnay from the best appellations. This wine was fermented with wild indigenous yeast, then aged in 90% new French and 10% Hungarian oak barrels for six months, after which, 50% of the wine was transferred to neutral French oak; and two and half years later, the 21 barrels is blended. This hand crafted lengthy process has paid off with a wine that delicately walks the balance between Burgundian minerality and California ripeness. The bouquet of this vibrant wine is inviting with aromas of: white fruit blossoms, fresh pineapples, dried peaches, tangerine peel, and vanilla fall spice. Rich and full bodied the wine coats the palate with a creamy texture that is complemented by minerality and vibrant acidity that leads to a long savory finish.

This spectacular wine was just bottled on September 22, 2016 and Cork is one of the first and one of the few places you can get it in the United States only 500 cases made, get while it lasts $29.99 Crazy Value

The Pairing

Chicken with in a Rich Mushroom Cream Sauce

More often than not I suggest a wine pairing that is more of a contrast than complement but in this instance The vice is a truly complement to this dish.

What you need:

4 chicken thighs skin on (if you prefer breast meat use medium to small skin breasts)

12 oz. white mushrooms, sliced (I used chanterelles mushrooms as well as it’s the end of the fresh wild mushroom season take advantage if you can)

2 Tbsp. butter

1/2 cup white wine (don’t use The Vice, it’s too good, but use something that you can drink while cooking (I use a good Macon Village Baronne de saint jean)

1 white or red if you want it a little more zesty medium onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1½ cup half and half

salt and pepper to taste

parsley for garnish

How to make it:

Place chicken thighs in a medium pot, cover with cold water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and boil for about 30 minutes until chicken is almost done. Remove from water. (If you are using boneless chicken breasts, you can skip this step. Instead, cook chicken breasts in a sauté pan for about 6 minutes per side, or until meat is no longer pink).Add the butter to a large skillet and melt over medium high heat. Season chicken thighs on both sides with salt and pepper. Place chicken thighs in skillet and cook on both sides, about 5 min per side or until cooked through and browned on both sides. Remove chicken from skillet and set aside. Add onion and garlic to skillet and cook for a couple minutes until onion is translucent and soft. Add sliced mushrooms and stir. Season mushrooms generously with salt and pepper. Let cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. When mushrooms are tender and most juices have evaporated, add wine and cook off the wine for a couple more minutes. Add half and half, stir and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally or until sauce reduces a bit and thickens. Add chicken thighs to the skillet to warm up. I served mine with steamed broccoli and homemade gluten free bread. You can also serve it over quinoa, brown rice, mashed potatoes or gluten free pasta. Garnish with parsley. Recipe adapted from deliciousmeetshealthy.com

Cheers, The Wine Guys