December Wine: Black Hills Estate Nota Bene
Shrug off the season’s chill with a deep, dark red, a gourmet chocolat chaud and a hearty Christmas brew.
Ask an Oenophile
The Expert: Robert Byford, operating partner and sommelier at Alberni Street’s new Black & Blue
The Dish: Blue Ribbon New York strip loin, $36
The Pairing: Black Hills Estate Winery, Nota Bene, Okanagan Valley, BC, 2009, $124
One of my favourite classic pairings is a New York strip loin with a rich Bordeaux or Bordeaux-style red blend. So I’ve gone ahead and chosen our Blue Ribbon New York strip loin. When cooked, this New York has such a great mouth feel – with just the right amount of fat and flavour intensity, and a little bit of charring on top.
I’ve decided to pair it with Black Hills Winery’s Nota Bene. This is a really solid example of a Bordeaux-inspired New World blend from our own backyard, in the southern Okanagan Valley.
Typically, Bordeaux is very earthy and structured. The Nota Bene delivers that classic Cabernet power structure with the dark fruit fleshiness of a Merlot and a touch of an olive herbal note that adds a layer of complexity. Overall, the nose exhibits bright red fruit with plum and cassis. The fruit is not over the top, the alcohol doesn’t burn your throat and the fine tannins don’t dry you out.
This wine makes an amazing cut of beef even better. To top it off, the Nota Bene has great cellaring potential.
Liquid Chocolate
We thought we had died and gone to heaven when we tasted pastry chef Thierry Busset’s Basque Chili Liquid Chocolate at his chocolaterie and café on Alberni Street. Thankfully, he agreed to share the recipe. Combine 2 cups of milk, ½ cup of cream, ¼ cup of sugar, 4 oz of chocolate, 1 tsp of allspice, ½ of a vanilla bean (seeds scraped) and a pinch of piment d’Espelette (a chili pepper from France’s Basque Country) in a medium-sized saucepan. Bring ingredients to a boil, stirring often. Let simmer for two minutes. Remove the saucepan from the burner and let cool slightly. Pour into a cup, sit back and enjoy. $9.95, thierrychocolates.com
Festive Brew
Whistler Brewing Co. first brewed its Winter Dunkel in November 2010 for a small group of restaurants and specialty beer cafés. It’s a Dunkelweizen beer (a dark wheat beer), with a twist. Brewed using 100 per cent organic chocolate from the Whistler Chocolate Co., coriander spice and a combination of sweet orange peel with a touch of bitter orange, it’s a complex combination of festive and seasonal flavours perfect for the holidays. The distinct recipe was such a hit that the company has expanded production this year to include 650 ml bottles available at the retail level. Pick up a bottle of your own to pair with this year’s Christmas pudding.
$5.75, whistlerbrewing.com
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