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Wine Food Pairing: Trout and Wine Pairing

My wife and I always look forward to visiting my son and grandchildren. It involves some weird flight times to get from Tucson to Woodbridge, Virginia, but after seeing the kids, the long travel hours disappear in our memory. This trip was particularly close to my heart because my two grandchildren planned on taking us fishing. My wife and I had taken Connor, our grandson, fishing for the first time a couple of years ago and he had caught his first fish. He was particularly determined to show us that he could catch more.

URBAN TROUT FISHING

We had planned on going camping in southern Virginia a few days after arrival and thought that the fishing would begin then. We were surprised when our grandson announced that we would be fishing the same afternoon we arrived. I asked him where we were going fishing and he remarked “We are going to our neighborhood pool”. I surmised that he really meant an urban fishing pond, but I was wrong. In all my years my wife and I had never fished in a swimming pool, but that day we did.

The pool was stocked with rainbow trout and most of them hung out in the 8 foot deep diving end of the pool. We set up our lawn chairs at the pool’s edge and commenced fishing using worms, corn, marshmallows and salmon eggs. The limit was two fish per person and it didn’t take more than an hour and we had caught our limit. The other amazing thing was the people managing the fishing pool derby also cleaned our fish before we left the area. My grandson declared that it was now time to take them home, cook them, eat them and polish the meal off with a trip to the ice cream shop.

TROUT COOKING INGREDIENTS

Whether you grill the fish, bake them or cook them over a campfire, there are some key ingredients that you need. You need some dry white wine, butter, lemon juice, fresh parsley, salt, pepper and tin foil to wrap them in for cooking. In the trout’s body cavity, first add a pat of butter, a sprinkle of wine, a dash of lemon juice, some fresh parsley and then season to your taste with salt and pepper. Next, roll each individual fish in tin foil being careful to seal the ends to keep the liquids in. Grill, bake or place in hot campfire coals for 8 to 10 minutes or until the fish is completely cooked (it will be white and flakey when done).

BEST WINES WITH TROUT

Using a dry white wine to add flavor to the fish is a must, but what wine would be the best to drink when eating the trout? Several sources say select an Anjou, Arbois, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio or simply drink your favorite champagne. We selected a Sauvignon Blanc made locally in Virginia. My grandchildren can sometimes be picky eaters, but they really enjoyed the fish as much as we did, even though they drank milk. After the meal, we all did go to the ice cream store. I had a three scoop banana split, which I am now working off since we returned home.

Catching trout is fun. When cooked properly, it is a great fish to eat, especially joined with your favorite wine. I always say buy the wine your like, store it properly until ready to drink and serve it at its optimal temperature. Fishing and wine will make your world better.

Author: Ronald Senn, Vice-president, Ideal Wine Coolers

Wine Storage Solutions: Wine Entertainment Tips

One Insignificant Task

I was sitting in my recliner perusing the sports page and absorbing the college basketball scores to ready myself for picking my March Madness basketball brackets. My wife called me from the kitchen with an overemphasized, “Honey, please come here – right now!” I reluctantly headed for the kitchen to see what crisis was about to bestowed upon me. As I entered the kitchen, she started telling me about our wine tasting party next week. She had purchased two dozen bottles of various types of wine, several pounds of cheese, a plethora of varied crackers and enough green vegetable snacks to feed an army of rabbits.

She started out the conversation emphasizing that she was doing all the work for this party and that I only had one insignificant job to do. She said, “Your job is to accumulate enough ice buckets from our friends and family to keep eight to twelve wine bottles chilled and available for our quests to enjoy.” Since we had only one qualifying ice bucket, I knew I had better get going on this task.

The Search

Several calls to friends, family, co-workers and a few strangers netted me promises for only 3 more ice buckets. I was striking out on the only “insignificant task” that I ever had. My savior in doing research has always been the internet so off to the computer room I went. I searched for wine chillers and servers looked at many listings and stumbled upon a solution to my dilemma.

The Solution

I found an 8 bottle wine cooler that stored bottles upright in round openings, while keeping the wine cooled to a temperature of my choosing. Additionally, the wine chiller had a thermoelectric cooling system that was eco-friendly in that it did not use CFC chemicals in its cooling system. This was the perfect solution for improving our entertainment ability and enhancing the wine tasting party my wife had been religiously planning for weeks. I bought one on line and the delivery took only a few days.

Being aware of all the wine my wife had bought and the number of guests she had invited, I was doing the math and figured out that each person would have to drink at least two bottles of wine each. I hoped that wouldn’t be the case as we only have one extra bedroom for people to sleep off the buzz they surely would get. This wine bottle chiller and server that I had purchased could also very easily handle the partially consumed wine by re-corking them and placing them back in the cooler in the upright position. I was so proud of myself that I patted myself on the back more times than I could count.

While this story was written to provide some humor, there is a new wine cooler and server now being offered that will make wine tasting parties easier to hold. I have included a copy of the specifications below for your information.

Summit 8 Bottle Wine Cooler and Server

FEATURES: * Energy Efficent, Quiet Thermoelectric Operation * Sleek Black, Easy To Clean Finish * Light Weight Portability (weights only 26 pounds) * Unique Design Meets Entertainment Needs * 115 Volts/60 Hz * Rating: 2.0 Amps * Digital Thermostat * Easy to Read Control Panel * Interior Circulation Fan * Interior Light
CAPACITY: * 8 Wine Bottles (vertical position)
DIMENSIONS: * Width 28.88 Inches x Depth 12.75 Inches x Height 9.38 Inches
MANUFACTURER’S WARRANTY: * 12 months parts and labor

Author: Ronald Senn, Vice-president, Ideal Wine Coolers

Wine Food Paring: Valentine Wine And More

Valentine’s Day of 2012 was special to me for many reasons. I can’t explain it but, there was simply a convergence of unrelated events that made the day especially satisfying to me. I bought my wife a Valentine’s Day card and a box of her favorite chocolates. Her gift in return was the preparation of special dinner for us. The dinner involved cheese fondue, a loaf of bread, scallops wrapped in bacon, a leafy green salad and a bottle of Yellow Tail Rose. The juxtaposition of other events included the Centennial Celebration of Arizona Statehood and a chilly, snowy day in the Tucson Desert. During the weeks preceding this odd ball weather day, we had suffered mightily from temperature extremes from 70 to 75 degrees F.

Swiss Cheese Fondue

The Fondue was from Switzerland and was made of Swiss cheese, wine and special seasonings. Herdsman in the Valais and Gruyere alpine regions of Switzerland enjoyed dipping chucks of bread into melted cheese dating back to the 18^th Century. I am sure they did not have a small fondue pot with an electric heating unit resulting in precise control of the cheese temperature. Our bread was a loaf of French bread cut into cubes and lightly toasted in the under the oven’s broiler.

Bacon Scallops

The scallops were wrapped in a single strip of bacon and skewered with wooden oversized “tooth picks”. They were carefully placed on a baking sheet and also put under broiler heat in the oven for a few minutes. When the timer went off, my wife carefully turned them and placed them back in the over for a few more minutes. The result was a morsel that simply put, “melted in your mouth”.

The accompanying green salad, imported from Mexico, was simple leaf lettuce, diced tomatoes, diced celery and green peppers. Of course, I liberally applied my favorite blue cheese dressing. The salad was a perfect accent to the taste buds already primed by the fondue and scallops.

Rose Wine

Finally, my wife had picked up a bottle of rose wine. I know some would say a chilled white wine, such as a Riesling, would have been better with the fondue, but my wife and I especially like rose wines. Upon examining the bottle, I discovered that this wine, Yellow Tail Rose, was actually bottled at the Casella Winery in Yenda, Australia. Of course, my curiosity about the Casella Winery was stimulated, because this delightful rose with a nice bouquet that wasn’t too sweet was not American or French in origin.

The Casella Family has been making wine since 1820 in Italy, but immigrated to Australia in the 1950s to start a new wine growing enterprise. The Casella Winery is now one of the largest in Australia with over 300 employees. The main varieties that they bottle are Cabinet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz, Shiraz-Grenache, Pinot Noir, Rose, Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio. The Yellow Tail brand name is becoming known world-wide.

Arizona Statehood

Valentine’s Day also was the Centennial Celebration of Arizona Statehood. Several activities are planned for the celebration throughout the year. Tucson’s Fiesta del Los Vaqueros Parade, non-motorized horse and buggy event, this year will feature this 100 year event. The streets will be crowded with on lookers enjoying what is predicted to be a nice, sunny day in the Old Pueblo.

Rare Snowfall

I can remember a few years Tucson had a measurable snow fall. The years that I can remember are 1958, 1971, 1987 and 1998, but my memory doesn’t always serve me well. At least, I can say that snow in Tucson is a rare event. The biggest snow I remember was a December day in 1971 when we got 6.8 inches in one day.

My Valentine’s Day was special. Arizona celebrated 100 years of statehood, it snowed in Tucson, and I with my lovely wife of 35 years had a great dinner, of French bread, cheese fondue from Switzerland, rose wine from Australia, scallops wrapped in bacon from California and a green salad with primary ingredients coming from Mexico. It was truly a great holiday that incorporated rare weather, a government birthday and international cuisine. Does it get any better than that?

Author: Ronald Senn, Vice-president, Ideal Wine Coolers