Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Barbequing (Think outside of the box and into a wine bottle)

By now we have all dusted off our grills and had our Memorial Day cookout but you know that with summer coming there are many more to come. No need to stick with the same ole same ole...think outside of the box and think more into a wine bottle.

Wines can be a FANTASTIC source to marinate your meats in. Chambourcin, which is a popularly grown grape in Northern Virginia, is an excellent choice for marinating. It doesn't have a pungent amount of tannins and can give your meat a nice touch of cranberry. Also don't forget to catch the drippings from your meats while cooking them. All that left over loveliness can easily be simmered down with a cup or 2 of wine, then add some rue of flour or cornstarch to thicken and it will be better than any sauce you could by from the store.

Don't forget that wine can be the beverage of choice at a cookout too. Any neutral oak Viognier or stainless steel Chardonnay would be as refreshing as your typical American pilsner. And if you are a red drinker then go back to the one mentioned above and have a glass of Chambourcin.

Just remember one thing when you cook, only use wine you would drink just on it's own. So break out one of your bottles, use a cup or 2 of it and the use the rest of it to pair with your meal. It's an easy way to make sure your wine pairs well.

Eat Well, Drink Well

Kim

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Corcoran Vineyards in London

Corcoran Vineyards had the pleasure of being part of the Virginia booth at the London International Wine Fair this week. We were one of two Loudoun County, DC's Wine Country wineries present, the other was Breaux Vineyards. Corcoran was offering two wines to taste, the Viognier and Cabernet Franc...both of which are considered to be Virginia grapes and that was the buz at the show.
People were "pleastantly surprised" at how good the Virginia wines were, especially the Viognier.
It is hard to believe that there are so many people out there that still don't even know that Virginia makes wine, not to mention good wine. So this leads us to continue on our mission to make the best wine we know how and hope the world enjoys it as much as we do making it.
Cheers.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

The Start of Sangria Season

What better time to start off the Sangria Season then on Cinco de Mayo! In year's past we have always kicked off Cinco de Mayo with putting limes in our Seyval Blanc to give it that margarita flare. This year our 2007 Seyval Blanc actually does better combined with our 2007 Chambourcin. It's so easy...1 bottle of Seyval Blanc to 1 bottle of Chambourcin makes an excellent size Sangria pitcher, throw some frozen fruit in there to act as your ice cubes and wha-la, it's a Sangria Sensation. The staff at Corcoran Vineyards always as their certain wine that they gravitate towards and recently I can say I've been gravitating towards this combo.