Winephabet Street Season 2 Episode 3 - C is for Chenin Blanc

Welcome to Winephabet Street Season 2 Episode 3 C is for Chenin Blanc. Winephabet Street is a monthly series where Lori Budd of Draceana Wines and I work our way through the alphabet exploring wine and wine regions one letter at a time. The show is live on the third Monday at 8pm and is free, but you must register to attend. Put it on your calendar, pour yourself a glass of wine and hang out with us.

This month we learn about the Chenin Blanc grape. It is believed that the grape was established in the Anjou region of France. The Abbey of Glanfeuil a French Benedictine Monastery in the village of Saint-Maur-sur-Loir wer growing these grapes.

The DNA of Chenin Blanc was always in question. However, in July 2019 at the First International Chenin Blanc congress it was revealed that the DNA of the grape is Savagnin and Sauvignonasse.

Chenin Blanc is a very versatile grape. It can and is produced dry, semi-sweet, sweet and cremant style. There is a Chenin Blanc for every palate.

2016 Chappellet Chenin Blanc

The wine I chose for this episode came from my wine cellar. A Chappellet Chenin Blanc. Full disclosure, I am a Chappellet wine club member and have been a member for a very long time.

Chappellet was founded in 1967 after Don Chappellet settled his family on Prichard Hill. His goal was to create world-class wines. Although they produce predominately red wines and are known for their Cabernet Sauvignon, Chenin Blanc grapes were originally on the property when they purchased it. They did replant the Chenin Blanc in 2004 and re-introduced it as a signature designation with Molly Chappellet’s signature on every bottle.

The wine is elegant, bright and lively with notes of tropical fruit, citrus, meyer lemon, honeydew. It’s balanced and soft with a burst of acidity.

Learn more about the Chenin Blanc and the wines we tasted by listening to the podcast or watch the webinar.

Webinar

Podcast

For more episodes of Winephabet Street visit http://winephabetstreet.com/

Taking One From Gus's Playbook

You are probably wondering who Gus is.  Gus is Paul's cousin and he is living down here in Cape May and is the Chef at Marie Nicole's in Wildwood Crest. (A great Chef too! Order the specials as they are his creations)

In the Spring we ate at Marie Nicole's and Paul had Striped Bass that was on a bed of thin cut sweet potatoes with Tasso and cooked in foil. There might of been some veggies in there too.  Paul didn't let me take a picture of it. Sometimes he gets annoyed with my picture taking and social media, but he really enjoyed the fish cooked this way.

The other day I came home with Flounder and Paul asked me how I was going to cook it.  I thought about sauteing it with Panko in lemon, butter and wine.  Kind of like my mom use to make (minus the wine). He didn't like that idea to much and had a different idea of what his dinner was going to be that night and it involved foil and the grill.

I relinquished my cooking duty for the evening and handed it off to him.  He took it right from Gus's playbook, but using ingredients that we had in our fridge: Flounder, Summer Squash, Chorizo, Vidalia Onion, White Wine, Olive Oil, Lemon and Parsley.

This dinner was very easy to prepare as I was supervising from the couch with my glass of wine.  The outcome - Delish!

Recipe for Paul's Flounder in Foil for Two

3/4 lb Fresh Flounder
1 Summer Squash (yellow) sliced very thin
1 Vidalia Onion sliced thin
1 Lemon sliced thin
1/4 cup chopped Parsley
2 links of Chorizo
Olive Oil
Splash of Chenin Blanc
Black Pepper

Grill the Chorizo until just about done. Slice it thin. Slice the Summer Squash and Vidalia Onion very thin and toss with some Olive Oil.

Cut two pieces of heavy duty foil, enough to wrap and seal the fish in.  Turn up the edges to create a pan on each. Lay two rows of thinly sliced Summer Squash on the foil.  Top with a piece of Flounder, onion, lemon slices, and Choirzo. Splash some Chenin Blanc on it along with the parsley and black pepper. Seal and throw on grill for 8 minutes.  Take off grill and let sit for 2 minutes.  Open and enjoy with a glass of Chenin Blanc

We cooked with and paired the fish with 2014 Chappellet Signature Chenin Blanc. The wine was nice and fresh with white flowers, hints of orange and lemongrass.  A perfect pairing.