Cooking With Wine: Chicken Cordon Bleu With White Wine Sauce

Posted on May 26, 2011 by denver

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
  • 6 slices Swiss cheese
  • 6 slices ham
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 6 tablespoons butter
  • 1/2 cup W2W Estate Dry Creek Chardonnay
  • 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions:

  1. Pound chicken breasts if they are too thick and then place a cheese and ham slice on each breast within 1/2 inch of the edges.
  2. Fold the edges of the chicken over the filling, and secure with toothpicks.
  3. Mix the flour and paprika in a small bowl, and coat the chicken pieces.
  4. Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat, and cook the chicken until browned on all sides.
  5. Add the wine and bouillon. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.
  6. Remove the toothpicks, and transfer the breasts to a warm platter.
  7. Blend the cornstarch with the cream in a small bowl, and whisk slowly into the skillet. Cook, stirring until thickened, and pour over the chicken.

Serve warm with homemade mashed potatoes and fresh vegetable of you choice. Serve the meal with a crisp chilled glass of W2W Selection French Chardonnay and enjoy your gourmet meal cooked in under an hour!!

Would you like to be invited to special wine tastings and other events? How about special discounts on wine purchases and batches? Check out the great benefits of our Wine Club.

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Cooking With Wine: Pepper Steak With Red Wine Rosemary Sauce

Posted on May 5, 2011 by denver

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 2 Beef New York Strip Steaks (1 1/4 pound), cut 1-inch thick
  • 2 tsp. Morton & Bassett Black Peppercorns, crushed
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 1/4 c. onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 Tbsp. fresh rosemary, chopped
  • 1 c. W2W Selection Chianti
  • 3/4 c. condensed double-strength beef broth
  • 1 tsp. brown sugar

Directions:

  1. Place peppercorns into a 1-quart sealable plastic bag, crush with a rolling pin or meat mallet.
  2. Season steaks with salt and press pepper evenly into both sides of steaks.
  3. Heat olive oil 3 minutes in a large skillet over Medium heat. Cook steaks 6 minutes per side for Medium-Rare doneness (cook to 140°F internal temperature). Remove to a plate or platter and keep warm
    Meanwhile, chop onion and mince garlic. Remove rosemary from stems and chop.
  4. Add onion, garlic and rosemary to skillet. Saute 2 minutes. Add wine and boil 2 minutes. Stir in beef broth, brown sugar and meat juices that have collected on platter. Boil 5 more minutes.
  5. Pour sauce over steaks and serve, to complete the meal serve with fresh green beans and steamed rice. Pair meal with a glass of W2W Estate Lodi Ranch 11 Cabernet Sauvignon.

Enjoy!

Would you like to be invited to special wine tastings and other events? How about special discounts on wine purchases and batches? Check out the great benefits of our Wine Club.

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How We Make Wine: Part 1 – Primary Fermentation

Posted on April 21, 2011 by denver

As promised, we wanted to do a video series to show everyone how wine is made.  Some of you may have already made batches, but in this video Derek does a great job of explaining the steps, the components, and some of the chemistry behind wine-making.  Enjoy!

How We Make Wine: Primary Fermentation

Would you like to be invited to special wine tastings and other events? How about special discounts on wine purchases and batches? Check out the great benefits of our Wine Club.

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Cooking With Wine: Marinated Baked Salmon

Posted on April 9, 2011 by denver

How about a fish recipe?  We’ve got you covered with this great recipe for Marinated Baked Salmon!

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

**Note: Salmon must marinate 1 hour, up to 6 hours.

Ingredients:

  • 4 salmon steaks
  • 1/2 c. brown sugar
  • 4 tbsp. melted butter
  • 3 tbsp. soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp. lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp. Dry Creek Chardonnay

Directions:

  1. Wash and pat salmon dry.
  2. Combine sugar, butter, soy sauce, lemon juice and Dry Creek Chardonnay.
  3. Place salmon steaks in a flat glass dish. Pour marinade over fish.
  4. Allow to marinade up to 6 hours but no less than 1 hour, tightly covered.
  5. Place in a baking dish and bake 15 minutes in a preheated 400 degree oven.
  6. Baste twice during this time.
  7. Serve dish with New Zealand Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc over a bed of rice pilaf with a fresh steamed side broccoli.

Would you like to be invited to special wine tastings and other events? How about special discounts on wine purchases and batches? Check out the great benefits of our Wine Club.

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Introducing Three New Limited Editions!

Posted on April 7, 2011 by denver

As we said last week, we held a Wine Club event last Friday to have some fun and introduce three new Limited Edition wines. We had over 70 members in the winery enjoying  food from Lifestyle Catering that was paired with each new wine!

The three wines introduced were:

  1. Grenache Quartet
  2. Pacifica White
  3. Australian Chiraz/Viogner

As always, you’re more than welcome to drop by the winery to have a taste, and check out our Facebook Page as we’ll be highlighting these wines for the next couple weeks.

We’re looking forward to next quarter’s Wine Club event: a BBQ pot luck.  Once the date is finalized, we’ll let everyone know!  Thanks again to everyone who came and made this event great!

Would you like to be invited to special wine tastings and other events? How about special discounts on wine purchases and batches? Check out the great benefits of our Wine Club.

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Learn About the Wine Club

Posted on March 31, 2011 by denver

What exactly is this Wine Club we keep talking about?  Some of you may already be members,  but just in case, we want to make sure that everyone understands what our Wine Club is all about.

What’s in it for me?

Great question.  Do you buy two or more bottles of wine each month?  The two bottles of Wine Club Selection wine would normally cost you around $35, so you’re already saving money, since Wine Club membership is only $29.95/month.

Like discounts?  Members get a 10% discount on bottles or batches, a 15% discount on 6-packs of wine, and a 20% discount on cases of wine*.  Did you know you can throw parties at the winery?  After-hours rental fees are also discounted for Wine Club members, so you can get a group of friends or colleagues together for less.  But wait!  There’s more!  (I’ve always wanted to say that).  You also get special invitations to private tastings and events.  Tomorrow night, Wine Club members get the first crack at three new limited edition wines at a Members-only tasting.

So now you know what the Wine Club is all about!  If you’re already in, hopefully this helped clear up any questions you might have, or maybe even let you know of a couple of benefits you didn’t even realize you had.  If you aren’t part of the club, what are you waiting for?  Drop by the winery and sign up to start enjoying these discounts and events!

*Please note that these discounts cannot be combined with other coupons, offers, or discounts.

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March WineDown Recap

Posted on March 24, 2011 by denver

Have you heard about WineDown?  Let me tell you about what you missed.   Last week we had over 30 folks in the winery to enjoy food courtesy of Suzanne Zimmerman and the musical talents of Steve and Guy of Two Guitars Telling a Story.  Oh yeah, and there was some wine involved as well.  WineDown is a great chance to kick back and relax in the middle of the week with Derek, Erin, and the crew.

Thanks again to everyone who joined us, and special thanks again to Suzanne for the food and Steve and Guy for the musical entertainment.  If this sounds like fun, and trust me, it is, check out next month’s WineDown on April 20th.  For more details Click Here

Would you like to be invited to special wine tastings and other events? How about special discounts on wine purchases and batches? Check out the great benefits of our Wine Club.

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Cooking With Wine: Ram Jam Chicken

Posted on March 17, 2011 by denver

At WineDown, we asked a few of you what you would like to see more of on our blog on on Facebook and we heard you. You wanted more updates on events and some informational pieces. Many of you asked for recipes, so we will continue to build our online cookbook! This week we’ll continue with this great recipe: Ram Jam Chicken!

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes

**Note: chicken needs to marinade for at least 3 hours to overnight.

Ingredients:
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon and 1-1/2 teaspoons Dry Creek Chardonnay
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/4 teaspoon dried Italian-style seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
• 1/2 clove garlic, crushed
• 1/8 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 pinch ground black pepper
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves – cut into strips

Directions:
1. In a large, resealable plastic bag, combine the soy sauce, wine, lemon juice, oil, Italian-style seasoning, ginger, garlic, onion powder, and ground black pepper.
2. Place chicken in the bag. Seal, and let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours, or overnight.
3. Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat.
4. Thread the chicken onto skewers, and set aside. Pour marinade into a small saucepan, and bring to a boil over high heat.
5. Lightly oil the grill grate. Cook chicken on the prepared grill for approximately 8 minutes per side, basting with the sauce several times.

The chicken is done when juices run clear. Serve with grilled vegetables, such as mushrooms, tomatoes, onions and add them to the kabobs for extra color and flavor! Pair with a Selection French Chardonnay, and it is a perfect meal to enjoy during spring break!

Would you like to be invited to special wine tastings and other events? How about special discounts on wine purchases and batches? Check out the great benefits of our Wine Club.

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Cooking With Wine: Chicken With Red Wine Sauce

Posted on March 10, 2011 by denver

After our Facebook Page ignited a discussion of great wine pairings at the end of last week, we thought it would be appropriate to share a few recipes that go great with some of our wines!

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
  • 1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup White Sands Merlot
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Cook garlic in oil until tender.
  2. Place chicken in the skillet, and cook about 10 minutes on each side, until no longer pink and juices run clear.
  3. Drain oil from skillet.
  4. Sprinkle chicken with paprika and 1 cup brown sugar.
  5. Pour red wine around chicken. Cover, and simmer about 15 to 20 minutes; lightly baste chicken with wine sauce while cooking.
  6. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve the Chicken and wine sauce with a spinach salad and roasted potato wedges.

If you forget to save some of the White Sands Merlot, serve the meal with W2W Stag’s Leap Merlot! Stop by the winery and pick up a bottle today!

Would you like to be invited to special wine tastings and other events? How about special discounts on wine purchases and batches? Check out the great benefits of our Wine Club.

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Toast to Great Health: The Benefits of Wine

Posted on March 3, 2011 by denver

Did you know that wine is not only enjoyable, but also has health benefits?  Studies show that wine, especially red wine which is rich in antioxidants, can reduce the risk of coronary heart disease by:

  • Reducing LDL (Bad) Cholesterol
  • Boosting HDL (Good) Cholesterol
  • Reducing Blood Clotting

Resveratrol, an antioxidant found in grapes and grape seeds, has quite a few health benefits as well.  One study suggests that the antioxidant resveratrol may even inhibit tumor development in some cancers.  Another cited that resveratrol helps in the formation of nerve cells, which has some experts thinking it may be helpful in the treatment of diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Red wine has the highest concentration of these antioxidants because it is fermented on the skins and seeds of the grapes.  White wines also have these health benefits, but in a lower concentration as the skins and seeds are removed earlier in the wine making process.

So how much should you drink?  A 5 oz. glass is considered one serving.  Women get optimal benefits from one glass, and men from 1-2 glasses.  Remember to enjoy your wine in moderation as over-consumption can be harmful as well.

For more information, visit:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/red-wine/HB00089

Would you like to be invited to special wine tastings and other events?  How about special discounts on wine purchases and batches?   Check out the great benefits of our Wine Club.

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