Red wine-marinated beef fajita, Spanish rice and peach mango sangria
I want to make something very clear… I know NOTHING about wine. In general, I rarely drink alcohol so I am not a wine connoisseur by any stretch of the imagination but I do know a good wine can make a huge difference when cooking and so I am going to begin learning. If you already know about wine, this post may drive you crazy with my ignorance. Feel free to correct me in the comments! If you also want to learn about wine and food from the very beginning, welcome!
Where to begin?
So how do I go about choosing a red wine? Over the past two years I have tried buying all sorts of reds and hated each and every one of them. They always say cook with what you would drink and I would not drink any of them! Too harsh and boring at the same time, I turned to my Facebook friends for help.
Many fantastic suggestions flew in (you guys rock!) but one stuck out. My friend Fran has worked in wine stores and suggested that maybe the reason I was disappointed with the wines was because they were all Canadian? Mon dieu! She wrote, “If I know your palette (and I think I do) Canadian reds just don’t have enough to offer you. You need full body and full flavour with a lot of character. Don’t get me wrong, we have some great Canadian wines! Just not a lot of red ones.”
Now I am very, very Canadian so I did not want to believe this but… it felt true damn it! I knew she could be right. So I tried to find Castillo De Monseran, a Spanish she recommended but my store had never heard of it before. They recommended an Australian wine, a 2009 Wolf Blass Red Label Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon. I sighed. I had no idea what any of that meant but it was on sale from $16.99 to $13.99 and I thought, OK, I will give it a shot.
Next, I wanted to make a sangria. I may not be a big wine drinker but I do adore the occasional sangria and thought it would go perfectly with my fajitas.
I poured in just under half a glass of PC Sparkling Peach Mango Juice and then topped it up with V-Fusion Peach Mango Juice.
I drizzled in a tablespoon or two of the red wine. I love how it stays separated, just looks very cool, but make sure to stir together. Throw in some orange slices and you are done!
Delicious! A very fast and easy sangria that my husband and I LOVED!!! I have made sangrias in the past and we both found the wine too strong, too potent and a little painful. This was smooth and fabulous. We are in the cold heart of winter right now and this dinner complete with festive cocktail cheered us up immensely! I also used the red wine when I made spaghetti and it was one of the best batches I have ever made.
WHAT I HAVE LEARNED
Number 1: a good wine does make a big difference
Number 2: Shiraz refers to the kind of grape used in the wine and can be so dark it is almost black. The flavour is supposed to be reminiscent of blackberry, plum, chocolate… (no wonder I like it!)
Number 3: This is where it gets confusing. Apparently cabernet sauvignon is also a kind of grape. Maybe a shiraz grape falls under this category? Help me out people!
I am thrilled that I found a red wine that I like that was a big success in my kitchen! Do I stop now? Heck no! There is still so much to learn, to try, to experiment with… I would love to hear your thoughts, insights, recommendations. I have a tiny liquor store but I will write down suggestions and see if I can find it at my store. Please note, my spending cap is $20 a bottle.
Both are separate types of grapes- or varietals as they are also known as. The wine was a blend of the two. Glad you liked it!
Wine is pretty amazing. All my classes here at NECI have helped me understand it so much! I can try to think of some more pairings for you, Suzie!
Are you open to white wines as well? They can be sweeter and more acidic. Reds tend to be tannic (dries your mouth). I love whites, but I can definitely enjoy a good red wine with some red meat!
Whites tend to pair well with fish, sea food, and salads (obviously depending on the wines flavors and the flavors in the food, these are just ‘in general’ statements. Chicken depends on the cooking method and very much on the wine.
I think I’m going to have fun with this!
PS- I have missed reading your posts and I dearly miss blogging. (or having a life separate from school in general)
I guess that makes it a blend Tori?! I envy you taking those classes Tori and yes, feel free to share!
I have had more luck finding white wines but I am open to suggestions for that as well. Thanks for all the fabulous info, super helpful and oh I have missed you my friend! š
I know sweet bugger all about wine too. So I have no hints or tips. Educate me!!!
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PS
Yes, Tori has it right. Both Shiraz and Cab Sauv are the types of grapes used in making the wine and when you see both on the label, that means it’s a blend. As I was saying on facebook the cab sauv brings something to the bottle that the shiraz doesn’t have and vice versa. The one I suggested (Castillo De Monseran) is a garnacha and at the government liquor stores here it is only 10 bucks and 13 for the old vine. I think next we should try out some Zinfandel from California.
So glad I am not alone on this one Debra, I will do my best!
Fran, not to worry, I edited the post and why on earth did I think that wine you recommended to me was Australian? Man, my reading skills suck!
I think that is as close to authentic sangria as I can get but I will work up to adding more wine and maybe one day, drink a whole glass!
So it is a blend! Thank you Fran and Tori, that is hugely helpful. Holy crap, wish I could get that wine, that’s a great deal! Now what do you do with a Zinfandel? Is that red? See, I told you I didn’t know anything about wine!
We’re going to have so much fun with this. I found a red you must try. It is available at your NSLC stores for $11.99. The first time I tried it was at a staff party when I was doing wine demos in Vic. It was so fruit forward and soft on the finish with just a little spice. I couldn’t believe it was so cheap! Let this one breath for a bit and enjoy with tapas, steak, salmon… I like mine with a glass. :o)
Sorry, my computer’s battery was about to die so I hit comment and ran across the room to plug in. lol The wine is called Painter Bridge and it is from California. I think I’ll go buy a bottle now. :o)
Oh I like the sound of that Fran! Fruity and spicy without a kick to the head? Yup, love the sound of that one! I still have some of the Wolf Blass left, guess I better make a bit pitcher of sangria so I can get some Painter Bridge! Thanks so much Fran, you are super helpful.
Thanks for including me in your post. I’m sorry about my spelling mistake when I spelled “pallet” instead of “palate” lol and the wine I suggested is actually a Spanish wine. Maybe that’s why you couldn’t find it in the Australia section. š
The sangria you made sounds tasty. Not quite an authentic sangria because of the amount of juice but a nice cocktail for sure. Hey, this might be a good way of getting your palette used to reds. Just keep adding more and more wine to the juice until you all of a sudden realize that you like it straight!! lol We’ll find a red you’ll love eventually.
Hugs from the wet coast!
(I deleted the old post and put it up again with spelling fixed darn spell check keeps putting the wrong spelling of palate! Now it’s in the wrong order though)
Oh well, that is OK Fran! I wish we could edit comments, would make life easier.
Wow, what a journey this will be. I’m afraid I can’t offer much in the wine tutorials as I’m not terribly educated on all the varieties. Funny you should mention the Spanish one though, because my hubby and I have always had good luck with the Spanish reds, they just seem to go down nice. We have no rhyme or reason on how we shop for wine, we just do a lot of browsing and label reading and go with our gut feelings. We are not big wine drinkers by any means, only a few times a year, so when we do indulge we like to experiment a bit.
As for the whites, I always have a few inexpensive bottles in the pantry, a must have for cooking, especially Shrimp Scampi. Again, I always try new labels, but for cooking I will always stick with a Pinot Grigio, it is described as light, crisp and very dry. I love to use it when cooking seafood.
Oh BTW, I forgot to mention that your Steak Fajitas and Sangria look EXTREMELY delicious!
Ava, good to know about that you like Spanish wines, I will keep open to them then! Me too, I always have a cheap bottle of white for things like scampi too. I will check out Pinot Grigio! Thank you, I was hoping they both looked delish!