Wine and beer pairings
Here are Beth’s suggestions for beer and wine that will pair with your bag’s contents. Beth is the owner of the Grovewood Tavern and a long time friend of Fresh Fork Market. Bw sure to get on her mailing list for news and events going on at her restaurant!
This week’s bag sounds yummy and we have some great ideas to round out your bag. We will take orders for the products below (or, anything else that strikes your fancy from our Beverage List) until 9 a.m. Friday. So, if you would like to add anything to your pick-up, just let us know by the deadline. All of our beverages to go are at State Minimum Retail. That means we are selling it to you at the lowest, legal price. Most places you would purchase from do this; it’s true. We offer you this pairing service at no additional charge, and the convenience of being in the neighborhood with 150 wines available to go at the lowest legal price. And if we don’t have it, we can order it!
Zillikin Butterfly Riesling 2008 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany) ($20 per bottle)
As early as 1742 records show that ancestors of the Zilliken family were active as wine producers in both Saarburg and Ockfen. The status of the estate and the reputation of its wines were primarily the work of the Royal Prussian District Forester, Ferdinand Geltz (1851-1925). As an affirmation of his achievements, the estate still carries his name. The estate has the deepest cellar on the Saar, with three levels below ground, and the wines is fermented and matured in German oak under optimum aging conditions. The cellar stays naturally moist due to ground water entering through the walls. The natural humidity content is so high, that stalgmites are growing from the ceiling. The estate is a founding member of Der Grosse Ring and now a member of the VDP.
This wine shows a rich Riesling aroma with high mineral from the Saar valley followed by soft peach and ripe fruit and lime. Great balance between fruit aroma and juicy minerality on the palate. Slate and some mineral edges to the faintly honeyed stone fruit core, this has persistence and ‘pop’ to the flavors. The tactile impression is dry with a faint flash of reined in sweetness in the mid-palate. Hanno Zilliken’s halb-trocken (medium dry) entry level Riesling has been a consistent high-80’s scorer from Wine Advocate. This wine is very versatile and can serve as a racy aperitif, or with light meals of seafood, poultry as well as creamy pasta.
Rutherford Ranch Merlot 2009 (Napa, California) ($19 per bottle)
Aromas of rich, juicy cherry, violets and vanilla. Delicious flavors of cranberry, red cherry, blueberry. Well-balanced with firm acidity, elegant tannins over a medium finish with hints of barrel spice. The 2009 vintage for Napa wines was long and mild. The winter was relatively dry followed by a cool spring. The foggy summer months led to early Fall rains. A relatively small harvest of high quality fruilt with concentrated color and flavors, good acidity and balance.
A wonderful pairing with roast beef, grilled chicken or pork chops and hearty pasta dishes. Also complements your favorite cheese platter. Blend: 91% merlot, 6% Syrah, 3% Cabernet Sauvignon
WORLD WINE CHAMPIONSHIPS AWARD: Silver Medal
RATING: 88 points (Highly Recommended)
Cellar Rats P.O.C. Pride of Cleveland Pilsner (5.5 ABV) ($9 per 6-pack)
From our brew rat pals at local winery Chalet Debonne in Madison, Ohio. The new P.O.C. is a Euro-style Pilsner has unsurpassed flavor and body. Just enough pale malt to give off complex, floral, grainy notes supported by handfuls of authentic East European hops (even in the storage vessel) to bring a deep rooted bitterness to the palate.
Aventinus Weizen Doppelbock (Germany) (8.2 ABV) ($4.25 per 500ml/16.9 oz bottle)
Germany is synonymous with beer. It’s the birthplace of lager, home of Bavaria, and host of a little mixer called Oktoberfest. the elusive Weizen-Doppelbock or Wheat-Doppelbock depending on which side of the pond you reside. Under the Weizenbock label this hybrid is a cross between two beer styles, Weizen and Bock. Weizen offers a light body with a citrus quality, while Bock delivers a roasted malt feature and a slap in the head ABV.
Aventinus was the oringinal weizenbock, the genesis of the style. And almost 100 years after its creation, most connoisseurs would agree it remains unsurpassed — still the benchmark against which all others are judged. Before Aventinus was created in 1907, all doppelbocks were produced with bottom-fermenting lager yeasts.
Mathilde Schneider had an epiphany: use the same malts and brewing techniques used for doppelbocks, but ferment the beer with hefeweizen yeast. Instead of a smooth, subtle beer focused exclusively on the flavors of the malts, a feast for the senses was born, featuring flavors of chocolate, raisins, dates, bananas, cloves, caramel, black pepper, and more.
England has its imperial stouts; Belgium has its Belgian strong darks; Germany has its weizenbocks. All represent the ultimate expressions of complexity for their respective brewing traditions, and all are among the most sought-after styles for beer enthusiasts. The palate-pleasing result of carefully selected dark malts and estery, phenolic yeasts.
