The Humble Gourmand

As one of the most popular grapes — and wines, for that matter — in the world, Cabernet Sauvignon has a pretty massive following. The grape is grown in almost every wine growing region in the world, with Bordeaux and Napa keeping the Cab king. But the grape does have other homes. Australia consistently produces some nice Cab juice, particularly from its Coonawara region. If Chile could get a little more consistent with its production, its Maipo region could rank as one of the top Cab areas as well.

Yes, there are a lot of Cabs out there in the world. I wanted to try some that were a bit off the beaten path.

Getting Thirsty…

I chose two wines for the pairing the evening, because I wanted to do an Old World/New World comparison with Cabs. I chose the Bodegas Vina Luna Beberide 1999 from Bierzo, Spain. The wine is a blend of 40% Cabernet, 30% Merlot, and 30% Mencia (the main red grape in Bierzo). Alright, so it’s not all Cab, but few wines in the world are. The wine has nice notes of black pepper and red currant. The Merlot and the Mencia give a generous fruit forwardness to the wine, without it being overtly jammy.

The second wine was the Bodegas Benegas Finca Libertad 2005, an Argentinean blend of Cab Sauv, Merlot and Cab Franc. Truthfully, this wine has been one of my favorites for a while, and I’ve been meaning to cook with it for some time. It has loads of spiced plum, black pepper with some slight notes of smoke and earth.

Getting Hungry…

MENU: Chipotle Chimichurri-Stuffed Filet Mignon
Herb-Roasted Fingerlings
Caramelized Onions & Mushrooms

I wanted to use Argentina as inspiration for the meal. While researching Argentine recipes, I kept coming across chimichurri, so I thought, “Why the hell not.” Only I didn’t just want to smother some steak in chimichurri sauce. I decided to stuff the filet mignon with a blended mix of chipotle, red pepper, cilantro, olive oil, garlic, onion, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. The fingerling potatoes were oven-roasted with olive oil, salt, pepper, oregano, thyme, and tarragon (love some tarragon). The onions were cooked low and slow with a couple pats of butter.

The filets were seared off, then finished in the oven. The result was a very cool little vibrant red center from the sauce, surrounded by the soft pink of the filet. Very nice.

So, with the 1999 Vina Luna Beberide…The wine picked up sweetness from the filet and chipotle. The chipotle itself gave the wine a cool little kick of smoke. It really delivered a lot of spice. The wine was pleasant with the potatoes, too — hearty without being weighty. The herbs from the potatoes also gave a nice herbaceous quality without being too stemmy. I’m not really a fan of herbaceous flavor in wine, but with the dish it was nice. The mushrooms brought out the umami and earthiness of the wine. All in all, the pair worked. Very easy to enjoy.

With the 2005 Bodegas Benegas Finca Libertad…The heat from the chipotle was not an issue. The wine gave a soft vanilla-driven note with the filet. There was a heavy smoke influence with a delicious little roasted vegetal note in the wine. The plum in the wine gave a soft caramelized purple fruit note to the caramelized onions, and the earthiness of the shrooms brought out some of that depth from the wine. The potatoes released a lot of black pepper and tarragon from the wine. But the most interesting note was the dark cherry that the wine gave to the chipotle chimichurri sauce. Very cool.

All in all the pairing was nice. I could image maybe even doing a slightly chilled Vin de Pays from Provence (I know it’s not Cab, but it’s something different). You could also probably do a Mallbec for some more earth, though it might be a little over the top for the dish. Beers? Maybe a dark lager. Spirits? Not too sure. I mean, Scotch goes well with me and steak. Maybe a single-barrel bourbon would have worked. Damn. Getting thirsty again…

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