Thursday, Mar. 15, 2007

Point Blanc Pairings

By Eric Degerman, Wine Press Northwest

Northwest chefs pair dishes with Brandborg Umpqua Valley Pinot Blanc.

26brix, Walla Walla, Wash.

Mike Davis created his culinary dream in the wine country of the Walla Walla Valley.

"I came to Walla Walla to start the second Five Diamond restaurant in the state of Washington," Davis said in reference and reverence to The Herbfarm in Woodinville.

There's no doubt Davis, 33, wields the skill and creativity to make it happen at his 26brix in downtown Walla Walla.

After all, Davis, by the age of 30, served as executive chef at The Salish Lodge in Snoqualmie, Wash., and performed at the prestigious James Beard House in New York.

However, for several weeks this winter, the future of 26brix turned deep-six. Finances forced him to turn out the lights on his nationally acclaimed restaurant in the historic Darces Building on Main Street.

"It was wasn't the best Christmas, that's for sure," Davis said.

Without a group of "angel investors" who believed Walla Walla needed what Davis has to offer, 26brix would still be dark, he said.

"We'd actually sold off our wine inventory," Davis said. "It will take us time to build it back up."

He learned a painful lesson that residents of Walla Walla - not the wine tourists - didn't want exactly the type of experience that 26brix became known for.

"My goal was to be the French Laundry of Eastern Washington," Davis said of the famous restaurant in Napa Valley. "We were hoping to break new ground in Walla Walla, to educate the locals on what fine dining was and to bring a new level of dining to the flourishing wines of the Walla Walla Valley."

Visitors sought out the Walla Walla wines, which Davis and wine director Robert Ames continue to feature prominently on his by-the-glass chalkboard. Those include Colvin, Dusted Valley, Forgeron, L'Ecole No. 41, Rulo, Saviah, Seven Hills, Three Rivers, Waterbrook, Walla Walla Vintners, Woodward Canyon and Yellow Hawk. Those out-of-towners also seemed to embrace the cuisine.

"Over the last 2 1⁄2 years, we've learned we can rely on tourists from May through early December," Davis said. "The rest of the year, we need to appeal to Walla Wallans. The local consumer is a very important customer for us. We decided that in order to bring Walla Walla what it wants, we've had to change our style and lower our price points.

"We've raised portion sizes and probably made it easier for people to recognize the food that they are ordering," he added. "Before, each plate was a piece of art we called 'neo-classical American cuisine.' What we are doing now is taking traditional favorites and bringing them back with a 26brix twist."

Davis shows pride in having developed his style without classic training. Professional kitchens served as his classroom, aside from a stint at Seattle Central Community College, years after a letter he received when he was 8 years old.

"My dad and I used to watch Julia Child on TV, and I wrote a letter to Julia Child telling her I wanted to be a chef," Davis said. "She wrote me back this big, long letter telling me all the culinary schools I should go to."

By the age of 13, he was in a country club kitchen in New Orleans. "My first experience was standing on a milk crate cutting finger sandwiches with an electric knife," he said with a smile. "I wonder if that was violating child-labor laws."

His first "real cooking job" came in 1995 at Seattle's Ponti Seafood Grill with Alvin Binuya. Along the way, he's relied on first-hand work experience throughout the country and daily research.

"I've been doing this for so long, I can't remember where I grabbed this from here and learned that from there," he said.

Perhaps the most inspiring event of his career was a wine pairing dinner called "East Meets West" at South Seattle Community College.

"It was Seattle chefs and Walla Walla winemakers," Davis said. "It was Holly Turner at Three Rivers who invited me out to do a winemaker's dinner for Spring Release weekend in May. I'd never been to Walla Walla.

"I drove around Walla Walla and said, 'I think everybody in the world is planning to open a restaurant in Walla Walla, so I need to come out as fast as I can,' " he recalled.

Three months later, he was creating 26brix.

"I was ahead of the curve, but with the quality of the wines, Walla Walla definitely needs a restaurant of our caliber," he said. "I've been trying to get East, and Walla Walla is as far as I've gotten in the last five years. We'll see what's to come. New York and Chicago have always intrigued me."

Walla Walla also proved to be a match maker in a more personal way for Davis. He married Krista McCorkle, former executive director of the Walla Walla Valley Wine Alliance.

Davis and McCorkle take joy in their daughter, Luci, and all three were smiles on the bustling eve of their re-opening on Valentines Day. It will be interesting, though, to see how long Davis will remain comfortable in a market that asks a James Beard chef to edge toward comfort food.

"It's been very difficult to step back a bit," Davis said. "To make the switch has definitely taken me some time, and I have had to come to grips with it. But I am very happy to serve what we are serving. I wouldn't be open if I wasn't happy with what I was serving."

A delicious example of Davis' style and McCorkle's palate came out when they paired his Broccoli Soup with Vermont Cheddar Cheese "Fondue" with Brandborg Vineyard and Winery's 2005 Pinot Blanc from the Umpqua Valley.

"I haven't seen a Pinot Blanc in a long time," Davis remarked. "There's so much acidity in this wine - it's a nice palate cleanser. It's zesty and zingy."

McCorkle added, "There's an exotic nose to the wine, which is melon, cantaloupe and slightly underripe pineapple. On the palate, I think of apples: Braeburn complexity and Granny Smith acidity. The Vermont cheddar has a salty, savory and nutty character, which brings out the fruit in the wine even more.

"The broccoli gives you all that green chlorophyll and earthiness, which is a nice match to the underlying minerality we found in the wine," she added. "We were really impressed with the richness of this wine. I don't always have high expectations for Pinot Blanc, but in this case, we were both very pleasantly surprised. Great wine."

26brix, 207 W. Main St., Walla Walla, Wash., 99362, 509-526-4075, www.twentysixbrix.com.

Broccoli Soup with Vermont Cheddar "Fondue"

Serves 8

2 heads of broccoli (about 3 pounds)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, sliced thin

1 cup dry white wine

1 1/2 cup heavy cream, separated use

2 quarts chicken or vegetable broth

1/2 tablespoon fresh thyme, finely chopped

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

12 ounces Vermont cheddar, shredded or cubed

Croutons or bagette, optional

1. To prepare the broccoli cut off the florets then tear them into smaller pieces. Cut about 1/2 inch off the stem, peel, then slice thin.

2. Heat the olive oil in a medium-sized stock pot over medium to medium-high heat. Add the onions and garlic, then sauté until they turn translucent. At this time add the white wine and continue cooking until wine is reduced by half. Once this is complete, follow the same procedure with 1/2 cup heavy cream as with the white wine.

3. Add the trimmed broccoli and sauté for one minute. Stir in the broth, then bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cover and simmer until broccoli is tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, then cool slightly.

4. Working in batches, transfer soup to a blender or food processor and purée until smooth.

5. Strain soup through a fine mesh sieve, then return to the heat. Bring soup back to a simmer, then remove from heat.

6. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

7. For the fondue: Add remaining cup of cream to a heavy bottom sauce pot and bring to a boil. Add the cheddar and simmer until completely melted

8. To finish: Distribute the soup into serving bowls then using a spoon, drizzle the fondue into each soup. As an added bonus, add some herbed croutons or baguette to each bowl.

Coke Roth's Kitchen

Richland, Wash.

Coke Roth never worked as a chef in a restaurant, but the gourmet attorney and international wine judge holds court in the kitchen well enough to have been host of his own cooking show on TV.

The programs were aired by local network affiliates in the Tri-Cities, the heart of Washington's wine country. In that B.C. era - before cable - he nearly had a captive audience.

"They aired from 1978 through 1981, on KVEW and then on KNDU," Roth said. "It was called 'A Look Inside the Wine Barrel,' and then it was 'The Grapes of Roth.' I still have a copy of the outtakes, which is really funny."

Within a decade, Roth had sold his beer and wine distributorship and began practicing law in Kennewick, Wash.

"What we were going to do, before I went to law school, was convert this kitchen into a display kitchen," he said from his condo along the fourth fairway at Meadow Springs Country Club in Richland. "I had talked to Washington State University about doing a PBS special. I had storyboards all ready to go for 13 shows, back when you could do 13 shows on wine country and hit every winery in the Northwest in 13 weeks. Of course, now you couldn't do Walla Walla in 13 weeks."

The gregarious Roth, 57, began his professional career in the wine world in 1972, when he trained with Gallo Wine Co., before returning to the Columbia Valley and the family business - Roth Distributing.

"In the beverage business, my father always thought if we knew more about the quality of the products, we'd be able to sell better and inform our customers," Roth said. "I began to train a lot of restaurateurs, waiters and waitresses on what kind of wine goes with what kind of food. And if you look at me, it looks like I've never missed a meal, for godsake."

In those early days, the Northwest wine industry was just starting to grow on the backs of pioneers such as Dick Erath, Harry McWatters and the late Bill Preston. Roth established business ties and struck up friendships, gaining experience in viticulture, enology and judging at wine competitions across the country. He also founded the Tri-Cities Wine Festival in 1978.

"There were very few wineries, and I was very fortunate to live in the Tri-Cities when wineries started popping up like Preston and Hinzerling, and I got to know all the old Oregon crowd," Roth said.

And Roth, who earned a degree in German from the University of Washington, had first-hand experience with the cold-climate varieties that helped the Northwest first gain fame.

"I spent my junior year of college in Germany, so I started developing a tremendous appreciation for wines because I was kicking around the Rhine and the Mosel and the Alsace," he said.

Embracing the kitchen and the camaraderie that comes with sharing wine and his great cuisine with good friends seems instinctive to Roth.

"I had the most marvelous father and mother, and everybody in my family older than me cooked," Roth said. "And my father exposed me to the finest restaurants. We would eat the strangest things. He was a tremendous inspiration in all ways of my life."

The full name is Albert Coke Roth, III. His grandfather owned the first Coca-Cola distributorship in Wenatchee and subsequently got nicknamed "Coke." It stuck and was passed down.

Roth's roots in the wine industry continue to reach deeper. He's spearheaded a consortium involving winemaker Rob Griffin that is developing a 100-acre vineyard/winery project on Red Mountain. It's called Vinagium. Last fall, Roth's oldest son, Frank, became the winemaker at Tagaris in Richland.

Ironic it is that Roth - named by Rotary as the Tri-Citian of the Year in 1987 - has judged wine competitions on both sides of the continent much longer than he's been a member of the bar. His start came at the 1976 Nez Perce County Fair in Lewiston, Idaho.

"There were wines made from garlic, pea pods, and fruits I'd never heard of, and the winemakers were standing about three feet away from you," Roth said. "They'd say, 'That's my wine, you'd better like it.' "

It's not uncommon for him to judge 10 competitions a year.

"You get exposed to a lot of different flavors when you are tasting and smelling wines," Roth said. "If you can translate those, you can try to find something that matches well with food. Then you can be as creative as you want in the kitchen."

That begins to explain why Roth, a charter member of Wine Press Northwest's judging panel, jumped at the chance to serve as a Match Maker chef.

"This Brandborg Pinot Blanc is delicious stuff," he said. "It's got beautiful huge acidity and demonstrates citrus. It's like a lime as opposed to lemon - which is like Chardonnay - or grapefruit, which would be like Gewürztraminer, or apple like Riesling.

"Another thing is that it's got a wonderful nutty character, not unlike Parmesan or aged Jack cheese," he added. "Also you can feel a little bit of ginger-type spice and fig."

His sense for lime, nuttiness, savory and ginger led him to his Lime-Ginger Cornish Game Hens with Vegetable Rice Cake.

"There's something about Cornish game hens that really suck up the marinade," Roth said.

And there will be many glad to glean one of his recipes.

Coke Roth, 8836 Gage Blvd, Suite 204-A, Kennewick, Wash., 99336, 509-783-0220, www.cokerothlaw.com.

Lime-Ginger Cornish Game Hens

Serves 4

1/4 cup or more fresh ginger, thinly sliced

1/2 cup Spanish onions, thinly sliced

1 heaping tablespoon peppercorns

Lime juice

Margarita mix

2 large Cornish game hens or Rock Cornish game hens

Olive oil

"Cokespice" (see recipe below)

2 cups unsalted or lightly salted chicken stock

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

Sweet onion

Fresh ginger

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Prepare marinade by adding ginger, onion and peppercorns to a large bowl and covering with a blend of half lime juice and half margarita mix.

2. Cut hens in half with shears, removing any excess fat, then dry with paper towels and cover in marinade for 6-24 hours, turning from time to time.

3. Remove hens from marinade and dry thoroughly on paper towels, then rub hens generously with olive oil. Next, generously season with "Cokespice."

4. Grill until marked, then place in oven at 225°F for 15 minutes until done or on BBQ over indirect heat - not over coals or flame. (Roth prefers to use a George Foreman outdoor kettle-style electric grill, starting the dial from "5" to mark, then "2" to finish slowly.)

5. While hens are cooking, prepare citrus sauce by reducing chicken stock by half. Add in lime juice. Grate in some sweet onion and fresh ginger. Salt and pepper to taste. When reduced, drizzle over hens and serve with vegetable rice cakes and a green salad.

Cokespice

1/4 cup dried basil

1/4 cup dried tarragon

1/4 cup dried thyme (preferrably lemon thyme)

1/4 cup dried granulated onion

1/4 cup dried granulated garlic

1/2 cup kosher salt

1/8 cup medium course ground black pepper

1/8 cup ground white pepper

2 tablespoons paprika

2 tablespoons cayenne pepper

Mix thoroughly, place in jar or shaker. Makes enough for several barbeques.

Vegetable Rice Cakes

Serves 4

This side dish can be made with a variety of vegetables, herbs and seasonings anytime you've got some leftover rice to work with. Be creative, just be sure you don't leave out the eggs and cheese, since these ingredients help bind the cakes together.

1/2 small zucchini, thinly sliced into matchsticks

3 scallions (green onions), thinly sliced

1/2 onion, about 3⁄4 cup, minced

1/2 cup fennel (green fern portion), chopped

2 heaping cups mushrooms, thinly sliced

1/4 cup freshly grated ginger

1 bunch cilantro, thoroughly washed and chopped

1/4 cup parsley, chopped

3 cups cooked rice

4 cups grated Parmesan cheese

4-6 eggs

1/2 cup fresh lime juice

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl, making a slurry, and form into 1-cup balls.

2. Place and smoosh each ball onto a buttered/oiled skillet or griddle over medium heat. They should look like thick pancakes.

3. Brown on both sides until mahogany brown.

ERIC DEGERMAN is Wine Press Northwest's managing editor. Have a suggestion for a future Match Maker? E-mail him at edegerman@winepressnw.com.

Brandborg Vineyard & Winery

2005 Umpqua Valley Pinot Blanc, $18

206 cases produced

Each issue, Wine Press Northwest sends wine to two chefs with a passion for our region's wines. The chefs are asked to match a recipe to the selected wine.

Pinot Blanc is a mutation of Pinot Gris and not nearly as well received in Oregon. There were 190 acres of Pinot Blanc planted in 2005, which ranked fifth among whites behind Pinot Gris (1,885), Chardonnay (842), Riesling and Gewürztraminer.

Just two acres are planted in Douglas County. Terry Brandborg grabs both for his winery in Elkton, Ore., a stone's throw from the Umpqua River on Highway 38. His source is Wayne Hitchings' 220-acre Red Hill Vineyard, just east of Interstate 5 near Yoncalla.

"Red Hill Douglas County is the coolest site in the Umpqua Valley, and it's a single-vineyard AVA," Brandborg said. "At 1,300 feet, it's also the highest elevation in the Umpqua."

In Burgundy, Pinot Blanc often was confused with Chardonnay, according to Jancis Robinson's Oxford Companion to Wine. It gained acceptance in Alsace but has been embraced by Germans, particularly in Baden and Pfalz.

"We are committed to the cooler-climate varieties, and Pinot Blanc is kind of a new thing and a fun thing to add to our portfolio," Brandborg said.

The 2005 vintage was his third with this fruit. It was barrel-aged in neutral French oak and boasts a pH of 3.15 and total acidity of 0.78.

"Red Hill Vineyard is always a very high acid and low pH site due to its elevation, general coolness and huge diurnal temperature shifts. That is why we wanted to emphasize sur lies aging and full malolactic fermentation to build the midpalate," Brandborg said. "Even with the full ML, the acid profile is such that we pretty much know the finished total acidity will lend itself to a food-friendly wine."

He and wife Sue favor it with the sweet meat of Dungeness crabcakes.

Brandborg Vineyard & Winery, 345 First St., Elkton, OR 97436, 541-584-2870, www.brandborgwine.com.

• Comments
• Add Comment
• Disclaimer