Hello from the Tasting Room!

Hello from the Linganore Tasting Room!

Pinky here…

If you have come to visit the winery, you know what a bustling place this can be, so I thought I would get the scoop straight from our tasting room staff about what interests our customers and what they are recommending.

Chaz tells us that the new 2012 Red Skins wine has been flying off the shelves.  This wine was just released over the summer, after Pinky’s Rose, you know that little wine named after me 🙂  and Nectarine were added to the wine list.  As for other happenings in the tasting room, Indulgence is back in stock, as is the Mango Sangria.  Steeple Chase Red should be back in stock soon, maybe even by the end of this week, but be sure to call the winery first just to be sure.  Spiced Apple will be ready after Thanksgiving.

For something fun and different to kick off Thankgiving festivities, try Ben’s suggestions of Skipjack mixed with Blackberry or Mango Sangria mixed with Strawberry.  He recommends mixing half and half, although you can always mix the two wines to suit your own taste. If you like something different, try Meade or Spicy Regatta that have been slowly warmed in a basin of water. Just be sure to take the cork out before you warm the wine or you might have a small wine disaster on your hands (and the walls too).

Apparently Chaz, who manages our wedding events, likes experimenting with wine at home and has quite a few recipes to share.  He recommends marinating steak in Chamborcin and then simply grills the steak – he likes the smoky flavor it adds to the meat and appreciates that it makes it taste like you did something extra, but is easy.  For dessert, he enjoys making a Blueberry wine “fudge” syrup – first he reduces the Blueberry wine in a pot on the stove by gently simmering it until it is reduced by about a quarter.  Then he adds some cornstarch to thicken the wine and serves this over ice cream.  For added decadence, purchase a box of brownie mix and use wine (Raspberry/Blueberry/Steeple Chase) in place of the water in the mix.  Serve the brownie warmed, with ice cream and the Blueberry “fudge” sauce and some fresh berries for dessert.  Yum! Might just have to have that for dinner!

Back to work for me. Until my next entry. Have a great night.

-pinky.