Is Fruit Cake just for the holidays?

 

I received an email a number of weeks back, asking if I would be interested in writing a follow-up blog about fruit cake. Back in 2013, I had written a post about the history of Fruit cake, and what I felt might be some good wine pairings. That post was seen by the owners of Jane Parker Fruit Cakes. They offered to send me a fruit cake if I would write an honest opinion of their cakes and share some pairing ideas. A few weeks later, I received a fruit cake in the mail, along with a few small sample packs. This got the ideas flowing, the following is the results of those ideas.

First, let me say that I am one of those that appreciates good fruit cake. The Jane Parker Classic light fruit cake I received was dense, moist, and packed with raisins glace cherries, glace pineapple, and topped with pecans. There was a large ratio of fruit to cake. This wasn’t an overly spiced cake. I would say it had a slight amount of nutmeg.

 In an effort to be unbiased in my review of the Jane Parker fruit cake, I invited four couples to join my wife and me for a Charcuterie platter and numerous wines. The idea was to let everyone experiment with different meats, cheeses and wines, then formulate their own opinion on what works. I also wanted to break the stereotype of fruit cake only being for the holidays (so why not add it to a charcuterie plate?). I sliced half of the fruit cake and added it to my charcuterie plate. We had about a dozen wines to try, and everyone had numerous wine glasses, to try multiple pairings at a time.

The wines I included, were based on my suggestions from my previous blog about fruit cake. They included: German Spatlese Riesling, Alsace Gewurztraminer, Dry Rose Sparkling wine, Beaujolais from Brouilly (gamay), Italian Dolcetto, Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel (very “jammy”), French Muscat de St Jean, and Tawny Port. Our guests brought some additional wines and a Lambic beer: German Liebfraumilch, California Grenache, and Framboise Lambic, plus additional Rieslings from California and Germany.

 The Charcuterie plate included: 4 cheeses (Wensleydale, Ridder, Smokin Goat, and Mascarpone), 3 meats (Iberico ham, Sweet Sopressata, and Genoa Salami). For our vegetarian guests, I included vegan pepperoni, vegan smoked chorizo, and a tomato & basil Pâté. We also had four different types of crackers and cheese sticks, dried and fresh fruit, nuts, seeds, quince paste, fig jam, apple calvados jam, cheese stuffed sweet peppers, as well as mustard and aioli.

Out of the ten people attending the tasting, three of us had food industry backgrounds, and three admitted to not really liking fruit cake, and shared the typical jokes about fruit cake. By the end of the night, everyone agreed that the Jane Parker fruit cake was very good, and agreed that it can be a versatile addition to any gathering, if paired properly. Two comments at the end of the night were, “send more cake, we need to do more experimentation” and “this made a fruit cake believer out of me!”

So, what worked?

I had originally planned the charcuterie plate with items I thought would work with the fruit cake. The sweetness of the cake should work with salty, so the Iberico ham, and Wensleydale cheese were expected to work….and they did. But it was the items that were unexpected that really got everyone exploring. The surprise of the night was fruit cake paired with the sweet sopressata (sweet vs salty) and probably the best pairing of the night was fruit cake with Ridder cheese and German Riesling (everything just came together on this one). I had thought the tomato and basil pate might work with the fruit cake, and it should have, but the pate needed more salt. In hindsight, I could have added some finishing salt to the pate. The Iberico ham worked perfectly with the fruit cake, and even better when a slight spread of mascarpone cheese was added.

At the very end, I served the Jane Parker fruit cake by itself, and we tried some wine pairings. We found some that were very good. Riesling was the all-around favorite, but Moscato, Liebfraumilch and the Framboise Lambic beer were also excellent pairings. The Gewurztraminer was interesting, as it pulled out the nutmeg flavors in the fruit cake. The Old Vine Zinfandel had just enough fruitiness to work with the cherries and raisins in the fruit cake. Two wines that didn’t work at all with the fruit cake were the Sparkling Rose and the Tawny Port (maybe with a darker style, or chocolate fruit cake). When serving sweet items, always try to keep our beverage slightly sweeter.

 

Lastly, we discussed other ideas for using fruit cake during the year (and not just the holidays). Ideas included toasted fruit cake with cream cheese, deep fried fruit cake, and my personal favorite is to use it as a stuffing, by cutting it into chunks to be added to a stuffing/side dish for Pork or Duck.

My unbiased opinion...Jane Parker makes a really nice fruit cake that reminds me of cakes I had as a kid. Fruit cake can be incorporated into a dinner party, wine tasting, or any event, as long as you include items that will pair with the sweetness of the fruit cake.

It was a fun experiment, and one of our guests texted me the next morning saying. “We can’t stop remarking how much we enjoyed last night! Thank you so much for a remarkable evening”. Mission complete!

Now we need to try this again with other Jane Parker cakes.

The greatest dessert wine?

When it comes to dessert wine, most people automatically think of Port, Sauternes, or maybe even Tokaji, but there was another wine that made its’ mark, and is little known: Constantia Wyn (wine).

“From these Elysian fields used to come one of the very greatest wines in the world – the legendary Constantia,” wrote Hugh Johnson, “Constantia was bought by European courts in the 18th and 19th Centuries in preference to Chateau d'Yquem, Tokay, and Madeira”. Even when Napoleon was defeated and exiled, by the British, to the island of St. Helena, his household was supplied with "les vins de Constance" daily, shipping 30 bottles over to the island every month. He reportedly requested a glass on his deathbed, refusing all other food and drink offered to him.

So what was so special about this wine? We need to take a look at the early history of South Africa, one of the oldest, New World, growing regions.

Groot Constantia

Wine growing in South Africa began in 1652, with the way station for the Dutch East India Company. The early grape varieties included numerous versions of Muscat and Palomino. With the arrival of the Huguenots (refugees from France), the introduction of Chenin Blanc (known as “Steen” in South Africa) and other French varieties were also planted.

In 1685, during an annual visit to the Cape, Hendrik Adriaan van Rheede tot Drakenstein granted the grounds of Constantia to Simon van der Stel, the first Governor of the Cape of Good Hope. A total of 891 morgen (equivalent to 550 acres) was granted. This particular valley was chosen not only for its beauty, but also for the decomposed granite, high clay content, soils and slopes that are gently cooled by the ocean breezes. It is said that Governor van der Stel named his property after Constanza, the little daughter of his benefactor. By 1709, there were 70,000 vines on the farm and Van der Stel produced 5,630 liters of wine.

The Constantia Valley was the cradle, and birthplace, of quality wine-making in South Africa.

Simon van der Stel died in 1712. Then in 1714, Constantia was subdivided and sold by way of auction. The estate was broken up and sold in three parts: Groot (big) Constantia; Klein (little) Constantia; and Bergvliet. Pieter de Meijer bought two parts: Bergvliet and Klein Constantia. Captain Oloff Bergh bought Groot Constantia, on which the Van der Stel buildings were situated. The properties changed hands numerous times, until Hendrik Cloete bought Groot Constantia in 1778. It was Cloete who really made Constantia famous, with a sweet, unfortified wine made from a blend of mostly Muscat de Frontignan (Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains), Pontac, red and white Muscadel and a little Chenin Blanc. The estate belonged to the Cloete family for more than a hundred years (and five generations), until the devastating phylloxera epidemic in the 1880s forced its sale to the government. Phyloxerra devastated most of the vineyards causing bankruptcy and ruin for many of the old winemaking families.

Between tariffs imposed by the British rule, Phylloxera, and the Boer Wars, wine growing in the region dwindled. Constantia wine survived only in the poetry and prose of the 19th Century and in the cellars of Europe’s greatest wine collectors. Exports eventually declined, and what grapes were grown, contributed to excessive supply. In 1918, the Koöperatieve Wijnbouwers Vereniging (KWV) was established to deal with surplus production, and by the 1940’s had taken complete control of the wine industry. It wasn’t until 1992, that the KWV was dismantled. Also, during the 1980’s, South African products were boycotted, due to Apartheid. This global response isolated South Africa. Nelson Mandela was released in 1993, which led to re-investment in South Africa, but the recovery for the wine business has been slow.

Today, nine producers make up the Constantia wine region: Groot Constantia, Klein Constantia, Buitenverwachting, Constantia Uitsig, Steenberg, Constantia Glen, Eagles' Nest, Beau Constantia and Silvermist. Of these, three are producing dessert wines which are similar to the original wines that gained so much fame. 

Groot Constantia is South Africa’s oldest wine producing farm. Since its inception, in 1685, the Estate has had a history of uninterrupted wine production, an achievement that cannot be claimed by any other winery in South Africa. This achievement makes Groot Constantia’s trademark one of the oldest surviving trademarks in the world. At Groot Constantia, production of dessert wine was reintroduced in 2003, producing their expression of the world famous “Constantia Wyn”, now known as “Grand Constance”.

In 1980 Duggie Jooste bought Klein Constantia, redeveloped the farm with the help of then winemaker Ross Gower & Professor Chris Orferr of Stellenbosch University. Early records were studied and careful selection made from vines which, in all likelihood, came from the original stock used in Constantia, 300 years earlier. On November 30, 1985, Klein Constantia released its first new vintages for commercial sale in over a century, including "Vin de Constance", made from the Muscat de Frontignan grape, a re-creation of the original Constantia sweet wyn of the 18th and 19th Centuries. Today, Klein Constantia is part of Anwilka Vineyards.

In 1980, Buitenverwachting was purchased by the Mueller family. Buitenverwachting means “Beyond Expectations”. Production resumed in 2007. Buitenverwachting dessert wine is known as '1769'.

Now we know the history, but what is so special about these wines?

First off, the terroir (soil, aspect and weather) plays a part in the quality of the grape. Secondly, the grape berries are left on the vine, and allowed to ripen fully, to the point of raisining. By allowing the grapes to raisinate, the flavors and sugars are concentrated. Harvest takes place in March or April, and the bunches are hand selected. They are allowed to macerate for one to two weeks, and then pressed. Imagine how little juice is produced from a raisin, and you’ll understand the cost associated with these wines. At such high sugar levels, fermentation can take from six months to a year, to be completed. Then they are aged, in barrel, for an additional four to five years, before release.

These luscious, sweet, natural wines have not been affected by botrytis (like Sauternes) or fortified with brandy (like Port). They have an apricot and raisin nose, along with nuts and honey. They are prefect for dessert, but can also be paired nicely with pâté or foie gras.

Today, these three Constantia wineries continue to make some of the world’s best dessert wines; wines that reflect the cool Constantia climate, minerality, balance and elegance, as well as their 300+ year, historic tradition. 

I will admit that these wines are hard to find in the United States. I have been teaching and talking about these wines for the last ten years, and just this week, found a shop in Southern California that had three bottles in stock. When you find them, pay the price, and try them.

Madeira

Last week, I wrote about Ice Wine. So, this week, I though I would keep the dessert wine theme going, but visit a wine that most people haven't explored, and take a different direction. The funny thing is that most people that have heard of Madeira, think of it as something they cook with. Madeira is one of those wines that has survived through the ages. It ebbs and flows with wine drinkers. Now is the time to rediscover this unusual wine!

The "different direction" that I was referring to has to do with how the wines are made. With last weeks ice wine blog, we were talking about cold weather, and how it affects the wine. This time, we are talking about heat, and how it has affects the wine.

First off, Madeira is located in the Atlantic Ocean. It is an island off the coast of Morocco, and is part of Portugal. It was discovered by Zarco the Squinter, a Portuguese explorer, in 1419. The name, "madeira" means "wood" in Portuguese, as the island was heavily wooded. So much wood, that they couldn't grow anything on it. Zarco had the forest set on fire, to clear some of the brush. Little did he know that it was a volcanic island....the fire burned for seven years. The extensive fire added ash to the soil, which now contributes to the crops that are grown there.

Madeira became a main supply port for ships that were exploring routes around the South African Cape. Sugar cane, grains, and wine were loaded into the ships, for travel south of the equator. To prevent the wine from spoiling, they would fortify it, by adding a neutral spirit (now brandy is the spirit of choice). The additional alcohol helped to keep the wine from oxidizing. On the long voyages, the wine would be exposed to heat (crossing the equator) and a constant mixing motion from the rolling seas. They soon discovered that the wine developed a unique taste, that was preferred to the standard fortified wine. Obviously, the cost of making wine by shipping it all over the world was excessive, so the winemakers came up with a process of cooking the wine on the island, and simulate the affects of ship voyages. The process is known as estufagem.

Madeira cask in estufagem

The wines start out just like any other wine. They ferment, and create still wine. Depending on the sweetness level, the fermentation may be stopped by adding the spirits (fortification), leaving residual sugars (the timing of the fortification will determine the ultimate sweetness of the wine). The wines are then put into wooden casks, and heated (in either a room, via artificial heat, or stored in a warehouse that is only heated by the sun). The heating process can last as little as a few months, to as long as 100 years (for the finest Madeira). The wine ages, mellows and oxidizes during this time, mimicking the long voyages across the equator.

One of the more interesting aspects of Madeira is that it can be made from five different grapes, four of which will show up on the bottle label, and help you to determine the style of wine. The fifth grape (Tinta Negra Mole) is the most common, and is only used for bulk Madeira...particularly cooking Madeira (which has salt and pepper added).

The four grapes we see on the wine shelf are:
Sercial - This is the driest style of wine. It is known for its' almond flavors, and high acidity
Verdelho - This is an off-dry style of wine, with some residual sugar.
Bual - This is a sweet, dessert style wine. It is characterized by a dark color, medium-rich texture, and raisin flavors.
Malmsey (actually, the grape is Malvasia, but the bottle will say Malmsey) - This is the sweetest style of wine, and has a dark color, rich (almost syrupy) texture, and strong caramel and coffee flavors.

At one time, these wines were extremely popular in the United States. Rainwater Madeira was once the drink of the South. And, a little trivia here....when our Founding Fathers had finished signing the Declaration of Independence, they toasted the occasion with Madeira.

So if you are adventurous, try the Sercial Madeira as an aperitif. The Verdelho can work as an aperitif, dinner wine, or even dessert (all depending on what you are eating). The Bual and Malmsey make wonderful dessert wines (Bual is one of my favorites for apple pie). Here is something else to keep in mind...since the wine has been fortified, and cooked, it has already been "destroyed". You can open a bottle, and it won't go bad on you. Enjoy!

Ice Wine

It's harvest time!

"What?" you say. Yep, it is harvest time in Canada and Germany, where some of the best Ice Wine (or Eiswein) is produced. A year ago, I wrote about dessert wines, but only touched on the subject of Ice Wine. So, this week, in honor of the 2013 harvest, I thought we might take a look at how ice wine is produced.

First, there are only a few spots in the world, where it gets cold enough to make ice wine. Canada and Germany of the most likely location, accounting for about 75% of the worldwide production.. But, not only does it have to get cold enough, the growers need a good growing season in the summer months. Ideally a hot summer, allowing the grapes to ripen and build their sugar levels. Next, they need a dry fall, avoiding rot. And finally, they need a cold, sharp winter with consistent temperatures below 15 degrees fahrenheit. Often times, this means harvesting in the dead of the night. All the while, the grapes remain on the vine, exposed to the elements, as well as birds and deer. It can be a real gamble as to whether or not the vintage will be successful.

So, why are cold temperatures so important? Well, the idea is to concentrate the sugars in the grapes. When they freeze, only the water freezes in the grapes, leaving a concentrated juice. The brix levels (one degree brix is equal to one gram of sucrose in 100 grams of juice) can reach in the 40's. Normal still wines, are harvested around 24 to 26 brix..

The grapes are then harvested, either by hand or machine, and transported to the containers, and ultimately the press. The pressing of grapes for regular wine is very gentle, but in the case of ice wine, the pressing is much more aggressive, squeezing at high pressure to extract what little juice is still available in the grape. Some times, this can be just a trickle of juice.

Since the pressed juice is so high in sugar, we need acid to balance the sugar, and for that reason, we typically see grapes grown with natural acidity: Riesling, Cabernet Franc, and, in Canada ,Vidal (a hybrid). Additionally, the high sugar levels mean that the yeasts involved in producing alcohol, will have a tough time. Fermentation can actually take months, and special strains of yeast are used. Even with the long fermentation, the juice will never fully convert to alcohol, so we are left with a high amount of residual sugar, making a medium to full bodied wine with a slightly lower alcohol level that regular wine.

In Canada and Germany the grapes must naturally freeze on the vine to be called ice wine. But, in some other countries, cryoextraction is done, to mechanically produce something similar to natural ice wines. These types of wines are sometimes referred to as "icebox wines".

So, now that the harvest is underway, we should start seeing this vintage on the shelf just in time for summer. But no need to wait that long, go out and find a bottle of last years vintage at your local wine shop. For my money, the best known producer in Ontario, Canada is Inniskillin. Look for it, and give it a try!
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Tokaji Aszú - an "aha" moment

One of the joys of being a wine educator is when you get to introduce students to regions and wines that they might otherwise never try. This week we were studying Austria and Hungary, focusing on the main regions, and their historical wines. When we got to Hungary, the focus was on Egri Bikaver (Bull's Blood) and Tokaji Aszú.

As you might imagine, the Egri Bikaver garnered interest due to it's name and history. There is no bull's blood in the wine, but the Kekfrankos grapes does make an interesting wine that would be great with pizza. Where the "aha" moment occurred was with our last wine of the day, Oremus Tokaji Aszú 3 Putt. At the moment of tasting, I could literally see the students faces light up, and the conversation increased. This was a wine, unlike any others they had tried.

So, what is "Tokaji Aszú"? What is a "putt"? And, why is this an important historic wine?

Tokaji Aszú is a sweet wine from the Tokaji Hegyalja wine region of Hungary. This region is located in the north east corner of the country, next to the border of Slovakia. The main growing region is located on a plateau of south-facing slopes close to the Tisza and Bodrog river. The weather conditions are perfect of the development of Botrytis Cinerea, or "noble rot". There are a number of grapes grown in the region, but the two most important are Furmint and Hárslevelü, which will account for about 90% of the blend in the wine. The remaining grapes are: Sárga Muskotály (also known as Yellow Muscat), Zéta, Kövérszőlő, and Kabar

Noble Rot affected Furmint Grapes

No one is sure how long sweet wine has been made in the region, but written records show that it predates French Sauternes, and could possibly be the first "noble rot" wine produced. It gained worldwide recognition in the 18^th century when King Louis XIV, of France, crowned it as "Vinum Regum, Rex Vinorum" or "the king of wines and the wine of kings".

Gönc at Royal Tokaji

The production of Tokaji Aszú is also interesting. The botrytis affected grapes are individually picked in 20 to 25kg containers, known as Puttonyos,  The grapes are pressed gently under their own weight and the first run juice is referred to as eszencia.  This juice can be set aside to make the Eszencia wine.  The aszú berries are then very gently pressed and blended with a base wine made from ripe, but non-botrytised grapes, then fermented in large, 136 liter casks, known as "Gönc". The sweetness of the final product is defined by the number of puttonyos of paste added to a Gönc. This can range from 3 "putts" to 6 "putts". Above 6 "putts" the wine is called,  Aszú-Eszencia. The Gönc are traditionally not topped off, and the wine is left to slowly oxidize with the yeasts and bacteria. Alcohol content of aszú typically runs higher than 14%. The challenges of fermenting due to the heavy amount of sugar (500 g/l to700 g/l) in the Aszú-Eszencia, the alcohol content remains much lower. The Aszú-Eszencia wines are some of the most expensive wines in the world, often exceeding $1,500/bottle, but they are also able to age hundreds of years.Aszú-Eszencia is not really a wine in the conventional sense, but rather an elixir

Aszú is filled into Tokaj’s unmistakable trademark half-liter (500ml) colorless bottles that have remained unchanged for centuries. The wines are medium deep amber colored wines, with bouquet and the taste of coffee, honey, apricot, sun-dried fruits and a long finish.

Tokaji Aszú wines are traditionally served at the end of the evening or as an aperitif. They also pair well with white meat in sauce, game, blue cheeses, and desserts. Once opened, these wines can be kept for several weeks in the refrigerator. The wine should ideally be served between 50 and 54°F.