Red Brussels

I did not hesitate to urge him, when my boyfriend asked me, “Babe, this year, would your mom mind if I cooked a side dish for Thanksgiving?” After tasting some of his amazing cooking, I was eager to see what he would come up with for the family gathering. I started to do a wine inventory in my cabinet. I wanted to see what I had on hand as the holiday season approaches.

It is important to me how wine pairs with food for an ultimate holiday delectable experience for all of my guests, especially for myself as well. So, I did question him about what he was making and all I could pry from his inner chef secrets were, “It’s a brussels sprout sauté.” Immediately, as you can imagine, my mouth began to water. I am familiar with these tiny little cabbages. I have had them boiled, baked, fried, dehydrated, but never had I had them as a side dish during a holiday meal with seasonings and other vegetables sautéed!

Here is what I know about brussels sprouts. It is a small cabbage. It is green. It is a leafy type vegetable. Depending on their delivery to the table they can have a bitter-sweet taste. It is a strong vegetable. It is something that delivers something more than just texture, but rather a savoring. It is a vegetable that needs to be appreciated more than it has been in the past.

So, pairing with a wine; what did I choose?

A strong, dry, earthy red wine was all that would do for me. Actually, one of my new favorite places to shop for wine is off a club website called, “Naked Wines.” This is an amazing club that allows up and coming, as well as established wineries, debut amazing wines in all varieties. It allows people to sample tastes from around the world literally. The F. Stephen Millier Black Label Calaveras Red Angel 2017 was my wine of choice to go with this dish. Millier is no stranger to the game with over thirty years’ experience in wine-making. His vineyard is located in the Lodi, California area. This full-bodied wine is amazing with vegetable dishes for its powerful taste and smooth delivery.

Most bitter-sweet vegetables call for a strong wine that will counter the taste, but not try and over power the natural taste of a strong dish. The importance in wine pairing comes in the fact that you want to taste both individually without canceling out the powerful experience in delivery. A red wine can handle its own when you add spices and sauces for sautéing a vegetable.

Thanksgiving came, and this amazing dish took about 45 minutes of preparation for him in the kitchen. The contents included: brussels sprouts, sweet onion, fresh garlic, mushrooms, bacon, Italian dressing, seasoning salt, olive oil, red bell peppers, and butter. Yes…it smells and tastes just as amazing as it sounds.

I poured a glass of Stephen Millier’s Black Label red and proceeded to enjoy each bite. The pairing was phenomenal. There was a strong sweet n’ sour taste to the dish, but the dry red tied all the flavors together perfectly. The entire traditional turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing dinner dove-tailed into this delicacy flawlessly. The full-bodied red wine did not over power any part of the meal. Instead, with this brussels sprout sauté added in the mix, the turkey seemed even more tasteful, and more tender than usual.

In conclusion, I have to say that my favorite pairing hands down to date is red wine with a sautéed brussels sprout dish. This powerful combination lends to a side dish or quite frankly, its own meal for a night in on a cooler fall or winter evening. My suggestion to you, try and think outside the box in flavors when it comes to wine and food pairings. The result might surprise you in a good way. I know I am excited about this new found treasured pairing, and have tucked it away as a regular dish and wine combo of choice from now on, not just around the holidays!