A reserve wine from our Landmark Series, Boordy’s Veritas is a traditional barrel-aged ruby port with aromas of blackberry, plums and chocolate. The flavor is very rich and full, culminating in a sweet finish that lingers on the palate. To share some holiday cheer, serve small glasses of Veritas with Allison’s Aztec Spice chocolate cake - which will be posted soon!

Of all the latest food trends, my favorite is when chefs take classics and childhood favorites and make them modern. They take dishes or drinks we knew and loved when young such as a Shirley Temple, then twist it into something that suits the adults we are today. So why not update a Autumn classic? Boordy’s Cabernet Franc wine reduction is a simple yet sultry addition to the caramel that enrobes these apples. Its rounded, fruity acidity balances the sweetness, giving a fall favorite a modern spin

Ingredients:
8 small McIntosh apples, stemmed, well washed, and dried
1 ½ cups Boordy Cabernet Franc (or your favorite Boordy red wine)
2 cups sugar
½ cup water
6 Tablespoons heavy cream
8 wooden ice-pop sticks

Directions:
Insert a wooden stick halfway into each apple at stem end. Line a tray with waxed paper, lightly grease the paper.

Boil wine in a small saucepan over medium heat until reduced to ½ cup, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

Bring sugar and water to a boil in a 2 ½ - 3 qt. heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved, then wash down any sugar crystals from side of pan with a pastry brush dipped in cold water. Boil without stirring, swirling pan occasionally so caramel colors evenly, until dark amber. Add reduced wine (it will bubble up and steam) and swirl pan. Add cream and simmer, stirring until incorporated, then continue to simmer until a candy thermometer register 238°F. Remove from heat and cool to 200°F.

Holding apples by the sticks, dip them in caramel and swirl to coat, letting excess drip off, then hold apples up (stick end down) for about 15 seconds to allow more caramel to set on apples. If caramel becomes too thick to coat apples, reheat over low heat. Put caramel apples, stick side up, on greased wax paper and let stand until caramel firms up, about 30 minutes. Share this treat with your favorite adult!

From our Landmark Series, Boordy’s Cabernet Franc displays classic aromas of cedar, white pepper, and raspberry – with a silky medium-bodied flavor. Enjoy with smoked oysters, fettucine alfredo, grilled salmon, white pizza, and grilled lamb. For a very special treat, use Boordy’s Cabernet Franc to make Allison’s decadent adult caramel apples. See recipe above.

As the weather starts to chill, our appetites tend to crave something warm. I no longer yearn for salads with their crisp vegetables and acidic dressing, instead I want something fresh out of the oven with deep hearty flavors. I found this recipe, and in its original form it called for a stout beer. Well, I was fresh out. So I used the hearty Boordy Shiraz I had on my wine rack. Stilton and Shiraz pair well on their own, so why not in my pies?! And it came out delicious! So go ahead and give it a try, serve your friends and family something they will crave again and again.

Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/4 lb. beef chuck, cut into 1" cubes
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 large yellow onions, sliced
2 ribs celery, thickly sliced
2 tbsp. minced rosemary
12-fl oz. Boordy Shiraz
1/4 cup flour
2 cups beef stock
2 tsp. mustard powder
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
10 oz. mushrooms, quartered
6 oz. English Stilton, crumbled
1 10-oz. package frozen peas
1 14-oz. package puff pastry
1 egg, lightly beaten

Directions
Heat oil in an 8-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat. Season beef with salt and pepper, and cook until browned, 10–12 minutes; transfer to a bowl. Add garlic, onions, celery, carrots, and rosemary to pan; cook until soft, 10–12 minutes. Add wine; cook until almost dry, 18–20 minutes. Add flour; cook, stirring, until smooth. Return beef to pan along with stock, mustard, and bay leaf; bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Cook, covered partially, until beef is barely tender, about 1½ hours; set aside. Heat butter in a 10″ skillet over high heat. Add mushrooms; cook, stirring, until browned all over, about 8 minutes; stir into beef mixture along with cheese and peas.

Heat oven to 375°. Divide beef mixture among four 6" pie tins (12 oz. each). Roll pastry into a 14" square; cut out four 6" circles. Brush tin edges with egg; place 1 circle over each; press to seal. Cut slits into pastry; brush with egg. Bake until browned, about 40 minutes.

Th pungent Stilton cheese and rich bold Boordy Shiraz enrich the filling in these classic Lancashire meat pies. 

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons of oil for frying
1 Egg, beaten
½ cup Milk
2 teaspoons Sugar
1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1 cup Sour Cream
1 pinch Salt
1 cup Self-Rising Flou
3 Apples, peeled, cored, and sliced horizontally ¼” thick
Cinnamon Sugar, optional

Directions: Heat oil to 375°F. To check if oil is ready, touch the handle of a wooden spoon in the oil – if it bubbles around the spoon, the oil is ready. Combine in bowl the beaten egg, milk, sugar, cinnamon and sour cream. Mix well and add flour. Sprinkle a small pinch of salt over the apples. Dip apples in batter and carefully place in oil. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Turn and cook 1 to 2 minutes more. Remove fritters and drain. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the finished fritters if desired.

Serve warm with Prigel Family Creamery Cinnamon Ice Cream and a glass of Boordy Vineyards Chilled Apple wine!

A 100% apple wine - with a balance of sweet and tart flavors, and a thirst quenching quality like biting into a fresh apple!  Enjoy simply in a wineglass; mix with cranapple juice as a cocktail over ice; or serve with Boordy's Apple Fritters (see recipe above).

With June feeling more and more like August, I thought, "Boordy’s Pinot Grigio is the perfect choice for a featured wine for these sticky humid days" I invite you to visit the tasting room and try a sample or a glass, or enjoy a whole bottle with friends and family. This wine is the first release from our 2010 vintage and it does not disappoint.

I’m sure everyone remembers, though many have tried to block out, last summer’s stifling and oppressive heat. While we were miserable and sweating profusely, our grapes were the happiest they have been in years. Grapevines thrive in dry climates and the wine that results is never better than when there is very little rainfall during the growing season. So thanks to Mother Nature’s dry spell, the 2010 vintage is looking and of course tasting fabulous.

Our Pinot Grigio is aged exclusively in stainless steel; it is crisp and dry, and finishes with a beautiful mineral quality.  What makes the 2010 vintage even more unique is the color. The Pinot Grigio grape, to many people’s surprise, is not white but bronze. The juice and skins never sit together to release pigments like reds do, but instead the fruit is pressed right away which is why the wine itself is usually white. But again last year was far from the norm. The warm, dry conditions gave us a two week jump start to the growing season. As a result the Pinot Grigio grapes were able to linger on the vines longer and more pigment developed in the skins resulting in a wine with a beautiful bronzed hue.

Don’t believe me, come out and see it for yourself.

May has arrived and with it we are featuring the Chambourcin-Merlot as our Wine of the Month. The newest red in our Icon series blends Chambourcin, a grape we have grown in our Long Green vineyards since 1965, with Merlot. We employ winemaking techniques that emphasize the appealing fruit aromas in these two varietals, maintaining a light flavor, with some residual sweetness to round out the palate. Chambourcin~Merlot is a wine that is smooth and easy to drink by itself, and is also good company at the dinner table – in other words, “just ducky”.

If our wines and cheerful staff were not enough of a reason to stop by Boordy Vineyards for a visit, we will have Creperie Breizh visiting this weekend for the Piedmont Wine Trial's "Blooming into Spring". They offer a variety of sweet and savory crepes and are positively delicious!

Savory crepes
Classic: Ham and cheese (cheddar, Swiss, gruyere, or brie).  Suggested wine pairing: Chardonnay
Bretonne: Sausage, cheese, Dijon mustard. Suggested wine pairing: Merlot
Normande: Chicken, apple, and brie cheese. Suggested wine pairing: Chilled Apple
Parisienne: Baby spinach, bacon, gruyere, tomato, with raspberry vinaigrette. Suggested wine pairing: Reserve Chardonnay
Special of the week: Smoked salmon, capers, crème fraiche. Suggested wine pairing: Petit Cabernet
Vegetarian crepes
Provencale: Tomato, pesto, gruyere. Suggested wine pairing: Seyval-Vidal-Chardonnay
Forestiere: Sautéed mushrooms and gruyere in a cream sauce. Suggested wine pairing: Shiraz
Sweet crepes
Suzette: Brown sugar, lemon, butter. Suggested wine pairing: Riesling
Bananatella: Sliced banana, nutella. Suggested wine pairing: Eisling
Honey Nut: Honey, toasted almonds. Suggested wine pairing: Vidal Blanc
Girl Scout Smore: Marshmallow, graham crumbs, chocolate chips. Suggested wine pairing: Viva Sangria