Porcupine Wine Is Fine!

Wildlife abounds here in Key West this time of year, not only with the critters that live and visit my yard, but also in the wines I drink! My latest find is Porcupine Ridge 2007 Sauvignon Blanc. Of course I could not resist the interesting label, but what caught my attention is that it is a wine from South Africa. I am starting to see a few more wines on the shelf from this interesting part of our world and am anxious to give them a go.
Porcupine Ridge is from the wine farm Boekenhoutskloff which is located in the Franschhoek Valley, Cape of Good Hope, South Africa. Wow, that was a mouthful and this great Sauvignon Blanc from the Cape is a pleasant mouthful profiling tropical fruit flavors and citrus. A bit of Semillon was added to this wine which really firms it up. A well balanced acidity gives this wine a zippy, fresh crispness which makes you hand out your glass for another pour. What also impressed me, besides the wonderful flavor of this wine, is that this winery is also into conserving the land they are farming for their vines and the wildlife that resides there.




They are even sponsoring a PHD student who is researching the feeding behavior and movements of the crested porcupine for which they named this wine. For more on their conservation acts, please visit their website here. It actually is one of the nicer wine websites I have seen in awhile.



While sitting in the garden enjoying a glass of Porcupine Ridge, I had a visitor who seemed seriuosly interested in what I was drinking!



Cheers to a new friend! A wonderful way to start the end of the day!

South African Wine With A Penne & Vegetable Gratin

Just seeing the label on the 2006 Sebeka Sauvignon Blanc suggested a wine that had to be racy, bold and exotic! It was right on! The 2006 Sebeka Sauvignon Blanc is from the Western Cape of South Africa. On popping this cool plastic cork, layers of fresh citrus fruit and a subtle hint of peach, maybe apricot was on the nose. These flavors followed onto my palate with a full bodied punch of balanced acidity and towards the end a hint of mineral texture. Lip smacking good! As you can see, so good that I did not even get a photo of the bottle until...all gone! Sebeka Sauvignon Blanc had an alcohol volume of 13.5% and was priced at under $10.00. Definitely on my list of quality wines for a great price!

What dish did I serve with this wine? I was in the mood for pasta, but still needed to use the fresh veggies that I picked up from the local farmers at the market. A Penne & Vegetable Gratin sounded comforting. Also I have been drawn back to my French cookbooks, which are my favorites. South African Wine and French Food...time to travel the world!

Penne Pasta & Vegetable Gratin

1/2 lb of penne pasta

Depending on the size, I used 2 medium zucchini quartered lengthwise and sliced into about 1/2 inch slices.

3 or 4 medium size fresh tomatoes seeded and chopped

1 or 2 tomatoes sliced to put on top of gratin

2-3 cloves of garlic chopped

1 cup grated Fontina cheese

1/2 cup packed fresh basil chopped

1/4 cup packed fresh parsley finely chopped

Then I make a sauce which includes:

2-3 garlic cloves chopped

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, but if I have a fresh pepper around I use it, chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 lb. mushrooms sliced

1 tablespoon flour

3 tablespoons tomato paste

2 cups of milk, I used plain soy with no flavoring

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Topping of 1/2 cup of fresh breadcrumbs and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Mix these in a bowl.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Cook pasta and drain

Put the zucchini, tomatoes, first bunch of chopped garlic, cheese and herbs in a big bowl. Toss together and then add the pasta, tossing again.

For the sauce, melt butter in a large heavy pan, add garlic and pepper flakes and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and salt to taste and cook until mushrooms are tender and give off their liquid. Add flour and stir for 2 minutes. Add milk, tomato paste, nutmeg and some salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, whisking for about 30 seconds, simmer for just a moment until sauce is somewhat thick. Pour this sauce over the pasta mixture, toss till coated and transfer to your gratin dish.

Put sliced tomatoes on top of pasta mixture and sprinkle your breadcrumbs over the whole top.

Bake in the middle of your oven for about 30 minutes. Cool on a rack for about 5-10 minutes before serving.

Oh yum!

Cheers!!!!