Burgans Albarino Wine, Chicken & Asparagus

I am going to post about a wine that I had the other night, Burgans Albarino, but did not have it with the Chicken Dish that I prepared, but it would have went very well with it. David over at Cooking Chat had a post the other day regarding his asparagus dish that he prepared. So that wet my whistle for that wonderful pencil like veggie. (Sorry Holler that this is not a vegetarian dish, but am looking forward to see if you can turn it into a veggie dish!)

Sonadora and Dr. Deb's sparked my interest in a Spanish wine that I was not real familiar, an Albarino. I do believe I have had wines that this grape was used in the blend, but I do not recall ever having a wine that was made with 100% Albarino grapes. So I grabbed a bottle of the 2006 Burgans Albarino. Burgans is from the wine producing region of Rias-Baixas which lies in the North West corner of the region of Galicia, which is near the Atlantic Ocean. It is the only place in Spain where the Albarino grape has been able to flourish. Like I mentioned, it is comprised of 100% Albarino grapes, had a plastic cork closure and a 12.5% alcohol volume. Popping the cork on this baby sent loads of floral aroma into the air, almost perfume like! Getting my nose a little closer I also picked up the aroma of fresh citrus fruit, but that floral aroma was still very prominent. First impression while sipping is that it reminded me somewhat of a Riesling, as it had the floral and ting on the tongue taste, not as sweet as a Riesling though. It was a nice, clean, vibrant wine and on the finish I detected a little taste of flinty, mineral flavor. I must say I enjoyed this wine and it would go well with chicken, but I think it would go really well with seafood. Coming in at $12.99 a bottle, I will pick this one up again for summer sipping.

Now back to the Chicken & Asparagus. I served this dish with a wine that I did a post on 5/18, a 2005 La Vieille Ferme, Cotes Du Luberon. This nice, inexpensive wine complimented the chicken dish and even did not taste too bad with the asparagus! Asparagus can be a tricky veggie to pair wine with. I picked up the recipe from the May/June issue of Eating Well Magazine.

Chicken & Asparagus With Melted Gruyere

8 oz of asparagus trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces

2/3 cup reduced sodium chicken broth

2 teaspoons plus 1/4 cup all purpose flour, divided

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 shallot, thinly sliced (I used 2)

1/2 of cup white wine (best part!)

1/3 cup reduced fat sour cream

1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon (again I used 2)

2 teaspoons lemon juice

2/3 cup shredded Gruyere cheese

I steamed the asparagus for about 3 minutes, took off heat. Whisk broth with 2 tablespoons of flour until smooth. Put remaining flour into dish with salt and pepper and dredged chicken, shaking off excess. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat, add chicken and cook 3-4 minutes per side and watch your heat so you do not burn the chick. When finished, move chick to plate and keep warm. Add shallots, wine and broth mixture to pan and cook about 2 minutes until thick. Reduce your heat and add sour cream, tarragon, lemon juice and asparagus. Stir. Return chick to pan and coat with sauce. Sprinkle cheese on top of chick, cover and continue cooking until cheese melts. So Easy & Good! My leftover recipe will be another day.

It's Friday (yeah) and Saturday is Farmers Market Day! Get out and buy local! Support your farmers!

Cheers!