[Christmas on VanFoodies] Entertaining Guests with a Sparkling Rose & Recipe Pairing

Is it a holiday tradition at your home/party to pop open a bottle (or two, or more) of sparkly? To prepare for the holiday season, we had the opportunity to sample the Summerhill Pyramid Winery’s Cipes Rose. I remember trying the Summerhill Brut at the FBC 2014 conference back in October and I quite enjoyed it, so I was quite excited about the Rose. But should it be added to your list of party wines? Let’s find out.

Summerhill Cipes Rose

According to the Summerhill website, the Cipes Rose is made with 100% organic grapes. The first 75% of juice was pressed after a 48 hour cold-soak on the skins. It has quite a pretty red hue, which would be fitting for Christmas.

As soon as we pop-opened the Rose, we were immediately hit by a sweet aroma. The amount of carbonation was just right, and there was a prominent strawberry note. It was light and refreshing, and easy drinking. Felt like a summer wine, but the bubbly would also make a great party wine. The Brut was drier, more crisp, and I prefer the Rose over the Brut.

The Cipes Rose would be great to pair with lighter protein such as fish, pork, chicken and turkey. We paired it with a tomato fish stew and the wine went quite well with the lightly spiced dish. In addition, we also prepared some Quinoa Crusted Falafel Mignon, a recipe provided by Summerhill. I thought I’d share with you here as well.

Quinoa Crusted Falafel Mignon Recipe

Recipe provided by Summerhill Pyramid Winery

Quinoa Crust

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup Red quinoa
• 1-1/2 cup Water
• 1 teaspoon Salt

Preparation

1. Put quinoa into pot with water.
2. Bring water to the boil, cover and simmer on low for 15 minutes.
3. Turn off heat, let sit for 10 minutes, remove lid, and pour onto baking sheet to cool.

The quinoa can be prepared the day before. Simply store the cooked quinoa in the fridge for the following day.

Chard Ribbon

Ingredients

• 6 leaves Rainbow or red chard
• 3L Salted water

We didn’t have any chard with us, so we used cabbage instead. The texture may be softer but we thought it worked.

Preparation

1. Bring 3L of water to a boil. Blanche the chard for 15 seconds, take them out and immerse in ice.
2. Take out the middle rib, cut leaves into long ribbons, approximately 1.5 inch thick. Put aside for later.

Falafel

Ingredients

• 1 can Chickpeas – drained and rinsed
• 1 Small onion, lime sized
• 3 cloves Garlic
• 2 tablespoons Parsley, chopped
• 2 tablespoons Cilantro, chopped
• 1 teaspoon Cumin
• 1/4 cup Chick pea flour
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• Pinch of Cayenne pepper

Because we didn’t have chick pea flour, we just substituted it with all-purpose flour. We also didn’t use any parsley, but increased the amount of cilantro by an extra tablespoon.

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until combined.
3. Form into pucks (mimicking a beef filet mignon) and wrap each puck with a ribbon of chard.
4. Crust top and bottom by dabbing in cooked quinoa, salt and pepper and a little olive oil.
5. Sear on one side in an ovenproof pan with a liberal amount of oil.
6. Finish in the oven for 5 to 7 minutes until crust forms.

Vinaigrette

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons Apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Tahini (sesame paste)
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 clove Garlic
• 250 ml Grapeseed oil
• Shallots
• 3 Cherry tomatoes
• Juice of 2 lemons
• Pinch of salt and pepper

Preparation

1. Combine all ingredients except oil in a blender, puree.
2. Drizzle oil to emulsify.
3. Serve the falafel with this vinaigrette.

Final Thoughts

If you follow the blog, you know we are big meat eaters, so this recipe was a diversion from our normal diet. The falafels were quite flavourful, especially with the extra cloves of garlic that we put in. The acidity in the vinaigrette also helps enhance the flavours. That being said, it is a complicated recipe and it’s quite time-consuming, so feel free to use your favourite falafel recipe to go with the Cipes Rose. The wine pairs well with the chickpeas and spices, so I think it will also work with a hummus dip or items with a Middle Eastern flavour profile. I do recommend you to pick up a bottle of the Summerhill Cipes Rose for one of your holiday parties this year!