TGIF! Food & Wine

Welcome to Vine to Wine this is your host Linda Moran. Friday is the day of the week when I really look forward to great food and wine. So join me as we put together a great meal featuring wonderful seasonal fair. The winter weather is really great for serving dishes that need to be cooked for hours in the oven. On a recent trip to visit friends in wine country the chef of the household prepared a wild boar dinner served with really great wines from Washington and California. He ordered an 8 lb boned boar roast from a butcher that specializes in exotic meats. He rubbed the roast in dry classic Italian seasoning and then seared it in hot olive oil. He then roasted it with lots of garlic, crushed tomatoes, quartered onions and a domestic Barbera wine, for five hours. Then he adds a dozen halved and cored, but not peeled, pears and continues to cook it 20 minutes. Served with a mushroom risotto and a green salad - it couldn't get any better ... until he brought out the wines. They were amazing; all Italian varietals that are being grown in both Washington and California. The fruit forward nature of the wines with a bit of oak aging was excellent. There was a Sangiovese blended with Cabernet Sauvignon that was the hit of the evening. These wines were mostly from very young plantings – vineyards less than 10 years old. And since they are this good now, we have some very promising vintages to look forward to. So take your time and slow cook a wonderful dish and search out a few of those very interesting Italian varieties grown here in the United States. And thanks for joining me on Vine to Wine.