10/11/07 Autumn Squash

Welcome to Vine to Wine this is your host Linda Moran. Today is food and wine pairing and it is autumn and those crazy looking squash are at the market and in the roadside stands. They are amazing! So colorful! So shapely! I am intrigued by them and I love to see and hear about how they're prepared and of course what wine is served with them. WOW! The abundance at this time of year is amazing! Of all of the squash out there I must admit the hubbard squash is one of my favorites. Well I like it because it lends itself so well to being the entire meal. You just hollow them out and add anything you want to the inside and bake it for a few hours. Any recipe that you might use to stuff a turkey would work. If I do wild rice stuffing I serve Spanish red wines or Washington Cab Franc. If I make a sausage and bread stuffing; I like to serve big Chardonnays or really spicy reds like Zinfandel or Syrah. The possibilities are endless with the hubbard squash. Now a squash that I grow because I love to eat it - is butternut squash. It makes a great soup that goes well with dry Riesling, dry Gewürztraminer and fruity styles of dry Rose. This is a squash that combines well with yams in a puree and topped with toasted hazelnuts it is a great side dish and works with softer style red wines such as Merlot, Grenache or Sangiovese. So go get one of those great looking vegetables make it a meal and find a great wine to go with it! Remember to send your wine questions to Linda at Vine to Wine dot net and thank you for joining me on today's Vine to Wine.