Thursday, November 18, 2010

Oxtail Stew and 3 Old Spaniards

With the cooler Autumn weather arriving I've been using the slow cooker and sous  vide to create some hearty wintery dishes. This week Helen and I cooked an eight hour oxtail stew inspired by Spain's Rabo de Toro paired with three old vine Spanish reds. For the stew the addition of  dark chocolate adds a lot of  richness and wine complimenting ability. The basic recipe including liberties we took based on in house ingredients for two was:

1 lb oxtails (browned on the grill)
10 pearl onions
1 parsnip, peeled and coarsely diced
1 small Spanish onion, diced
1 medium carrot peeled and diced
1/2  red bell pepper, diced
1 celery stalk,  diced
2  diced tomatoes
3 small white potatoes (halved)
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tbsp thyme
1 tsp oregano
2 bay leaves
1.5 oz  70% dark chocolate (microplaned)
1 cup beef stock
1 cup dry red wine (used 1/3 of each reds to make a cup)
salt and pepper to taste
Cook in a slow cooker on HIGH for 6 hours and SIMMER for two or more.

I went with an Spanish Old Vine budget theme for the wine pairings to include the 2007 Bodegas Olivares Alto de la Hoya Jumilla, Bodegas Castano La Casona 2008 Old Vine Monastrell Yelca and the Le Guitar Old Vine Tempranillo Garancha 2007 all easly available in the BC marketplace.

2007 Bodegas Olivares Alto de la Hoya Jumilla $16.99
Old Vine Monastrell 98%

Dark purple colour with aromas of smoke, hay (floral) , spice, and dark berries. Medium-bodied to full-bodied with soft tannins for 2-3 years cellaring potential with flavours of mulberry, blackberry, blueberry, and black cherry. Subtle notes of hay and mineral in the mid palate and a long berry and savoury hay/earthy and liquorice finish. Well balanced with decent acidity and alcohol levels.


Bodgeas Castano La Casona 2008 Old Vine Monastrell Yecla $9.50
40 – 60 year old vine Monastrell
Ruby purple with black pepper and blueberry aromas. Medium to full-bodied with lush plum, blueberry, and savoury almost meaty hints on the nose. Medium to full-bodied with lush texture and flavours of ripe berry (carbonic maceration?) layered by hints of game, fresh black pepper,cherry, and a bit of dark chocolate.


Le Guitar Old Vine Tempranillo Garnacha Navarra 2007 $13.99
 Old Vine  (vines between 60- 100 years old) 55% Tempranillo  and 45% garnacha

Ruby purple colour with aromas of maraschino cherry and plum.  Medium-bodied with red plum, chocolate, and fruit compote notes finishing with some rustic chewy tannins - good food wine.

All three wines worked well with the hearty and rustic stew. Like your dinner guests, the Bodegas Olivares  is a classy great value wine on its own or with the oxtail. The La Castona with its pepper, meaty, and  chocolate notes was the perfect foodie friend pairing and best overal pair with the oxtail; while Red Guitar is like your sexy hipster friend which everyone enjoyed.

2 comments:

  1. Great blog! Are you still out there in blogland? Have you posted nothing since November of 2010?

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  2. I am sure it would be a tasty drink because the description about this product is very fair and explaining everything clearly.

    ReplyDelete