Arugula and Escarole Salad with Warm Port Dressing and Napa Valley Viognier
Start the night with a warm salad of arugula, escarole, blue cheese, and a warm fig port dressing. Simmering the fortified wine and figs together creates a subtly sweet and silky dressing that subdues the bitterness of the lettuces without compromising their crispness.
To pair with this winter salad, try our 2020 Napa Valley Viognier. This is a lively and vibrant wine that has a lean core of fresh acidity that will cut through the richness of the blue cheese and dressing. With classic stone fruit flavors and delicate notes of toasted almond and honeysuckle, it’s a refreshing way to start the meal while complex enough to stand up to the variety of flavors in the salad.
Serves: 6 Cook time: 40 Mins
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup fortified red wine such as our 2016 Foritifed Petite Sirah
- ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
- 4 ounces dried figs, stems removed
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 2 medium shallots, minced
- ¼ teaspoon table salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 large bunches of arugula, with leaves torn into bite-sized pieces
- 1 medium head escarole, with leaves torn into bite-sized pieces
- ¼ pound blue cheese, crumbled
Instructions
- Bring the fortified wine, sugar, and figs to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Cover the pan, reduce the heat, and simmer until the figs are soft, but not too soft, about 15 minutes.
- Remove the figs with a slotted spoon while reserving the rest of the liquid. After the figs are cool enough to handle, cut them into quarters and set them aside.
- Whisk the vinegar, shallots, salt, and pepper into the fortified wine and then gradually whisk in the oil to emulsify. Add in the figs and reheat over medium heat until just steaming, stirring occasionally.
- Toss the greens with the warm dressing in a large mixing bowl. Divide the greens among each plate and sprinkle with blue cheese. Serve immediately with a slightly chilled Napa Valley Viognier.
Saffron Shrimp and Orzo Risotto with Napa Valley Chardonnay
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 onion, chopped fine
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 ½ cups orzo
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 ¾ teaspoons table salt, divided
- ½ teaspoon pepper, divided
- ½ teaspoon saffron threads, crumbled
- 1 ½ pounds extra-large shrimp (21 to 25 per pound), peeled, deveined, and tails removed
- 1 cup vegetables of your liking
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
- ½ teaspoon grated lemon zest plus 1 tablespoon of juice
Instructions
- Melt butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until the onion is softened about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and orzo and cook until lightly toasted. Stir in the broth, 1 ¼ teaspoons salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, and saffron. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the orzo is just tender about 12 minutes.
- In the meantime, pat shrimp dry and sprinkle with ½ salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Then stir the shrimp and vegetables into the risotto and cook, covered, until the shrimp are opaque, about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in parsley, lemon zest, and juice. Serve warm with slightly chilled Napa Valley Chardonnay.
Classic Chocolate Soufflés with Audentia Estate Grown Cabernet Sauvignon
There’s only one way to close out Valentine’s Day and that’s with cabernet and chocolate. Try your hand at a traditional chocolate soufflé to send the evening off with a flourish. We adjusted the ratios of chocolate and butter in the soufflé to allow the dark intensity of the chocolate to shine and better complement the distinctive notes in the wine.
Our Audentia Cabernet Sauvignon is crafted from the Estate's most select cabernet sauvignon and petite sirah vineyards that push to produce the most expressive and distinct fruit. With lush dark berry flavors on the nose and palate and its mouth-enveloping texture and elegant structure pair with the soufflé to create a truly decadent pair.
Serves: 6 Cook time: 1 Hour
Ingredients
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, plus 1/3 cup
- 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped coarse
- ⅛ teaspoon table salt
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon orange liqueur
- 6 large egg yolks
- 8 large egg whites
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
Instructions
Note: If you’d prefer to make individual soufflés, simply fill six 8-ounce ramekins with the chocolate mixture and reduce the baking time to 16 minutes.
- Heat oven to 375 degrees and adjust oven rack to the middle position. Use 1 tablespoon of softened butter to grease the inside of a 2-quart soufflé dish. Next, evenly coat the inside of the buttered dish with 1 tablespoon of sugar. Store the dish in the fridge until ready to use.
- Melt chocolate and remaining butter in a medium bowl and set over a pan of simmering water. Turn off the heat and then stir in salt, vanilla, and liqueur. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, beat the yolks and remaining sugar until thick, about 3 minutes. Fold into the chocolate mixture.
- In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar and continue to beat until stiff, moist peaks form.
- Vigorously stir one-quarter of the whipped egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Then, gently fold in the remaining egg whites until just incorporated. Spoon mixture into prepared dish or dishes and bake for about 25 minutes or until the exterior is firmly set and fully risen. Serve immediately with Audentia Cabernet Sauvignon.
