Tag Archives: Henry Fessy

Wine and food pairings 15: Southwestern-style stew with guacamole and pico de gallo

Artus Wolfaerts - Man Cooking Sausages
I’m cooking these sausages because the WC, once again, neglected to take a picture for this blog post.

The Wine Curmudgeon pairs wine with some of his favorite recipes in this occasional feature. This edition: three wines with a Southwestern-style stew, made with odd cuts of beef and pork.

The pandemic left me with some odd meat in the freezer – a package of beef short ribs with just three ribs, and what are you supposed to do with just three short ribs? There were also two of the saddest thinly sliced pork chops on record, maybe one-quarter of an inch thick at the thickest.

In other words, nothing I could make by itself that would actually be worth eating. So why not cook them together?

And the blog’s Southwestern-style stew was born.

Obviously, you can make this with just short ribs or just pork (shoulder, certainly) or even beef chuck, but it turned out exactly as I hoped. What makes this work is turning the pan drippings into a gravy with an immersion blender. You don’t lose any of the flavor and there’s no sauce-making aggravation.

I served the stew over Israeli couscous and topped each serving with a scoop of pico de gallo and guacamole. Store bought is OK, but it’s better and not that much work to make your own.

Click here to download or print a copy of the recipe. What wines to pair? Fruity reds to stand up to the spices, plus rose, because that’s one of the things rose does so well:

• Henry Fessy Gamay Noir 2020 ($12, purchased, 13.5%): I served this with the stew and it was spot on. This vintage is a little spicier and less ripe than the 2019, but still well done and enjoyable, with quality red fruit. Imported by Louis Latour

• Santa Julia Malbec Organica Rose 2020 ($10, purchased, 13.5%): This Argentine pink, a long-time blog favorite, is as it always is — crisp, a bit tart, a bit stony, and with strawberry fruit. Imported by Winesellers Ltd.

• Funckenhausen Red Blend 2020 ($15/1-liter, purchased, 13.9%): Funckenhausen, an Argentine producer, does several 1-liter wines made for everyday drinking. And it’s not damning with faint praise to say this wine, mostly malbec, is not the best; rather, it’s still professional and well made and perfect for this dish. Some berry fruit, a little tart, and not too soft. Imported by Global Vineyard Importers

Blog associate editor Churro contributed to this post.

More about wine and food pairings:
• Wine and food pairings 14: Mom’s chicken parmigiana
• Wine and food pairings 13: Crawfish etouffee
• Wine and food pairings 12: Hot dogs

Photo: “Artus Wolfaerts – Man Cooking Sausages” by irinaraquel is licensed under CC PDM 1.0

Slider photo: “Rome Elite Event: wine, food and nice people” by Yelp.com is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Wine of the week: Henry Fessy Gamay Noir 2019

Henry Fessy Gamay Noir
Henry Fessy Gamay Noir 2019/$10-$12

Not even the Trump tariff and almost surreal availability have stopped this wine from offering quality, terroir, and value

The Henry Fessy wines have a long and odd history on the blog. The 2016 vintage of this Frenvh red was on closeout for about six months at a Dallas retailer and I drank a lot of it.

Then it disappeared, and that was the only time I’ve seen Henry Fessy wines for sale in Dallas – even though the importer and Texas wholesaler have national reach.

So on-line retailers, where I got this and the 2019 Fessy old vines Beaujolais — which was undrinkable. That’s what 14.5 percent alcohol, to get around the Trump tariff, did for the wine.

So when I bought the Fessy Gamay Noir 2019 ($12, purchased, 13.5%), I didn’t expect much. That’s the way of the wine world these days, isn’t it?

Turns out that I had no reason to worry. The Gamay Noir is made from the gamay grape that’s used in Beaujolais But the gamay in this wine comes from throughout France. In this, all was as it should be. That means a bright, fresh wine with berry fruit that wasn’t especially ripe, plus soft tannins and refreshing acidity. Yes, it was a touch thin in the back, but after the Beaujolais, who’s complaining?

Chill this ever so slightly and drink it on its own or with anything that used to be called bistro cuisine – steak frites, roast chicken, or even pizza.

Imported by Louis Latour

Wine of the week: Henry Fessy Gamay Noir 2016

Henry Fessy gamayThe Henry Fessy gamay noir is a quality red at a more than fair price — and just in time for the holidays

The cheap wine gods have taken pity on the Wine Curmudgeon. Maybe it was all the plonk I drank this year, or that I had to write the same things over and over in 2018 – sweet when it’s supposed to be dry, over-ripe with too much alcohol, and not varietally correct. Because the cheap wine gods put the Henry Fessy gamay on a store shelf where I could find it.

The Henry Fessy gamay noir ($12, purchased, 12.5%) is the kind of red wine that used to be relatively easy to find but is a rarity in our Big Wine, sweet and smooth 21st century world. This French red is delicious, but more importantly, it’s varietally correct: It’s made with the gamay grape, so that means not quite tart berry fruit instead of the flabby softness that is all too common in cheap Beaujolais. Plus, there is a bit of zip, a lick of baking spice, and refreshing tannins. Missing is any hint of focus-group inspired smoothness or of residual sugar hiding behind fake oak and handfuls of added acidity.

This wine tastes like it should cost $17 or $18 instead of $12 (and I bought it on sale for $10). So what’s going on here? First, gamay isn’t a grape that gets much respect, even in France, and that tends to lower the price. Second, it’s not an appellation wine, but a vin de France, where the grapes came from anywhere in the country and which also lowers the price. Third, the producer is known for quality, high-end Beaujolais, so we get the expertise without the cost.

Highly recommended, and a candidate for the 2019 $10 Hall of Fame and Cheap Wine of the Year. This is the kind of wine to buy by the case and drink when you want a glass of quality at a more than fair price.

Imported by Louis Latour