Pot Roast first slow smoked right on the grate and then placed into a cast iron dutch oven along with vegetables and seasoned braising liquid until fall off the bone tender. Who says you can’t enjoy Pot Roast in the Summertime?
Welcome to this month’s Wine Pairing Weekend hosted by Jeff of Food Wine Click. Jeff arranged for some of the members of our group to receive samples from Wines of Moldova. You can learn more in his Preview Post.
I received two bottles for sampling. A white made from the indigenous Viorica grape of Moldova and a red considered the king of red wines. I will be sharing my tasting notes on both wines here in this post as well as with the group when we enjoy twitter chat at 11 am eastern this morning following #WinePW. We would love to have you join us.
First let’s talk a little bit about Moldova. Moldova is located in Eastern Europe and was once a Soviet Republic. It neighbors Romania and Ukraine. Moldova has been making wines for over 4000 years. They are a very popular wine growing region.
Moldova has 3 historical wine regions,Valul lui Traian, Stefan Voda and Codru. The white wine that I was sent is 100% Viorica, an indigenous grape of Moldova. While popular there it is little known outside of the area.
I poured this wine pool side on a hot, sultry day. It is bright, clear and crisp. It smells sweet but is dry and acidic. The perfect wine to refresh on a steamy day. I paired this wine with Seafood Biryani and it was a match made in Heaven.
The red wine I sampled was a Negru de Purcari, a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Saparavi and 5% Rara Neagra. Saparavi is a red grape indigenous to the country of Georgia, which also makes fine wines, but that is a topic for another day. Rara Neagra is native to Moldova and Ukraine.
This wine is my kind of wine!!!! It is very smooth and dry with floral notes left on the tongue. It has pepper and spice on the nose. It pours a deep purple almost black. I know that those surprising floral notes did not come from the Cab. I don’t know which of the other 2 varietals added that dimension but it was lovely.
This wine paired so well with my pot roast that I made on the smoker. If you have a free day when you are going to be out lounging poolside anyway, consider making this amazing pot roast. It does take a full day but it is mostly hands off and so very delicious.
Written by : A Day in the Life on the Farm
