The 2010 Riesling from Cooper’s Hawk Vineyards is the personal favourite of Cooper’s Hawk staff member, Tracie Gonneau. It is 100% Riesling – an off dry medium bodied wine with hints of Granny Smith apple and petrol on the nose. Plenty of acidity and minerality fill the palate with a long finish of pear. This Riesling is a food friendly wine and pairs nicely with local perch or pickeral. With Christmas and the holidays upon us it is also a perfect match for a turkey dinner with all the trimmings. This wine also begs for salty cheeses, potato chips and popcorn.
Back on Day 8 of the 2011 30 Days of Local Wine, Chef Scott Edmunds of Centro started off a 4-course meal with a Pear Salad. He used this Riesling as the inspiration for course two:
Seafood Risotto
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup chopped onions
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 6 cups seafood stock
- 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
- 1 pound (2 cups) Arborio rice
- 2 pounds assorted Mediterranean shellfish and seafood
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/4 cup hand crushed canned tomatoes
Directions
In a large saute pan, over medium heat, heat the oil. Add the onions. Season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring. Saute until the onions are slightly soft, about 3 minutes. Add the stock and garlic. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to medium, and simmer for about 6 minutes. Add the rice and simmer for 12 minutes, stirring constantly.
Clean, trim and dice the shellfish and seafood. Season the seafood with salt and pepper. Continue to cook for 6 minutes. Stir in the butter , and hand crushed canned tomatoes. Simmer for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat. Spoon the risotto in the center of each shallow bowl.
