Article by Wendy Kilk
This month our wine pairing weekend group has been invited to visit Navarra, Spain by Gwendolyn of Wine Predator.
To help us on this journey we were each provided with samples of Navarra wine, graciously donated by Susannah & April of Navarra Wine. While I appreciate receiving samples, you can rest assured that all opinions written in this blog are exclusively my own and I have received no monetary compensation for this post.
I was not familiar with Navarra wines at all. I’m not really familiar with Spanish wines, other than an occasional Rioja. I learned quite a bit from Gwen’s Invitation Post. I also did some exploring on my own after receiving the wines.
This Chardonnay pours a beautiful golden hue and has herbaceous notes mildly tamed by oak. I used it in my dish and enjoyed a glass as I cooked. It was wonderful by itself. When paired with my meal, it took on a sweetness that hadn’t been noticeable on it’s own. I think it was a good pairing but it is not the one I chose to showcase for today’s event.
For today’s event I wanted to pair a Spanish Wine with Spanish Food. I specifically was looking for a dish that would pair well with the bottle of Vendimmio Selecionada (Selected Harvest) from Garcia Burgos. I was unable to determine which grapes were used in this bottling. This bottle was not sent as a sample. I had purchased this bottle prior to finding out that we would be receiving samples for this event.
I went searching for Spanish foods and came across a blog called Spain Recipes. This blog had a section all about the food and wine found in Navarra as well as the rest of the Country.
I drooled over the pages and was excited when I found this recipe for Croquetas de Jamon (Ham Croquettes). I had the last of the Easter ham in the refrigerator and this was the perfect way to use it.