Last week, we invited Chef Eric Upper to share his tips on great grilling wines and Cabernet-friendly recipes for summer entertaining. Chef Upper was the co-host for our July Hosted at Home Virtual Wine Tasting Experience, and if you've not yet heard of our new monthly subscription service, Hosted at Home, you can find out more here. A Chef Upper was a virtual wine tasting pro, and he developed some fantastic Cabernet grilling recipes to pair with the two Napa Valley wines in Hosted at Home's July wine shipment: Nickel & Nickel Air Show Vineyard Cabernet and Nickel & Nickel Hayne Vineyard Cabernet.
We are excited to share the recipes and the inspiration behind them with you now!
When we told Chef Upper we were spotlighting two phenomenal single-vineyard Cabernets this month, he was quick to suggest that a mouthwatering filet mignon and a flavor-packed vegetarian fusilli dish might showcase how versatile Napa Valley Cabernet pairings can be!
Chef Upper's Fusilli Estate was inspired by his weekly forays at the San Francisco farmers market and his personal relationships with many of the area farms. Estate means summer in Italian, and this dish is very much about vegetables that are at the height of season right now, Upper says.
As for the filet mignon, included both searing and grilling directions for these filet mignons, along with a classic hollandaise. A tender lean cut of beef paired with a luscious sauce is just such a great combination."
Get the Fusilli Estate Recipe | Make Filet Mignon with Hollandaise
About the Wine Pairings:Â Winemaker Joe Harden's not shy about calling Nickel & Nickel Hayne Vineyard Cabernet one of his favorite Napa Valley wines of the 2017 vintage, praising it for having delicious layers of dark, bright fruit while possessing the structure and concentration we expect from St. Helena Cabernet. Harden describes Nickel & Nickel's Air Show Vineyard Cabernet as having an explosion of really pretty, fresh fruit flavors and super fine-grained tannins that make it an approachable and versatile wine to pair with food.
Both Napa Valley Cabernets paired deliciously with Chef Upper's recipes and definitely earned top spots on his list of great grilling wines for summer.
Want more mouthwatering grilling and barbecue wines? Check out our full single-vineyard Cabernet lineup here. Then explore our recipe archives for steak and Cabernet menus, burger and wine inspiration, soups, salads and more!
