Three Salty-Sweet Summer Food Pairings

When it comes to cool summer food pairings for our late harvest Dolce, Napa Valley, Our winery chef loves to turn to the fresh, local fruits of the season. Because no one (at least, no one here at the winery) is immune to the siren call of all things salty-sweet, we offer three great ways to enjoy more savory summer fare with Dolce. And they don’t require you to wait until dessert to serve them!

1. Prosciutto-Wrapped Melon: Whether it’s cantaloupe or honeydew, you want your melon at the peak of sweetness for this celebrated Italian antipasto dish. You also want the prosciutto paper-thin, so that the salty pork seems to melt into the fruit. Although marinating isn’t necessary, we like to slice our melon into slender wedges and lightly toss them in white balsamic and cracked pepper, before wrapping them with thin, two-inch prosciutto strips.

2. Gorgonzola Dolce-Stuffed Roasted Figs: Few things are more decadent than a dozen just-picked Mission figs, sliced, drizzled with balsamic vinegar and then stuffed with Gorgonzola Dolce, aka the “sweeter” Gorgonzola. We love to top ours with a single walnut slice and then “roast” them at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about five minutes. You can also wrap them in prosciutto and throw them on the grill. The cook time is the same, just make sure to rotate them to ensure that you cook the figs on all sides.

3. Grilled Peaches with Aged Balsamic: We can never resist the allure of a perfect peach. You know, the kind in which the juice rushes out with the first bite and dribbles down your chin. Although we love ‘em fresh, we’re equally drawn to the caramelized flavors that come out when you slice your peaches in half, brush them in oil and grill them. We found that about five minutes face down and four minutes face up – on a well-oiled grill at a medium-high heat – gives you rich concentrated flavors (not to mention gorgeous grill marks). A long swirl of aged balsamic adds just the right rich and tangy notes.

All three of these summer offerings follow our cardinal rule for pairing savory foods with late harvest wines: Keep the ingredients list short and the preparation elegant and simple! They also highlight the bright acidity, rich texture and the floral, stone fruit and butterscotch hallmarks of our Dolce, Napa Valley in unique – and mouthwatering – ways. For more recipes and late harvest wine pairing suggestions, click here. To experience the current vintage of Dolce, click here.