Memorial Day Celebrations
Memorial Day is an American federal holiday to honor our military. Memorial Day celebrations include community parades, speeches by local politicians, municipal bands concerts featuring patriotic music and visiting cemeteries to place American flags at the grave sites of fallen U.S. Soldiers. This is an leading holiday to identify and thank our veterans and their families for their sacrifices to our country.
Worthy Wines to Toast Our Military
After attending a patriotic gathering, it's time to take benefit of the warmer weather by heating up your grill. Memorial Day weekend kicks off the Chicago summer grilling season, as backyard Bbq kings dust off their grills and get ready for some serious grilling and chilling. House and friends accumulate at these backyard barbeques and raise a toast to our aid men and women that protect our freedoms. Let's find some good wine pairings that do this toasting proud.
Holiday gatherings will feature steaks, hamburgers or sausages directly on the grill or slow cooked Bbq entrees prepared with wood smoke. Most former grill masters will tell you that true Bbq must include wood smoke and indirect heat. Serious Bbq folks have a dedicated smoker. If you have a charcoal kettle grill, you achieve smoking your entree by placing the coals on one side of the grill to originate both direct and indirect heat zones. To help control your cooking temperature, plainly turn the grill grate either over or away from the coals. If you have a gas grill and wish to Bbq with smoke, you can improvise by adding a metal wood chip box (filled with soaked wood chips) located over a lighted section of the grill and also turn off a grill zone, providing a cool area to gently cook your entree.
Memorial Day Wines
As grilled or barbeque entrees can include seafood, poultry, pork and beef, I've included a suggested wine pairing matrix for these possibilities. Suggestions include:
Light, White Fish: Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Pinot Grigio
Crab, Lobster, Shrimp, Scallops: Chardonnay, Pinot Gris
Bratwurst: Kabinett style Riesling
Salmon: Pinot Noir
Pork Chops: Kabinett style Riesling, Sangiovese
Pork Tenderloin: Zinfandel, Pinot Noir
Hamburgers and Bbq Ribs: Zinfandel
Steak and Lamb: Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah
In researching this column, a wine that is routinely enjoyed at maritime Corp Ball birthday parties is Jarhead Red. This winery was founded by two Marines who make a donation for each bottle purchased to the maritime Corp Scholarship Foundation, which offers educational aid to families of Marines. This may offer another way to salute our military while sipping a bold red with your grilled steak. Other wines with a military theme include Airfield Estates, a winery established on an old World War Ii airbase, Highflyer Wines with vineyards planted at 1,100 feet in Napa Valley and Cosentino's CigarZin wine that conjures up the image of a cigar smoking Sergeant. Any way you observe Memorial Day, raise a toast to our men, women and their families of the armed military that reduce for us, so we can enjoy our freedoms here at home.
Suggested Memorial Day Wine Picks
Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc/Viognier, California (90 rating by R. Parker)
Hogue Cellars Riesling, Washington (not rated, tasted and recommended)
Airfield Estates Unoaked Chardonnay, Washington (87 rating by Wine Advocate)
Jarhead Red, California (not rated nor tasted)
Highflyer Grenache Blanc, California (not rated - melon, citrus, mineral notes)
Cosentino CigarZin Zinfandel, California (not rated, tasted and recommended)
Airfield Estates Cabernet Sauvignon, Washington (90 rating by Wine Advocate)
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