Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/39104
UP Sauvignon and Merlot, all from the 2009 vintage. The wines are as friendly to the wallet as they are to the palate, retailing at an SRP of $12.99. “We’ve been working for the last ten years to develop the wine and the language to go with it,” says Wente, the family’s Fifth Generation Winemaker. “Our goal was food-friendly, fruit- forward approachable wines.” Food Network General Manager Sergei Kuharsky describes the wines as aspirational. “They’re not celebrity wines—that’s not our strategy,” he says, “We’re looking to decode wine for consumers and create a vocabulary that’s not off-putting.” So forget about the esoteric descriptors like cedar box, green olive and musk. In entwine, consumers will find tasting notes that they understand—a rich, fruity and herbaceous Cabernet, for example, that tastes like “eating raspberry jam off of a sprig WHAT WE TASTED Food Network executive chef Robert Bleifer and Rupa Bhattacharya, culinary developer/writer, prepared a tasting menu of simple bites consisting of easy items people might grab on their way home from work: entwine 2009 Pinot Grigio Tasting note: Crisp, refreshing, and citrusy, like a green apple drizzled with lime juice and honey. Served with: salty Parmesan cheese, mini chicken and mango tostadas, grilled shrimp with feta and watercress roasted tomato and bread salad entwine 2009 Chardonnay Tasting note: Easy-drinking, with crisp fall fruit—think toast spread with homemade apple butter. Served with: kettle-cooked potato chips, roasted mush- rooms with garlic-anchovy butter, seared scallop with fennel and orange salad, curried chicken with apples / the tasting panel / august 201 1 of thyme.” Recommended food pairings will be functional, not fancy: salami, pizza, mac and cheese, meatloaf, grilled pork, wild salmon and weeknight dinners. The launch will center around consumer events and eventu- ally leverage the Food Network brand on cable television. There are plans to showcase the wines online alongside thousands of recipes developed by its kitchens. National merchandising plans are still a work in progress, but Hoopes says they’ll target core wine drinkers and “food adventurers.” And while millennials won’t be the target per se (“What’s aspirational to some will be a natural fit for millennials” says Hoopes), entwine will harness the power of social media to get the message out. Wente says they plan to hold live taste events via Facebook and Twitter. entwine 2009 Merlot Tasting note: Juicy and mouthwatering:—think mid-sum- mer plums and cherries with a hint of black tea. Served with: cured meats such as salami, spinach and almond crostini, roasted cauliflower with chilies and capers, grilled pork tenderloin with tomato jam and fried leeks entwine 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Tasting note: Rich, fruity, and herbaceous— like eating raspberry jam off of a sprig of thyme. Served with: cheese straws, marinated carrot salad with yogurt pita crisps, fennel gratin, grilled hanger steak with herbes de provence