STORING ASPARAGUS Keep in a plastic bag in crisper drawer.
PREPARING ASPARAGUS Soak asparagus in cold water. To trim the asparagus, simply snap off the tough woody bottoms by bend the stalk at the natural breaking point (where the color changes from white to green), 1 to 2 inches from the base.
COOKING ASPARAGUS
There are so many ways to cook asparagus! Below are basic techniques:
Grilling
Set up grill for direct cooking over medium heat. Toss trimmed asparagus with extra-virgin olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place on the grill directly or in a grill basket. Grill until just tender and lightly charred, about 5 minutes.
Steaming
Steaming is a great option for the health-conscious cook because it utilizes very little or no fat. Place a steamer basket in a large pot filled with 1 inch water. Bring water to a boil. Add 1 pound trimmed asparagus, cover, and cook until crisp-tender, 2 to 6 minutes.
Blanching
Drop trimmed asparagus into a large pot of simmering water and leave it for about 3-4 minutes. Then drain and shock by putting it in an ice bath. When blanched, the texture of asparagus becomes a little softer, but still crisp, and the color brightens up.
Sautéing Sautéing asparagus is the cooking method most often used to prepare asparagus as side dishes to meat or fish entrees or in sauces for pasta. With sautéing as well as with stir-frying, it’s preferable to use blanched asparagus for softer texture. In a skillet, heat up oil or butter, add the trimmed asparagus and cook, tossing every once in a while, until tender but still firm and crispy, about 3 to 5 minutes. (For a healthier option use vegetable broth instead of oil or butter.)
Roasting
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place trimmed asparagus on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper; toss to combine. Roast asparagus until tender, tossing occasionally, about 15 minutes.
SERVING IDEAS
• Add asparagus to your favorite salad, stir-fry, or omlette.
• Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, melted butter, or grapeseed oil (such as Aprés Vin Lime Riesling or Roasted Garlic Grapeseed Oil).
• Squeeze lemon or lime juice over it.
• Douse with balsamic vinegar or any vinaigrette.
• Wrap with prosciutto.
• Top with shaved Parmesan and bake.
• Add a dollop of garlic sauce, lemon-thyme butter sauce, mustard sauce, or hollandaise sauce along-side.
• Serve with sauteed mushrooms.
• Sprinkle with fresh herbs, especially tarragon or chervil.
• Sprinkle with goat cheese and crumbled bacon.
ASPARAGUS RECIPES…
Betty Crocker Recipe
Grilled Asparagus and New Potatoes
Ingredients:
• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp lemon-pepper seasoning
• 6 small red potatoes, unpeeled, quartered
• 1 lb. fresh asparagus, trimmed
Step 1:
Heat grill (set to medium heat). In large shallow bowl, mix 1 Tbsp oil, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp lemon-pepper seasoning. Add potatoes and toss to coat. Place in grill basket.
Step 2:
Place grill basket on grill. Cook 15 minutes, shaking grill basket occasionally to turn and mix potatoes.
Step 3:
Meanwhile, place asparagus in same shallow bowl. Add remaining Tbsp oil, remaining 1/4 tsp salt, & remaining 1.4 tsp lemon-pepper seasoning. Toss to coat.
Step 4:
Add asparagus to potatoes in grill basket. Cook 10 minutes or until potatoes and asparagus are tender, shaking basket occasionally to turn and mix vegetables.
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Martha Stewart Online & Mario Batali's cookbook "Italian Grill"
Asparagus Wrapped in Pancetta with Citronette
Ingredients:
• 2 pounds large asparagus, 12 to 18 stalks per pound
• 4 ounces thinly sliced pancetta
• Grated zest and juice of 1 orange
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh thyme
• Coarse sea salt
Step 1:
Snap the tough bottom stalks off the asparagus. Unroll the slices of pancetta. Lay an asparagus spear on a slight diagonal across one slice and roll it up, covering as much of the stalk as possible but leaving the tip visible. Place on a tray or small baking sheet and repeat with the remaining asparagus. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour (this rest will help the pancetta adhere to the asparagus).
Step 2:
Preheat a gas grill or prepare a fire in a charcoal grill.
Step 3:
In a small bowl, whisk together the orange zest, juice, and mustard. Continuing to whisk, slowly drizzle in the olive oil until emulsified and smooth. Season with salt and pepper, and set aside.
Step 4:
Place the asparagus on the grill and cook, turning occasionally, until it is just tender and the pancetta is crisped, about 4 to 6 minutes. If the pancetta browns too much before the asparagus is cooked, move the spears to a cooler part of the grill.
Step 5:
Whisk the citronette again, and pour half of it onto a serving platter. Sprinkle with half of the chopped thyme and pile the asparagus on top. Drizzle with the remaining citronette and sprinkle with the remaining thyme. Serve with a small bowl of coarse sea salt for dipping.
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Recipe Sourced from William Sonoma Online
Asparagus-Parmesan Cheese Puffs
Ingredients:
• 1/4 lb. asparagus spears
• 3/4 cup milk
• 5 Tbs. unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 3 eggs, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded Gruyère cheese
Step 1:
Cut or snap off the tough stem ends from the asparagus spears and discard. Cut the spears crosswise on the diagonal into 1/4-inch pieces. Bring a sauté pan three-fourths full of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the asparagus and simmer just until tender, about 1 minute. Drain immediately and set aside.
Step 2:
In a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the milk and butter and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, sift together the flour, salt and cayenne pepper into a small bowl. As soon as the milk reaches a boil and the butter has melted, remove from the heat and add the flour mixture all at once. Using a wooden spoon, beat vigorously until the mixture thickens and pulls away from the sides of the pan, about 1 minute. Transfer to a bowl. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Let cool for 10 minutes.
Step 3:
Preheat an oven to 400°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and lightly butter the paper.
Step 4:
Add the asparagus, Parmigiano-Reggiano and Gruyère to the cooled dough and stir to mix well. Using a teaspoon, scoop up rounded spoonfuls of the dough and place them about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets.
Step 5:
Bake until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and, using a spatula, transfer the puffs to a warmed serving dish. Serve immediately.
Makes 36 puffs; serves 6.
Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Seasonal Celebration Series, Spring, by Joanne Weir (Time-Life Books, 1997).
Each winter, I try to inform our customers about how the season is progressing, challenges that we see coming, and my take as to how we are doing in the cellar. Again this year, our first concern is directed at the health of the vines.
The entire State was under a Winter Storm Advisory on the evening of Nov. 23, 2010. The forecast for our area was temperatures approaching 0° Fahrenheit. Until that date, we’d had an unusually temperate fall. A significant number of green leaves were still on the vine. Our harvest had gone longer than usual due to a cooler than normal growing season and so we were somewhat concerned about the susceptibility of our vines to the extreme cold. The latest bud hardiness numbers published by WSU showed that most of our varietals could be in jeopardy if temperatures reached negative numbers. Unfortunately, we did reach those critical temperatures (at least -2° F in our lowest, coldest sites). Since Thanksgiving, we have been generating bud damage levels from all of our blocks of grapes. The idea is that if we know what the level of damage is in each block, we can make the appropriate pruning adjustment for us to crop the grapes at the desired level.
The good news is that our particular area was spared from some of the more extreme temperatures that many of the other growing regions experienced. Most of our varietals received minimal to moderate levels of bud injury, and our ability to produce targeted tonnages is not in doubt. The bad news is that we did suffer significant damage to some of our key varieties, most notable would be Merlot and Syrah. We are hopeful that we can compensate our losses through pruning adjustments; however, the lower portions of the vineyards may be damaged to a level beyond that possibility. In addition, a couple of our Rhone whites, Rousanne and Marsanne, may not crop at all this season. On the red side, Zinfindel, Mouvedre, and Barbara all received major bud injury so we are anticipating that availability of those particular varieties might be extremely limited. I should note that we feel extremely lucky to have come through the event as well as we did.
A colloquialism that I often site to customers is that farmers do not need to make regular trips to Las Vegas because we gamble every day of our lives. This past year, with all of its botrytis issues and now the cold weather issues, is a prime example of what can happen in the coarse of a few months.
Based on our sampling information, we have commenced our spring work, which includes hedging and pruning the vines. We have started with Riesling, a variety with virtually no damage. As we move across the vineyard we will move into those varieties where adjustments will be necessary. The pruning strategy will be to finish with the most damaged blocks in order for us to have more time to observe the vines before decisions need to be made.
This year we will also be planting a new Riesling vineyard. With the winter damage comes the need to evaluate the nursery stock that we are purchasing for the planting. Greenhouse studies have already commenced to aid us in deciding if the plant material has been damaged and if so to what extent that injury has had on the viability of the plants. If everything looks good planting will commence late February.
Traditionally, we install the irrigation system and trellis just subsequent to planting so that by the first of May we will be able to start installation of the growth tubes (which serve as mini greenhouses). Growth tubes are placed around each plant to help stimulate the establishment of balanced, healthy vines. By the end of the Summer, the new vines should be established on the cordon wire, leading to the possibility of producing a very small crop in 2012. We are also contemplating the planting of a Concord vineyard if the plants are available. For those of you who may not be aware, we currently have 200 acres of Concord grapes that are sold exclusively to Welches for grape juice.
As we remember the 2010 crush, we will have plenty of bad memories based on the onset of botrytis and the subsequent crop loss. However, plenty of positive developments make 2010 memorable for the quality that will be found in the wines. The cooler growing season afforded us the opportunity to produce our first Pinot Noir. As we taste that wine, I am extremely confident that it will be an instant hit with our club members. I will let Marcus discuss the wines more fully, but as we taste these young wines in the cellar, we are convinced that the quality is good, if not stellar.
We will always remember that 2010 was the year we moved to Woodinville. The move has been very exciting. We have made many new friends in that venue and have found a staff that truly gets who we are and love to tell the story and have a strong belief in the quality of our wines. Some of the faces have changed over the year but Jim Loosemore has emerged as the face of that facility. Jim has been a club member since our first year in Prosser. He has spent a lifetime in the insurance industry, so the change of pace has reinvigorated him, in much the same way as this business has done for me on this front. We are extremely happy that Jim has come on board and he and his lieutenant, Brian Carter, are doing a great job with the tasting room in Woodinville.
Once again, I would like to thank you all for your support of our Winery and Family over the last year. We feel strongly that your faith in us will be validated again this year as we begin to figure out what other opportunities our presence in Woodinville will present. We wish you all the best in the coming year and hope that we have the opportunity to spend time with each of you in the coming year.
Tapas, assorted small plates featuring vivid colors and bold flavors, are a great way for you and that special someone to try a variety of tastes, even when it’s just dinner for two. With a handful of smaller plates, you can enjoy the food, but focus your attention on your valentine.
According to legend, tapas originated by kingly edict, when a Spanish king forbade serving wine without small snacks. They evolved from simple slices of bread to cover the glass to the great variety of hot and cold dishes found at Spanish restaurants today. Any more, you can even find tapas at all kinds of restaurants, often just a fancy way of describing dishes that are smaller and cheaper than entrées. This simple menu showcases some of the wonderful flavors of the land where tapas originated, lively, spicy, colorful Spain.
The Spiced Figs and Chickpea Stew recipes are adapted from Tapas: Sensational Small Plates From Spain by Joyce Goldstein. The Pan con Tomate is a simple, traditional Spanish dish.
What better way to enjoy tapas than with Tempranillo! As Spain’s most popular red variety, Tempranillo tends to be higher in acid and lower in alcohol and perfect for matching with food. The flavor profile is often predominently red fruits, such as cherries, yet with a rustic edge. Airfield Estates 2009 Tempranillo showcases succulent, ripe flavors of boysenberry and cherry that combine with soft tannins and lead to a smooth, well-balanced finish.
Tempranillo is a wine grape that we have only been growing for five years, however, we believe that it has a lot of potential in the Yakima Valley. Tempranillo grapes tend to do well in a high desert environment where grapes experience warm days and cool nights and receive little precipitation. The word Tempranillo stems from the Spanish word temprano, which means early. Tempranillo is an early ripening grape. It is always one of the first grapes we harvest on our family farm.
Another wine pairing option for those who prefer a cool white with their tapas is the 2009 Lightning. It’s refreshing natural acidity pairs well with the food, and it has enough palate weight not to get overwhelm by the bold Spanish flavors.
Chickpea and Spinach Stew Makes great leftovers for the next day’s lunch. Optional: Serve with fried or hard boiled eggs.
Spiced Figs Fig mixture can be made a day in advance. Optional: Serve with grilled pork sausages to add protein to your meal.
Pan con Tomate Optional: Serve with serrano ham slices and manchego cheese
A Valentine’s Day meal wouldn’t be complete without dessert!
Wow your honey with this silky, scrumptious chocolate glazed chocolate tort. How about making it in a heart shaped pan and giving your heart and chocolate all in one?!?
This dessert is perfect for adapting in any of the flavors that complement chocolate – try a shot of espresso in the crust, or a little cayenne powder or mint oil in the filling. With a dessert this luscious, you can’t go wrong. (Adapted from Gourmet magazine.)
After dessert, finish off the evening with a goodnight kiss of Airfield Estates 2009 Late Harvest Gewürztraminer. Rich, creamy, and delectably sweet, this wine showcases flavors of lychee and pear. (18.5% Residual Sugar)
Chocolate Glazed Chocolate Tort Makes an approximately 10†diameter tort. Optional: Serve with fresh berries or berry sauce.
2009 COUNOISE – DOUBLE GOLD
100% Counoise. As a great blending component, this varietal often goes unnoticed. However, this vintage produced a wine of such high quality that it warranted being bottled as a stand-alone variety. This medium-bodied wine is multi-dimensional with layers of spice, toasted oak, dark cherry, and plum. It has soft tannins, an elegant structure, and exceptional balance. It pairs well with chicken, turkey, slow-cooked meats, and creamy pasta dishes.
• Silver Medal, 2010 Tri-Cities Wine Festival
$28 (This limited release is only available to Airfield Wine Club Members.)
2008 MERLOT – GOLD 100% Merlot. This complex, concentrated Merlot captivates the senses with intense flavors of dark berry and plum. Low yielding vines and extended barrel aging have brought forth supple tannins and a full-bodied mouthfeel creating a balance that can hold its own against hearty meats, yet it pairs perfectly with pasta.
2009 TEMPRANILLO – GOLD
100% Tempranillo. This red wine will surely captivate the senses. It showcases succulent, ripe flavors of boysenberry and blueberry. Upon entry, it exhibits a smooth, round, mouthfeel with a striking balance. On the finish, the tannins take hold and linger on the tongue. This wine is traditionally paired with Spanish style dishes. It is a good match for flavorful grilled meats, spicy foods, and medium hard to hard cheeses.
2009 MUSTANG – SILVER
61% Syrah, 25% Grenache, 7% Cinsault, 5% Mourvèdre, & 2% Cousoise. This Rhone style red blend lends complexity to both the nose and the palate. Concentrated flavors of cherry emerge with underlying hints of white pepper and toasted oak. Yielding velvety tannins and a smooth, well-balanced finish, this wine pairs impeccable with grilled meats, wild game, robust cheeses, and rich flavored pastas.
$25 (Please email info@airfieldwines.com for ordering information.)
2008 AVIATOR – SILVER
This complex blend has a rich bouquet of dark berries, spice and vanilla bean. Well structured tannins frame the way for flavors of boysenberry and black cherry to disperse across the palate. Enjoy this rich blend with pheasant, braised meats, and hard cheeses.
• 92 Points, Wine Advocate
• Best of Class, 2010 Tri-Cities Wine Festival
• Bronze Medal, 2010 NW Food & Wine Festival
2009 UNOAKED CHARDONNAY
Crisp, dry, and refreshing with aromas of honeysuckle, melon, and tropical fruit, this 100% stainless steel fermented Chardonnay showcases authentic varietal characteristics. Citrus flavors engage the palate with a round, lively mouthfeel and a lingering finish. This wine is enjoyable on its own or pairs nicely with seafood and pan-Asian cuisine.
Our bookkeeper, Ann, saw this Thomas Keller recipe on the Today Show a few days ago and decided to test it out on some homemade scones. It’s delicious!
Ingredients:
• 2 pounds Santa Rosa plums (we got whatever type of plums they had at Costco)
• 1 cup Zinfandel (or red wine of your choice, we used our 2009 Zinfandel)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar, or to taste (more sugar may be necessary depending on how tart the plums are)
Instructions:
• Cut the flesh of the plums away from the pits and cut into 3/4-inch pieces.
• Combine the plums, wine, and sugar in a large saucepan and attach a candy thermometer to the pan.
• Bring to a simmer over medium- high heat, then lower the heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook, skimming off any foam that rises to the top, until the jam reaches 215° to 220°F.
• Remove from the heat. Taste the jam and add additional sugar as needed, stirring to dissolve it.
• Spoon into a canning jar or other storage container, cover, and let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for up to 1 month.
MAKES 1 1/2 CUPS
*Note on Plate Testing: To check that compotes, jams, and jellies are at the right consistency, put a tablespoon of what you’re cooking on a plate and chill it in the refrigerator for 10 minutes. If it is too thin, return to the heat, cook a few more minutes, and retest.
Airfield Estates is gearing up for the holiday season! Let us reduce the stress and frenzy of your holiday shopping by offering a wide array of gift ideas for your friends and family.
Visit either our Woodinville or Prosser tasting room to find gifts in all shapes and sizes. Stuff stockings with Airfield Corkscrews ($10) or Vinturi Aerators ($39.95). Serve a lovely meal with Airfield wines served in Airfield Logo Wine Glasses ($7.50). Or, celebrate Christmas morning with a 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Double Magnum ($180 – wine club discounts apply) under the tree.
If visiting one of our two tasting rooms is not convenient for your holiday shopping, visit our online store. Send wooden gifts boxes filled with Airfield wines and treats to those distant loved ones during the holiday season. Feel free to call the winery directly at 509-786-7401 if you would like assistance customizing a gift.
Gift cards and annual wine club memberships are also available. Whatever your fancy, you’re sure to elevate the season with a gift from Airfield Estates.
The 2010 grape harvest will be remembered for many years to come. The long winter and cool growing season resulted in a slow to mature crop and higher than normal acid levels. In addition, the untimely late summer rains resulted in extremely high levels of botrytis (a wine grape fungus) in specific vineyard blocks.
The net result, from the vineyard perspective, was that many of the blocks required additional crop thinning to drop the late season rot, hand-picking rather than mechanical harvesting where rot was most severe, and in some cases loss of the entire vineyard block. All of these factors significantly impacted the profitability of our farm.
On a brighter note… with these challenges came opportunities. Generally, the Yakima Valley is thought of to be too warm of a site for Pinot Noir. But with the coolest growing season in my memory, we are taking advantage of this opportunity to produce a world class Pinot Noir.
Additionally, the botrytis will give us opportunities in wine making that are not available in normal growing seasons. In general, there are two types of botrytis infections that can occur on wine grapes:
• Grey Rot – undesirable botrytis that results during consistently wet conditions.
• Noble Rot – desirable botrytis that occurs when drier conditions follow wetter.
Fortunately, we experienced the latter conditions with one of our Riesling blocks. Noble Rot dehydrates and shrivels the grapes, thus concentrating the sugars and producing a distinctively sweet dessert wine. In past vintages, we have always made our Late Harvest Wines in the style of an Ice Wine (where the grapes are frozen in order to concentrate the sugars). However, this year we are making our very first Late Harvest Riesling in the Botrytis Style (similar to the Sauternes of France).
Although the farm was affected in a negative fashion this fall, one of the more note worthy items is that the vineyard blocks that were designated to Airfield were clean and of high quality. And we are pleased to announce that the 2010 wines that we’ve been sampling in the cellar have great balance and flavor.
I would like to thank each one of you for your support and loyalty. I have found that this has been the most rewarding period of my life and despite the economic challenges and now the natural challenges of 2010, I would not trade these days for any others.
OCT. 9, 2010 - Jim Loosemore, Airfield's Woodinville Tasting Room Manager, shows an example of botrytis. (Photo taken by Jason Fukura of f/8.3 photography)
SLIDESHOWS
Below are slideshows of our 2010 Vineyard Run & Grape Stomp. The photos are fantastic! We’d like to send out a big thanks to our photographer Jason Fukura of f/8.3 photography for his great work.
As we wind down 2010, we would like to share with you some exciting news regarding our Officer’s Wine Club. First and foremost let us thank each and every one of you for your loyal support. We are honored to have such fantastic club members and hope you feel a part of our extended family!
With the addition of our Woodinville tasting room we have seen tremendous growth in our clubs. Due to this rapid increase in club membership and the desire to uphold an elite club, we have decided to set a cap in both our B-17 and B-29 clubs in 2011. The structure of these clubs will remain the same (1 case & 2 case annual commitments).
Please help us spread the word to your friends and family who may be interested in being a part of our Wine Clubs, as we anticipate them reaching maximum capacity come 2011 year end.
Additionally, please ensure you maintain your current membership by purchasing your annual wine commitment come December 31, 2010 (B-17: 12 bottles/year; B-29: 24 bottles/year).
To check the status of your purchase history, please email info@airfieldwines.com or call the winery directly at 509-786-7401.
Finally, if you have been debating upgrading from the B-17 to B-29 club, please do not delay, as space is very limited.
