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Tag Archive for: wine pairing

Easter candy wine pairing

Easter candy & St. James Winery wine! Each is a treat on its own – as a pairing – pure indulgence.

 

Created for wine lovers, this Easter candy & wine pairing guide features the best of the season’s tastes, smells, and festive fun!  We’ve chosen six classic Easter goodies and paired them with their perfect St. James Winery wines. Taste your favorites, or taste them all – just be sure to leave one out for the Easter Bunny!

 

Reese’s Eggs + Concord

An Easter candy & wine pairing as classic as peanut butter and jelly, your favorite Reese’s peanut butter cups in holiday-egg-shape pair naturally with the fresh grape flavor of sweet Concord wine.
To start with, we love the creamy peanut butter and rich milk chocolate in the Reese’s. Oh, what it does to the senses when paired with juicy, sweet Concord wine that’s reminiscent of grape jam!

Concord wine and Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs

 

Cadbury Chocolate Creme Egg + Friendship School Red

Slightly off traditional, this pairing features the chocolate version of the Cadbury Creme Egg and our favorite semi-dry red, Friendship School. The wine, a red blend, is light-bodied and boasts black cherry on the palate. These qualities pair magnificently with the rich and creamy egg. Bite, sip, repeat. Sure to put a hop in your step, we suggest tucking an egg or two away for a rainy day delight.

Easter candy and wine pairing

 

Peeps + Strawberry Citrus

Classic Peeps marshmallow delights, with their pillowy texture and sugar coating, paired with our newest seasonal wine, Strawberry Citrus, is a match straight from the bunny trail! Strawberry Citrus has rapidly become a favorite of St. James Winery wine drinkers. It’s crafted with all-natural strawberry, lemon, and lime fruit. Light, refreshing, and just the right amount of sweet and tart, it compliments the extreme sweetness of Peeps without competing or overpowering. Knowing the Easter Bunny’s sweet tooth,  this pairing may well be the one they favor most of all.

Easter candy and wine pairing

 

Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bunny + Cherry

Easter day feels incomplete without a chocolate bunny’s ear to nibble. Hopping in to elevate the experience, all-natural Cherry fruit wine. We all know that chocolate and cherries go together like, well, bunnies and carrots. Hershey’s is known for its pure milk chocolate, and St. James Winery is known for its fruit wines, crafted with 100% real fruit. This pairing is so simply delicious, that you might find yourself pouring an extra glass and breaking off a chunk of chocolate bunny to share with your BFF.

Easter Candy and Wine Pairing

Brach’s Jelly Bird Eggs + Country White

It takes a special wine to pair with the variety of flavors in a bag of Brach’s Jelly Bird Eggs, America’s #1 selling jelly bean. Sweet Country White is just the wine to meet the challenge. Balanced and smooth with floral aromas, Country White has the versatility to pair with every jelly bean flavor – from orange to grape and even licorice. Pick out your favorite flavors and enjoy the taste experience when you add a sip of sweet Country White wine.

Easter Candy and Wine Pairing

 

Whoppers Robin Eggs + Estate Norton

Whoppers Robin Eggs is an exciting taste experience! First, there’s a sweet crunch on the candy’s outer shell. Then you get the creamy milk chocolate second layer, and finally, the malty goodness center for which Whoppers are famous. A candy with this many layers deserves a wine bold enough to pair with each, and Estate Norton is just that wine. It’s complex and rich with layered flavors of berries, vanilla, and bittersweet chocolate. Aged in oak, Estate Norton is one of the smoothest, most drinkable bold reds you’ll find. Add the one-of-a-kind taste and crunch of a Robin Egg, and this Easter is sure to be the tastiest one yet.

Easter Candy and Wine Pairing

 

St. James Winery is a family-owned, sustainably farmed business. Learn more about us at https://www.stjameswinery.com/, on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok.

 

Velvet Red and BBB Pork Steak Pairing

Be a backyard hero this BBQ season with four expertly paired St. James Winery wine and barbecue food pairings!

 

It’s time to fire up the BBQ grill, folks! Spring is here to stay. Feel it in the air, in the sweet smells of new plant life, and in the sounds of peepers in the evenings.  Spring in the midwest means warm afternoons, cool evenings, and delicious food off the grill. Whether you’re barbecuing for one, or hosting a neighborhood block party, you’ll need a delightful beverage to accompany all of that mouth-watering barbecued goodness. We’re here to help you stock the cooler with the wines that are sure to make you a backyard hero this season.

 

Velvet Red + Pork Steak

First up is a classic Midwestern pairing of Velvet Red wine and BBQ Pork Steak. The smooth, sweet, fruity flavors in Velvet Red are the perfect match to the full-flavored, smokey regional favorite pork steak.  Preparing a tender, juicy, fall-off-the-bone pork steak is an art. Likewise, here at St. James Winery, we believe there is art in the way we sustainably grow grapes and craft wine. Velvet Red has been crafted by our family-owned winery for 50 years, and the quality and love shine in each sip. You don’t even have to be a sweet wine lover to appreciate the depth of this pairing, especially when the sauce is on the spicy side. In our circles, no barbecue is complete without a glass or two of chilled Velvet Red wine.

 

Friendship School White + Burgers and Dogs

Next up on the grill is the all-time favorite of hamburgers and hotdogs. We’re pairing this backyard, crowd-pleasing duo with Friendship School White wine. We love the way the crisp, clean finish of this semi-dry white wine complements the smoky meats and the array of toppings we add to hamburgers and hotdogs that make each unique. Topping your burger or dog with grilled onions and cheese – Friendship School White! Plan on piling up your burger or dog with ketchup, mustard, and pickles – Friendship School White! It’s so delicious and so versatile that it just might be our overall favorite pairing.

 

Sparkling Mango + Chicken

Now it’s time to come in hot with a savory, flavorful beer-can chicken – except we’re switching it up! Instead of beer, we love our whole chickens on the grill cooked atop a can of Sparkling Mango fruit wine. The chicken, seasoned on the spicy side with cumin, chili powder, garlic, salt, black pepper, and paprika, takes on just the right amount of that all-natural mango flavor from the wine as it cooks. We serve the chicken de-boned, topped with fresh cilantro, and alongside a cold can of Sparkling Mango fruit wine. This is the pairing that’ll surprise you and keep you coming back for more!

 

Norton + Rib-Eyes

As the last pairing on the list, we thought it appropriate to treat ourselves. For this special dinner, we paired Moondance Farm Rib-Eyes with Winemaker Series Norton 42. This award-winning bold, dry red wine is full of old-world charm and dark fruit aromas. Its subtle oak and integrated tannin structure are the perfect complements to the marbling and rich beefy flavors of the Rib-Eye steak. Seasoned only with sea salt and coarse ground black pepper, the organically grown beef was simply made for this beautiful wine, which is crafted using the highest quality blocks of Norton grapes in our St. James, Missouri vineyard. The way in which the flavors meld together as you savor each juicy bite and each balanced sip is simply magic.

 

We’d love to hear from you!

Are you a St. James Winery wine and barbecue food pairing expert? Do you have a barbecue and wine pairing that makes you a backyard hero and don’t see it on our list? Share it with us in a comment! We’d love to experience the flavors!