2007 Cabernet Franc, St. David's Bench Vineyard

Pan Seared Sablefish 
Butternut Squash Risotto with Peas, Tarragon and Fennel

paired with

Château des Charmes Cabernet Franc, St. David's Bench Vineyard

Recipe courtesy of Alain Gobeil, Executive Chef of the Fairmont Chateau Laurier, Ottawa 

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 2 5 oz Pacific Sablefish fillets
• 4 tbsp butternut squash from Riverside Garden 
• 4 tbsp green peas, blanched from Riverside Garden
• ½ cup arborio rice for risotto
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 2 tbsp white onion, chopped
• ¼ cup Château des Charmes Sauvignon Blanc, St. David’s Bench Vineyard 
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp fresh tarragon, chopped
• ½ bulb fennel, shaved
• ¼ tbsp fresh lemon juice 
• Salt and pepper

Method

Sweat diced onions in a small pot with olive oil, without color, add risotto rice and sweat rice for a few minutes. Add white wine, let it absorb into rice then start adding the vegetable stock, just enough to the rice only. When stock is absorbed add more stock. Repeat several times until rice is al dente. Set aside. 

Sear fish on both sides in a hot sauté pan with olive oil. Put pan in a 185°C oven for 3-5 minutes, depending on thickness, to finish cooking. 

While waiting for the fish to cook, sauté the diced squash for a minute, without coloring too much, and then add your reserved risotto rice with some more vegetable stock. Cook together for a minute or two, then add the blanched peas and warm them up. Finish the risotto with parmesan cheese, butter, salt and pepper, ¾ of the chopped tarragon. 

Shave thinly the fennel on a mandoline or slicer. Place shaved fennel in a sauté pan with ½ tbsp of olive oil, fresh lemon juice, and ¼ of the chopped tarragon. Put the pan on the heat for 15 seconds, stirring the fennel with a spoon, just to warm it up, without cooking it. 

Assemble

Place the risotto in the center of a deep plate, place fish on top, then top the fish with the warm fennel salad, and drizzle a little of the sauce from the fennel pan around the risotto. 

Try Cab Franc the next time you're thinking about Cab Sauvignon. You will be pleasantly surprised! This wine is full-bodied enough to pair with any red meat; BBQ, braised or roasted. 

Royal Agriculture Winter Fair, Toronto Canada, November, 2010

Best in Show | Best Overall Red | Gold Medal

“The profile here will appeal to fans of Loire Valley Cabernet Franc, with its up-front herbaceous character, and ripe fruit below, like a good Loire should. The texture is generous and creamy, holding together flavours of plum, tobacco and chocolate. Very good. 88 pts."

– Beppi Crossariol, The Globe & Mail,  August, 2011 

“A serious Cabernet Franc with great depth and balance. Perfectly ripe with hints of spice throughout with well-integrated oak playing a supportive role. Mouthfilling and full of rich and juicy blackberry, red plum and cherry. Savory herbs emerge as part of the progressive layering of flavour but there is nothing under ripe in this bombshell of a Cabernet Franc. An excellent example of the complexity and intrigue the unique terroir of Niagara can create in this varietal. Tasted July 2011. 91 pts.”

– Sara D’Amato, WineAlign.com, July, 2011

“Structured, elegant and from the fabled 2007 red-wine vintage, a spice-infused bouquet of rose petal and dark berry fruit abounds. Palate-bathing flavours persist throughout with cassis and black juicy Bing cherry mingling with toasty notes and espresso roast predominant. It’s medium bodied, nicely textured sporting well-integrated oak nuances and a supple tannin structure—certainly in the top 2 or 3 Cab Francs tasted from ’07. 5 stars / 5.”

– Vic Harradine, WineCurrent.com, June, 2011

“Wine Of The Week: Royal Winter Fair Award Winners, Château des Charmes Cabernet Franc. After an exhaustive blind tasting we were very happy to see this Cabernet Franc doing so well at this year’s Royal Agricultural Winter Fair Wine Competition (Best in Show). If the truth be told, it has to be said that this particular bottling was the hands down favourite of the panel at the informal sip-and-savour after the day-long judging session also!

This wine should delight anyone with even a passing interest in the Cabernet Franc varietal. The nose is classic ripe Cabernet Franc, full of ripe red/black forest berries and spice with nary a hint of that green, vegetal note that one so often finds on many a Niagara example. The palate is surprisingly substantial and generous, giving and yet being kept in check by a wonderfully tight tannic structure that will need a few years (five plus years perhaps?) to allow the wine to show at its very best. Saying that, it is damn delicious right now… I’d probably decant it before serving though. We tried it with a traditional Greek Moussaka. Excellent!”

– Jamie Drummond, GoodFoodRevolution.com, December, 2010

“This very seriously good Cabernet Franc needs another year or two in the cellar. It has great centre and depth but is not the least heavy. Look for lifted aromas of blackcurrant, leather, gamay notes, fresh herbs and tobacco – all nicely integrated. Fine acidity buoys the palate, there is still tannin that needs softening. Excellent length. Outstanding.”

– David Lawrason, WinerytoHome.com, October, 2010