Wine Pairing: Sheridan Vineyard Mystique & Tennessee Meatloaf

Welcome back to the WhisperKOOL blog. We’ve been blogging for three weeks already, and it’s time once again for a wine and food pairing. Every three weeks, we share recipes and wine pairings with our readers. We’ve done our first wine news bulletin and our first vineyard and winery showcase, but now it’s time once again to pair a delicious dish with a top-rated wine. We have a savory, meaty dish on the menu for you today: Sheridan Vineyard Mystique (a blend of merlot and cabernet sauvignon) and Tennessee meatloaf.

Let’s start with the food:

THE RECIPE: 

In case you haven’t heard, Tennessee meatloaf is a smorgasbord of different kinds of meat: ground beef and ground pork as well as ground veal. It has more ingredients than your typical meatloaf recipe, but the method of preparation is virtually the same.

Ingredients (brown sugar glaze)

• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar

Ingredients (meatloaf)

• cooking spray
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons prepared mustard
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (like Tabasco)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2/3 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 1/2 pound ground veal

Instructions

1. Combine cider vinegar, brown sugar, and ketchup in a bowl and mix well.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray two 9-inch by 5-inch loaf pans with cooking spray. (You can also line them with aluminum foil.)
3. Put green bell pepper and onion in a microwaveable container. Cover and microwave until vegetables are soft, about 1-2 minutes. Set aside.
4. Combine oats, milk, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, black pepper, seasoned salt, thyme, eggs, and garlic in a bowl and mix well. Add cooked bell pepper and green onions and stir. Add the ground veal, the ground pork, and the ground beef. With your hands, knead the mixture until it’s completely mixed.
5. Divide meatloaf mixture into two equal parts and place each part in the prepared loaf pans. Spread half the glaze over the top of the loaves; set remaining glaze aside.
6. Bake the loaves in the preheated oven for 50 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and carefully drain the fat. Brush the remaining glaze onto the loaves. Put the pans back into the oven and bake for 10 more minutes. Remove pans from oven. Allow to stand 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

View full recipe here: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/232247/tennessee-meatloaf/

THE WINE:

It’s often people’s knee-jerk reaction to serve cabernet sauvignon with any kind of beef. Others think merlot wine is the best choice for meatloaf. We think Sheridan Vineyard’s Mystique is the best of both worlds.

Sheridan Vineyard is a 76-acre vineyard in the Yakima Valley of Washington State. Self-taught vintner Scott Greer gave up a 17-year career in finance to become the vineyard’s proprietor, planting syrah and cabernet franc as well as cabernet sauvignon. Since Sheridan’s first harvest in 2000, the vineyard has focused on creating sustainable, low-yield harvests and rich, flavorful wines, many of which are perfect for cellaring.

According to Sheridan’s website, Mystique is a blend of cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, and merlot. The 2015 vintage scored 94 points from Wine Advocate. The wine has a deep purplish-ruby color, with notes of tobaccoo, wood smoke, white chocolate, and blackcurrant. The texture is described as “silky,” as well as “plush and opulent on the palate.” It is our opinion that Mystique’s deep fruitiness, hint of chocolate, and smokiness is the perfect marriage of cabernet sauvignon and merlot.

WHY THIS WINE PAIRS WITH THIS RECIPE:

Whenever you have any sort of spicy, beef-based dish, you want a dark and fruity red wine to accompany it. Sheridan Vineyard Mystique’s blackcurrant notes punctuate the savoriness and fattiness of the beef/pork/veal combination in Tennessee meatloaf. By the same token, the wine’s more savory flavors (tobacco and woodsmoke) balance out the Tennessee meatloaf’s sweet brown sugar glaze. The wine’s silky richness allows it to compete on even footing with the meat’s fat and oils, laying down a velvety red carpet for the meatloaf to entertain the palate. Make no mistake: this is one flavorful pairing and it’s not for the faint of heart. Try it and tell us in the comments what you thought of it.

If you liked this week’s wine and food pairing, be sure to check out our previous wine pairing, Louis Jadot chardonnay and chicken piccata. And also, don’t forget to take a look at our website for wine cooling accessories and state-of-the-art cooling units. See you next time!