30 Days of Ontario Wine 2012 – Day 11 – Cab Franc Reduction

By David Ort On September 11, 2012

As the season begins to transition to cooler weather and we crave wines and dishes that are a little heartier, Cabernet Franc is a great substitute for Pinot Noir in this reduction because it's also aromatic and medium bodied.

For this recipe I chose Reif Estate Winery's 2010 Cabernet Franc made from 21-year-old vines from the estate vineyard in the warm Niagara River sub-appleation. This wine is full of rich black raspberry, plum and currant fruit which concentrate nicely. There's also some secondary spicy cedar and tobacco flavours that really begin to emerge in the reduction and compliment grilled vegetables or meats beautifully. The bright acidity and chewy tannins also mean the remainder of the bottle will stand-up nicely to the bolder grilled flavours of whatever main you serve alongside your reduction.

The French don't have exclusive domain over cooking with wine but I think we can agree that they wrote the manual. That's why when thinking about a recipe for cooking with Cabernet Franc I turned to Marc Thuet, one of the godfathers of French cuisine in Toronto.

In his French Food My Way Chef Thuet has a recipe for a Pinot Noir reduction that he serves as part of a casserole of sweetbreads with hedgehog mushrooms. The reduction's best quality is that it only take three tablespoons of wine to lend the desired flavour and aroma. That leaves the lion's share of the bottle for drinking.

I've adapted the recipe to use Cabernet Franc and added an extra tablespoon of wine at the end. This will make for a thinner reduction but reserving some of the wine for when the sauce is off the heat will preserve some of its finer, aromatic qualities.

The original also calls for veal jus (an intense process to make but it can be found in a few retail sources) but you could also use a very good, well-reduced chicken stock. With Cab Franc's spicy, vegetal profile this reduction works wonderfully with marinated, grilled vegetables (think eggplant, green peppers, and tomatoes) that we've waited all summer to peak around now.

Cabernet Franc Reduction

(Adapted from Chef Marc Thuet's French Food My Way)

one shallot, minced finely

4 TB Cabernet Franc

1/2 cup jus (veal or well-reduced chicken stock)

1 TB butter, cold, cut in small cubes

Heat a small spoonful of butter in a small saucepan set over medium-high heat. When the butter has foamed added the minced shallot and saute for two minutes. Deglaze with three tablespoons of wine and immediately add the jus. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring, for a minute. Whisk in the cold butter, one cube at a time and once integrated stir in the reserved tablespoon of wine. Immediately remove from heat and serve.

Wine Tasted

2010 Reif Cabernet Franc

Price: $20.15

Availability: Winery
www.reifwinery.com

Written by David Ort

As one of Spotlight’s contributing editors, David enjoys turning his mind (and keyboard) to a wide variety of topics ranging from recipes to restaurants to craft beer. When he’s not writing for Spotlight Toronto, David shares his thoughts on new restaurants and beer at PostCity.com and all things food and drink on his own site, Food With Legs.

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