>>Today on "Un-wine'd", it's "8 Chains Winery".

I can't wait to pair up some food and wine for you.

So go grab that glass.

It's time to unwind.

>>Production funding for "Un-Wine'd" was made possible in part by... >>The Virginia Wine Board, promoting the interests of vineyards and wineries in the commonwealth through research, education, and marketing.

There's a movement growing in Virginia's vineyards.

Discover more at virginiawine.org.

(classy upbeat jazz music) >>What a great day I spent with Edz and Cissi.

They are so much fun, and their winery is just perfectly positioned in an area where lots of wineries are, so you can winery hop all day long.

It's just so much fun.

Today on the show, I'm going to pair up some of their wines with some delicious foods, including their Lo Co Vino which is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Traminette and Albarino.

And I'll be pairing that with shrimp and grits.

With their Pink Link, the fun rose made of Chambourcin, Merlot and Cab Franc we'll have a vineyard summer salad.

And let's not forget Furnace Mountain Red, their red blend that I'll pair up with some pasta and mascarpone and mushrooms.

So shrimp and grits are one of those classic southern dishes and I love shrimp and grits all different ways.

You can make them with cheese, without cheese.

This is really kind of an Italian inspired shrimp and grits.

And what we're going to do is start off with the grits because they cook a long time, 15 to 20 minutes, unless you use quick crook grits.

So I'm going to start with four tablespoons of butter that I've melted in my sauce pan, and I'm adding to that two cups of a nice chicken stock and then two cups of heavy cream, that for today I just scalded.

So it was nice and warm.

You don't have to do that step to your cream.

Now I want to bring this just to a simmer.

It's just about there because I added everything hot.

And now I'm going to add one cup of grits.

Notice that I'm not putting in any salt because that chicken stock already has salt in it, as does the butter.

Then let's just give those a stir, until they start to boil you really don't need to stir constantly, but once they do, that viscosity starts to build in the pot and you want to make sure that you're bringing up all of that heat from the bottom of the pan so that you're not going to get burned the second that you do.

Now, in my fry pan I have some really hot butter, about four tablespoons.

So this takes a stick of butter between the two.

And I'm going to drop in some chopped prosciutto, this is three ounces of chopped prosciutto.

If your package is four ounces go ahead and use it, no problem.

(prosciutto sizzles on pan) Let's just give that a little stir around.

And while that's getting some color I'm going to chop up a little shallot.

The shallot gives us a great flavor component and it adds to the texture of the dish.

Now, you'll notice a lot of times when you cut a big shallot there are actually two shallots there.

You can use all of that or just use half of it, I think I'm just going to use the big part.

And then what we want to do is peel off all of the peel and any layer that feels like paper.

There we go.

Let's just get all that off.

You don't want to bite into that papery feel on your onion or shallot.

Always look for that before you slice yours up.

You can see our prosciutto is starting to crisp, that's what we want to see.

And right now I'm getting a little boil on my grits.

So let's go ahead and give those a stir.

You don't want your grits to be clumpy and if you're not stirring you're going to end up with clumpy grits.

And if you don't stir often, you'll build up so much heat on that pan that as it bubbles up it will burn you really, really badly.

Think volcano.

Okay, so let's just go ahead and mince this shallot.

And what I'm going to do is cut through like this and then I'll come back and cut across the top all the way down.

That way my mincing will go really, really easily and quickly.

And remember, if you're keeping that south pole on your onion, that root end you will have that ball all together and then your shallot doesn't go everywhere for you on your board.

Now, let's put that down in, mm.

Ooh, the smell is fabulous.

And stir that through, and we'll just stir up those grits.

Ah, delicious.

Now at this point, I want to add some shrimp.

I like to use big shrimp for this because when I plate, I think they're just so beautiful.

So let's start to put in some shrimp, and I'm going to put in at least enough for three servings here.

So if we go with three of these really large shrimp let's go with nine of those shrimp.

These are about 12 per pound.

So if I go with four servings, that's 12.

If I go with three servings, that's nine.

Right now, I'm just going to do three servings in this pan just to make it a little bit faster.

So what you're looking for on your shrimp is a nice pink color.

And let's stir those grits.

Mm, oh, those are going to taste so good, they're so creamy.

At this point, you want to make sure that you lower your temperature because the higher your temperature the more this will bubble up in the bottom and cause that volcanic effect that can pop out and just burn you all over.

But they're starting to get thick and beautiful.

So once these shrimp are done they're nice and pink through, and you can look down the backside and see that they're not gray.

Then we want to go ahead and turn off our pan finish those grits, and then we'll plate up.

So let's plate this up.

Plating can be simple, it can be complex, a lot of times I just take that shrimp stir it into my grits, but today I want to do it just a little differently, because let's say we're doing this for guests for dinner.

Let's do something fun.

Let's put down a little bit of our grits in a nice little cocktail dish.

And then we want to lace it with a bit of our prosciutto and shallots.

Oh, gorgeous.

Then just a little bit more.

And then let's top it with some of those shrimp.

And then maybe just a touch of our prosciutto again, on the top, you could sprinkle this with a little bit of parsley or whatever you'd like just to garnish it off.

But isn't that gorgeous?

I just love this shrimp and grits.

Now let's try it with this wine.

So anytime you have a red blend or white blend, you're thinking, what does each one of those grapes in that blend do for me?

Well, in this one the Sauvignon Blanc gives you this beautiful citrusy fruit while Traminette gives you a little sweetness, and that Albarino gives you a little bit of a spark, like that acidity, that intense acidity.

And then let's not forget the last one, the Viognier which is going to give you a little floral quality.

Now let's try it with the grits.

Mm, wow.

I taste every one of those ingredients in my mouth.

I taste every one of the varietals with the wine.

That is a very enchanting pairing and I hope you'll love it.

(classy jazz music) I'm here at 8 Chains Winery with Cissi and Edz, where they have just recently purchased this property which has a wonderful history and I'm so excited to talk to you both about this winery, your wines, and what the future holds for you at 8 Chains.

So welcome and thanks.

>>Thank you.

Thanks for visiting us.

>>Thanks for having us.

>>Absolutely, so tell me what perpetuated this purchase?

>>Well, it was more a serendipitous thing, we were not looking for a winery.

We've been together for six years.

>>Yes.

>>And our kids grew up in Herndon and Chantilly and we needed a place of our own.

And we either were going to move into the city, into Old Town Alexandria, or move out to the country.

Well, we fell in love with this house over here and the house came with something else.

>>I love that, I love that.

And so did you have any background other than tasting wines or?

>>Consuming Only.

>>Okay, okay.

But you have business backgrounds though, right?

>>Yes we do.

>>Business backgrounds and restaurant backgrounds as well.

So a little bit of the hospitality stuff we had in our back pocket.

>>Well, so what varietals do you grow here?

>>We grow Albarino, Syrah, Cab Franc, Petite Verdot, and Sauvignon Blanc.

>>Awesome, so your Viognier which you have is grown elsewhere, right?

>>Yep, we have seven and a half acres under vine here at Waterford but we have 17 acres we manage in Loudoun County, so we have three other vineyards that we manage.

>>I love it.

Well, I understand you have an amazing white blend.

Can we try that while will we chat through a little bit?

>>Absolutely.

>>Sure.

>>So what's in your blend?

>>So this is grapes from our Vineyard and one of our other vineyards.

It's heavy on the Sauvignon Blanc, has Albarino and some Viognier.

>>Okay.

Ooh, that looks gorgeous.

And I love just that hint of that golden color.

>>Yeah.

>>Probably from the Vigoinet?

>>Yep.

>>Yeah, ooh Ooh I can smell all of that citrus from the Sauv Blanc.

Ooh, that's really nice.

Mmm.

So tell me a little bit about what it's like buying a winery that's already established with an amazing history.

Excellent winemaker.

How was that?

How's it working?

>>One of the reasons we bought the place was that we took months to negotiate with the old owner, who happens to be the winemaker, Ben Renshaw.

>>Yes.

>>So he agreed to stay on as the winemaker and we would not have done it if he was not staying on, for sure.

>>Yes.

>>We also have a great management team here and they've all stayed on as well and we've just been helping them in the background but getting more and more involved as we learn more and more about the business.

>>Oh, that's great.

Now, when you're working with Ben, will you add new things to the portfolio or will you kind of stay?

(all laugh) >>You know, Ben started his first vineyard in 2006.

This 8 Chains North is open in 2010.

>>Okay.

>>So it has a long history, as you mentioned.

>>Right.

>>So we didn't want to push too hard, but Cissi loves her Prosecco, so we literally just last week got two Prosecco tanks, so we will be making some bubbles.

And Ben has agreed to... he's done some more research on it too.

And we already have some Chardonnay that's ready for secondary fermentation to get in those tanks as soon as we can stand them up and get them in place.

>>Well, let's try your rose, because I love a good rose.

And this particular one is a blend as opposed to that maceration of just red.

>>Correct.

>>So what's in this one?

>>So this, large part of the grapes come from one vineyard, one small vineyard that we have, Chambourcin, and then Merlot from our Furnace Mountain Vineyard.

>>Okay, okay.

So Chambourcin and Merlot, this wonderful blend of a couple of reds.

It's beautiful.

The color is exquisite >>So it's not overly sweet.

>>Ooh, yeah, it has a nice nose on it.

>>Little strawberry maybe.

>>Yeah, yeah a little strawberry.

I almost get a little cheese.

Yeah.

>>What do you think?

>>Oh, really nice.

>>So this is one of our most popular ones.

>>So you have an amazing red blend, your Red Furnace Red and everybody talks about this and the blend that's in it.

What's in it?

>>So this is the 2019 and the 2019 has Cab Franc, Syrah, and Petit Verdot.

>>Oh three that I love.

>>Yep.

>>Yeah.

>>And they're all from out here, maybe a little bit more Petit Verdot from our Furnace Mountain vineyard as well.

>>Sure, and you just planted Petit Verdot, right?

>>We did.

We had an acre and a half here that was just field hay.

>>Yeah.

>>And we just planted it, boy, two weeks ago.

>>Wow.

>>And they're popping out.

So we just walked the field.

Really cool, very exciting.

>>Those little heads holding up all by themselves.

>>Yeah.

>>Like little babies, I love that.

Well, let's try this red.

So sometimes you, I understand, put a little Malbec in it, depending on the year.

>>Yep.

So we did have some Malbec but the plants didn't do very well in '17, so we needed to tear them out.

>>Okay.

>>But '17 also has a Malbec in it which gives it a little bit more of that spiciness from the Malbec.

And then last year was '18, we added Merlot.

>>Oh, wow.

Sure.

>>So it's sort of Ben's choice based on what the harvest brings.

>>Yeah.

Well, and Ben knows what he's doing.

>>Oh yeah.

>>Oh, this is beautiful.

>>I think in the last three years, this is my favorite one.

>>Mmm.

>>In the last three.

>>I love that berry, that deep, dark, cherry dark fruit.

Oh, that's beautiful.

Wow.

>>The '19 is the best of the three.

>>It's absolutely amazing.

I love this.

Well, here's to bubbles, here's to you and here's to the future.

>>Thank you very much.

Thanks for being here.

>>Thank you.

(classy jazz music) I love this red blend.

And believe it or not, I'm putting a chicken dish with it and it works because it has beef stock in it, and also because it has a wonderful creaminess in mascarpone cheese.

So I'm going to start with my pan over high heat and I'm going to add about two tablespoons of olive oil and a stick of butter.

The olive oil will keep the butter from burning as I cook the onions and the mushrooms.

So let's add that butter.

Mm.

Okay, now as we're melting that let's go ahead and add one minced or finely chopped onion.

It can be fine.

It can be like a small chop.

I've got this in between a mince and a small chop.

And just about one medium onion will do it for this.

I love the smell of onion cooking.

It's just, I don't know, it warms up my house.

And then I'm going to add half pound of mushrooms, so let's just get those into saute with these onions.

Now, I don't have to make sure that the mushrooms are still dense.

They need to be nice and soft in this recipe almost like they were canned.

And you can actually substitute two cans of mushrooms for this recipe.

A lot of times when you cook mushrooms you want them to maintain their integrity, with this, it's a creamy recipe, it's very creamy.

And I'm using pre-cooked chicken.

You can actually use fresh chicken for this.

If you don't have pre-cooked chicken breast, I just happened to have a roasted chicken breast, if you don't have pre-cooked chicken breast you can actually use about a pound of chicken, pound and a half, cut it up into small cubes and you can put it in with your onions and your mushrooms.

Mm.

This smells so delicious.

I love to cook with mushrooms.

Now I'm going to add about three cloves of garlic that are finely minced.

And I want to add that later, so it doesn't burn in the bottom of my pan.

This butter is nice and creamy.

The moisture is coming off of the vegetables, off of those mushrooms and off of the onion.

Now at this point, let's start to develop some sauce.

So I have some mascarpone, I have some beef stock, white wine, a little heavy cream and cheese.

And we're going to put them in, kind of from the most liquid out.

So first of all, white wine, thin liquid, we're developing that stock.

So we're just going to put that in.

And then let's add our beef stock, the next thin thing.

So two cups beef stock, two cups white wine.

Now I'm just going to let that simmer for about a minute just to bring it up to temperature, because when I put in my cheese and my cream, I want those to incorporate into the heated liquid.

So once the cheese gets in there, it will melt completely.

All right, we're coming to a nice simmer here.

Let's add a half cup of heavy whipping cream.

That will bring the temperature down for just a minute.

And then we need to bring it back up and then we'll add our mascarpone.

Mm.

Oh, it smells amazing.

I love the smell of that wine, the mushrooms, the onions, the beef stock.

It's beautiful.

All right, now let's add that mascarpone and just melt it down.

Now, if you can't find this, add a little cream cheese or you can add boursin to this, if you find boursin, it's a wonderful.

Just remember that the boursin normally has a lot of herbs in it so it's just going to change the flavor, but that flavor in this is amazing.

Now that has melted down.

And next we're going to add half cup of grated Parmesan cheese.

Now you want to use a freshly grated Parmesan cheese not the stuff that you buy on the shelf, because that's been dehydrated and it has no moisture in it at all.

So you want to use freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Half cup, mm.

Perfect.

Yep and now that has melted through.

It takes no time.

And then I'm going to add my chicken, three to four cups.

What I usually do is I have a whole chicken breast, so both lobes of the chicken and I'll roast that and then I just cube it and put it in.

Or if you're adding chicken at the point where you're doing your onions and mushroom, add about four chicken breasts that you've cubed.

That would be breast halves.

And they're usually a little smaller than those roasters that you get in the grocery store.

If you're going by pounds, go with about a pound and a half of chicken breast, skinless and boneless.

All right.

Now let's add our pasta.

And I have about three quarters of a pound of penne pasta here that I just cooked to al dente.

You don't want to overdo it and stir through.

(pot clangs) This is a rustic dish.

It's wonderful.

Those flavors will go so well with that beautiful red blend.

This is one of those dishes that is better day after day if you reheat, because the thickness of the sauce just becomes a little more intense.

It becomes thicker.

It's beautiful.

So let's clean up that plate a little bit and then we'll garnish this up.

What I love to do is a little fresh parsley and some more Parmesan, makes it perfect.

So let's mince a little parsley.

There's nothing like fresh parsley to finish a dish.

Mm smells so good.

I love the smell of fresh parsley.

A lot of people say it doesn't taste like anything, I love it.

So let's just give a little sprinkle.

And then how about some more fresh Parmesan?

That and a piece of crusty bread, a little salad.

Wow, what a meal.

So this is a beautiful red blend.

Remember generally reds, you want that meaty fattiness of red meat, but when you're serving it with something that has this bold beef stock in this pasta, those proteins also will adhere to those delicious tannins in the red wine.

So let's give it a try.

So meaty.

So good.

So next time you're looking for something different to go with a red wine, think about this boldness in this delicious sauce and this wonderful pasta dish.

I think you're going to enjoy it.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed today's visit to 8 Chains and all of these wines paired up with these delicious recipes.

So from the shrimp and grits and the Vino Lo co, to the Furnace Mountain Red that I paired up with pasta, but also goes so well with a big juicy steak.

And then of course this rose that paired with my vineyard summer chicken salad.

So for all these recipes and a whole lot more, visit me on vpn.org/unwined.

And until next time, I'm Tassie Pipper reminding you to go grab that glass.

It's always time to unwind.

>>Production funding for "Un-wine'd" was made possible in part by... >>The Virginia Wine Board, promoting the interests of vineyards and wineries in the commonwealth through research, education, and marketing.

There's a movement growing in Virginia's vineyards.

Discover more at virginiawine.org.

>>And by... (classy upbeat jazz music)