>>I'm here at beautiful Ankida Ridge vineyards.

located high in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Amherst County.

We'll taste a very rare wine for Virginia, Pinot Noir.

And in the kitchen I create some tasty dishes like corn and crab chowder, and sauteed butternut squash with dried fruit.

That pairs wonderfully with Pinot Noir.

So join me, grab a glass, and let's unwind.

>>Production funding for unwind was made possible in part by (lighthearted music) >>I had so much fun my day at Ankida Ridge.

Walking around with Christine and Dennis, and then wandering through the vines with those beautiful sheep.

It was so much fun.

Back in the tasting room, I had a chance to taste their Beaujolais Nouveau.

So delicious.

So on today's show some wonderful food paired up with these and Ankida Ridge wines.

Including some calamari, corn and crab chowder, and some wonderful butternut squash stuffing for Turkey.

So grab your glass and let's make some fun food.

(upbeat jazz music) This delicious Brut is an incredible starter for so many things.

It's a great start for celebrations.

It's wonderful with a brunch dish like eggs benedict, and it's fantastic as the start of an appetizer course.

So with this wonderful calamari that we're going to make today.

So the first thing we're going to do, is start with a little bit of flour.

And these are going to be deep fried.

A little bit of cayenne.

A little olive oil, and I like the olive oil in it because I think it gives better texture to the batter.

A little bit of black pepper, and some salt.

I just want to kind of whisk that around, and as I do that, I'm going to pour in something else sparkling.

So you can use ginger ale, you can use a club soda, more sparkling wine, beer.

Right now I happen to have a lemon water, and it's sparkling.

So I thought why not.

I'm just going to use that.

So you want to make this so that it's a nice thin batter.

Not as thick as pancakes, but not as thin as a crepe.

So let's just kind of give that a good stir around.

Make sure you get around the edges of the bowl.

Ah!

And it's just bubbling and beautiful.

Oh gorgeous, and it smells so good.

Because I use a lemon water, it just really is going to bring out that citric flavor.

Now that's about the way you want it nice and thin.

Just like this.

Now while that sits for just a minute, and bubbles up, I'm going to cut my calamari.

Now calamari comes in tubes and tentacles.

So when you buy these, usually in the frozen section of your seafood market, you will find that they have lots of tentacles like this.

I'm just going to throw those right in.

And then you'll have the tubes.

Those look like this.

This is just a tiny squid.

It's a wonderful, wonderful flavor.

I just love them.

Alright, so I'm going to take all those tentacles, and I'm going to go ahead and take my whisk out because I don't want things to get caught in that.

And then we want to just cut these tubes, and you're going to cut them about three quarters of an inch, to an inch in width.

Now a lot of people cut them about a half an inch.

I like a little more give in mind, and I like for them to really stand up when I present them.

So, I usually get three or four rings out of one of these tubes.

And I'm just going to put these right in the batter.

Okay, so let's give these a quick stir through that great batter.

And then to get them into the fryer, we really need to strain them just a little bit.

You don't want so much batter surrounding your calamari that you can't taste the calamari.

So for that I'm going to use a strainer just like this.

I'll raise these up, shake them off, and then I'm going to drop those into this deep fryer one at a time with Tom.

(upbeat jazz music) >>Now while those calamari fry, I want to make a quick and simple sauce.

So I have some mayo in my cup.

I'm going to add to that just a little bit of Chardonnay, because I think it gives it a great brightness of flavor.

A little bit of garlic, and I want to add a little bit of lemon zest.

And then I'm going to add a little lemon juice.

Then let's throw in a pinch of salt and pepper.

All right, now I'm gonna plate all this up.

I'll sprinkle those calamari with a little salt and pepper, and show you what the end product looks like.

This beautiful calamari with a little bit of salt and pepper on the top.

I'm going to finish it off with a wedge of lemon, and just a hint of parsley.

Oh, it's so delicious.

Now let's pour out this beautiful sparkling Brut.

It's gorgeous wine.

It just has an incredible flavor.

Beautiful bouquet.

And look at those bubbles.

It's a hit in my house every time, and especially with this delicious calamari.

Now let's head off and talk to Christine at Ankida Ridge about that incredible property, and their wonderful wines.

(relaxing jazz music) >>Christine, this is an incredible place, and I love this view.

>>Yes, it's been spectacular.

It was once all forest when we bought the land, >>Oh wow.

>>and we went up to the top of that little Pierce mountain, and everything that you see here that's been cleared was looking just like these mountains until we got here, and started making the changes.

>>Ah, it's beautiful.

>>Yeah, a friend of ours had moved from Virginia Beach to the mountains, just that mountain over actually.

and we had been coming up here looking for property, but at the time we weren't looking actively.

She found an ad in the newspaper, and said called us.

This is before the days of cell phones.

This is 1999.

>>Wow.

>>And so she called us, and said you might want to come and look at this piece of property.

And so right away I was on it.

I picked up our daughter at UVA, and got up here the next day and met the realtor, and fell in love with it.

Right off the bat with it.

I was here within an hour.

I had a purchase offer put on the hood of her car.

This has got to be, had no electricity.

It was just a ramshackle little cabin.

All just raw, raw land except for that little cabin, and the horse barn.

And I just felt in my heart that this was the place that we were looking for.

(relaxing jazz music) >>When did you make that aha decision to plant a vineyard?

>>Well, the decision was made for us actually.

>>Okay >>It was a matter of serendipitous events.

Once we got electricity, and that was even a serendipitous event because the county came to us and asked if they could put bring electricity across our property.

From down at Thrashers Creek Road up to their 911 emergency services cell tower.

And they said if you let us come across your property, then you'll have electricity.

So that was not a hard choice at all, >>Sure >>and so we did that.

We got electricity, and at that point, we said okay, now we've got electricity.

Now we can, we've already picked the spot where we wanted to have the house.

And so let's let's go ahead and start on that project.

And so we marked where we wanted the house to be, and the excavator came, and we went back to Virginia Beach, and we came back two or three weeks later, and that spot was cleared.

>>Wow.

>>But he took it upon himself to clear a little half acre right down in there where the where the original vineyard is now, >>Yes.

>>Because he thought that would be a better place for our house.

And so if he hadn't done that, we probably most likely, almost definitely, would have never thought, well what are we going to do with this empty spot?

Should we put a vineyard in?

>>Yes.

>>So that's what started the whole thing.

And it was just going to be a tiny little acre, and then we thought, well let's just expand it to make it two acres.

And we brought Lucy Morton in here.

So she's a wonderful ampelographer, and a good friend and now, and we said what can we do here?

What can we plant that is not being planted all over Virginia.

Because this site is so different.

>>It is.

>>This site is as high elevation, it's rocky terrain, it's cooler in the day.

The soils are decomposing granite.

>>Yes.

>>As opposed to mostly clay.

Soils that are down in the lower valleys where most of the vineyards are planted.

And the cooler temperatures, that we are typically five to 10 degrees cooler in the afternoons all summer long.

So she actually I think, picked up the soil, tasted actually tasted the soil, >>Oh yes.

>>You know, put her finger to the air.

She said Pinot Noir.

(women laughing) >>If Pinot Noir could grow anywhere in this, in Virginia, this would be the place that it could grow.

(upbeat music) >>Well as I look out, how many acres do you have in total here?

>>Well we started off with just the two acres here, and then planted in 2008.

So our first vintage was 2010.

>>Okay.

>>And then this vineyard here, was planted in 2017.

And that's an additional just about four acres.

>>Okay.

>>And so we planted mostly Pinot Noir with a little bit more Chardonnay, and then another little experimental project, the Gamay.

>>Yes.

>>On the granite soils because of Beaujolais, you know, it's a Gamay is on granite.

>>Right.

>>So those little, that little section off to the end there the other short rows, that's our Gamay project.

So we're doing a Nouveau Gamay.

We did a little bit last year.

Just pick maybe a half a bucket of grapes That's all we could get it's the first year.

So we made about two, three gallons of the Nouveau Gamay.

This year I think we're gonna have about 120, 140 bottles.

>>That's great, and I love seeing the sheep as I came up the hill.

They're just wandering through, and I think that is beautiful.

>>Well, that and the sheep play such an important part in our whole philosophy of farming.

>>Yes.

>>Because we want it to be organic, and we were organic for the first year and a half.

And then we found the disease of black rat, and there's no really organic prevention or treatment for vinifera grapes with the black rat.

So but, we never gave up gave up our goal to try to be as or maintain being as organic as we can be.

And so pest management, canopy management, all play a huge role in having to spray the least amount of chemicals.

Which we really try to do.

And so I brought in, so we already had the sheep here because Dennis is a veterinarian.

>>Yes.

>>So he said, "Well, I've got to have something to do up here."

So we got four sheep.

But I brought in chickens to help with the insect population.

You know, the grubs for the Japanese beetles, and then I brought cats to get rid of the rodents that were running around and the moles and voles, and they also deter the birds.

So we haven't had to net, and the Japanese beetles is not a really big problem anymore.

And then we have fresh eggs.

And then the sheep, we make the compost from the sheep manure, >>Yes.

>>and the grape pumice after we you know, press the grapes.

>>Right.

>>So that whole biodiversity and sustainability is a really strong proponent of our philosophy of farming here.

(upbeat music) >>So, Nouveau Gamay.

What a phenomenal idea to do that here in Virginia.

I love Beaujolais Nouveau, and Thanksgiving, you know, you've got to have a Beaujolais Nouveau.

>>I know.

You can see it's still cloudy.

We're gonna filter it a little bit because there's a lot of sediment in there.

But the nose, you know what the nose, the nose knows.

We've got strawberry from the beautiful carbonic maceration.

So, first of all, cheers.

>>Cheers.

>>We're keeping our social distance.

(women laughing) (upbeat music) >>This incredible Ankida Ridge Chardonnay has a crispness about it that I love with this chowder that I'm going to make.

This is a wonderful corn and crab chowder.

So the crab, the corn, the creaminess goes beautifully with this wonderful Chardonnay, and I hope you'll like it.

So what I'm going to do is put some bacon into a pan to just start rendering that fat.

Now usually for this recipe, I use six very thick slices of bacon.

I just happen to have a standard slice of bacon, So I used about 10 for this.

Now while that bacon renders, I want to chop up some aromatics, and I love to use all of that standard mirepoix, white mirepoix.

(light hearted music) We're going to use some celery.

We're going to use some onion on this, and some green pepper as well as some red pepper, and some jalapeno.

So while we're not using standard carrots for a regular French mirepoix, this has an amazing flavor, with the triune.

So what I want to do is chop up about half of a large onion or about a medium onion.

What you're looking for is between, oh half cup and three quarters cup onion, and once you find a recipe that you love, start to address those flavorings so you make them the way that you want them.

So I'm looking for kind of a medium dice.

I'm not looking for anything large, and definitely not minced.

I want a little bit of texture in this.

Now anytime you have to cut a pepper, don't feel like you have to go in and take out that core.

Peppers are really easy to cord just like this.

Just come around the ribs, cut that right out, and then you don't lose any of that wonderful pepper.

You don't get a ton of seeds, and you can really clean it right up.

Then just trim out those little bit of ribs that exist and are leftover, chop it up.

I want about a half pepper for this recipe.

So I'm just going to chop two of these pieces, and I'm going to put those in with my red bell.

Now the recipe I post will call for two ribs of celery, but sometimes when you just have that center left, use all of that great flavor.

Use the stems, all of the leaves.

So those top stems, just makes it even more delicious.

Now we want to bring the bacon to a nice crisp, and then we'll be ready to add all of our delicious vegetables.

All right, our bacon is ready to accept these vegetables.

You can see all of that fat has rendered in that beautiful fond is on the bottom of the pan.

So let's pitch these in.

Now they're starting to soften.

Oh, they smell so amazing, and before we add any liquid, we're gonna go in with our thickener.

A little bit of flour.

Now I'm putting the flour right on top of the vegetables.

Just sprinkle it over, and then stir it through really, really well.

You want to make sure that all of that flour cooks well through the fat.

You don't want to see any residual white lingering on your vegetables.

Now let's slowly add a quart of warm chicken stock.

And then about 10 ounces of your favorite frozen corn, and I like to use a yellow and white.

Now I'll let that simmer for about 15 minutes.

This looks great.

The vegetables are all cooked through, and the soup has become nice and thick.

At this point I'm going to add a little bit of cream to that.

About a cup, and I want to add a pound of crab.

Now let's season it up with a little bit of an Old Bay seasoning.

About half to three quarters of teaspoon.

Add a little salt.

I'm going to simmer this until that crab is warmed through, and so is the cream and then we're going to plate it up.

This looks amazing.

There is nothing like a nice chowder, especially on a cool day.

Now this one is not particularly thick.

It's just a very rich chowder.

Some chowders are really thick, but for this one, I like that it's a little thinner, and the body really comes from the vegetables and the crab.

Now let's finish this off with just a little bit of freshly minced parsley.

Corn and crab chowder and this wonderful Chardonnay.

It's such a great blend.

This one has a wonderful acidity that really cuts that cream, and adds to the body of the crab.

It's fantastic.

And I hope you'll enjoy it.

(upbeat music) >>This Ankida Ridge Pinot Noir is so delicious, and as I paired foods with it, one of the things that I loved with it was Turkey.

And Christine had mentioned Thanksgiving, which was what got me started on that path.

So I'm going to make not a turkey for you, but a side dish for Turkey that you can use as a stuffing for Turkey or for pork.

So what am I gonna do, I've got a little bit of oil in my pan, and I'm going to add to that one medium chopped onion.

Just a nice coarse chop.

I want to add a little bit of celery, oh about two ribs, and this is optional.

You don't have to put the celery in if you don't want to, but I liked it with the celery.

And then I'm going to add some butternut squash that I've chopped.

Now I say you can use this as a side dish or as a stuffing, because I tried it both ways.

First of all, I used it as a stuffing on a turkey breast.

I used it as a stuffing on a pork loin that worked just beautifully, and then I thought well, turkey for Thanksgiving holidays, and I love smoked turkey.

So we have smoked turkey today, and I'm going to use this as a stuffing side.

You'll see what I mean.

So I just want to saute these until they start to get soften.

All right about midway through this process.

I added a couple of tablespoons of Chardonnay, just because I wanted a little moisture to start sort of steaming these vegetables.

Now I want to add a little bit of garlic.

You notice I don't want to put that in too early, because garlic has a tendency to burn.

And I just want to make sure that does not burn because it would really destroy the flavor of this wonderful dish.

Alright, so I've got that in, and now I want to add a little bit of dried cranberries.

This just gives it a really wonderful color, and a great flavor.

It's sweetens it up a little bit, and don't feel like you have to use cranberries.

you can actually use some apricots.

You can use figs.

I happen to have some figs on hand, so I'm gonna just chop up a couple figs.

So these are just tiny little dried figs, and I like to take the stems out on those because they are kind of tough.

And I'm just gonna slice this.

You know, any kind of dried fruit like this really adds a different dimension to a vegetable.

Alright, I've got three figs in there, that's plenty.

Let's just stir that through again.

And then I want to add a little bit of poultry seasoning.

This will tie it all together.

It pulls that Turkey need for the little bit of sage into this wonderful dish.

Now just a little bit of poultry seasoning.

You can use sage if you want, but I really like the poultry seasoning because it's a wider balance of flavor.

And then a little salt and pepper.

Now let's give that a good stir.

And last but not least, we are going to throw in a little bit of baby spinach.

And I just ran my knife through this a little bit.

I didn't go to the trouble of chiffonade, or anything like that.

It's just a just a chop, just a large chop.

And we'll add that for some wonderful green color.

Just until it wilts.

Okay, as soon as this is wilted, we're going to head over to that Turkey, and you're going to have a wonderful, wonderful dish to make the next time you have turkey or pork.

(lighthearted piano music) Oh, This looks wonderful, and I want to finish it with just a few pomegranate seeds because I had them and I just thought, how beautiful they would be just topping off that little bit.

Giving the pop even with the cranberries.

Those pomegranates just add a little extra.

So you can see what I was talking about.

Sort of a stuffing side.

Now this beautiful Ankida Ridge Pinot Noir.

I don't think anyone knew that Virginia could produce such an amazing Pinot Noir as this.

It has that great hint of cranberry, that wonderful richness that Pinot Noir gives you.

So the next time you enjoy a turkey or a roast pork loin, I hope you'll enjoy this as either a stuffing or a side.

(relaxing music) So whether you're enjoying a delicious appetizer, a wonderful bowl of something hot, or an absolutely delicious full meal, I hope you've enjoyed the recipes on today's show.

For more recipes, go to vpm.org/unwind, and until next time, grab that glass, it's always time to unwind.

>>Production funding for Un-wind was made possible in part by (upbeat music)