>>In 1976, as America planned for our bicentennial celebration, a little vineyard was born.

Today we'll visit the second oldest winery in Virginia, Shenandoah Vineyards.

I'll pair up some delicious foods with their wines.

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 (slow jazz music) >>And by.

>>One of my favorite pairings with Riesling is pork, and one of my favorite pairings with pork is Riesling.

So today we're gonna do a simple pork chop with some Riesling applesauce.

Now, to get started, I want to marinate my pork.

So I've got about 3 1/2 cups of buttermilk in a cup, and I want to add to that about a teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of rubbed thyme.

And then I wanna take a little pepper.

(grinder whirring) That's coarse ground and about 1/2 a teaspoon.

(whisk clanking) Now let's give this a little whisk.

We just wanna mix it up, and we're going to marinate our pork chops up to overnight.

Now, I have six chops here.

These are just loin chops, and I'm going to lay them in a pan, and I'll want to move them around a little bit after about halfway through the marinating process, however long you're marinating.

And let's just pour this over top, and then we'll let those sit in the refrigerator until we're ready for the next step.

Now, while our pork chops are marinating, let's make a little Riesling applesauce.

This is easy to do, and it's really flavorful.

It's a little more savory than it is sweet and perfect on these chops with Riesling.

In my pan, I have two to 2 1/2 cups of Riesling.

And to that I'm going to add three peeled apples that have just been cubed.

These are cooking apples, so you need something that's a little bit tart.

(bowl clanking) And then we're gonna add a couple of sprigs of fresh thyme and a chopped shallot.

Now I'm gonna let that simmer for about an hour so that it reduces by 1/2.

The liquid has reduced by 1/2.

The apples have started to cook, and I have removed all of the thyme and the shallots from all of this.

Now the next thing that I want to do is just mash those apples because the apples are nice and soft now, and we want a really coarse apple sauce.

So I'm just going to take a little masher, and just give it a good squish.

And then I'm going to let it continue to simmer for just a little while, so it thickens.

And to do that, I want to add about a quarter cup of sugar.

Now you can start with two tablespoons of sugar first, make sure that you don't need more, but if you do, go up to one 1/2 cup.

And just press that through.

That's gonna be delicious.

As my applesauce simmers and gets nice and thick, I want to take my chops out of my marinade, but I want to reserve that marinade.

So let's just lay the chops over on a plate.

Oh, they look like they are going to be so tender and wonderful.

Now let's beat in two eggs into all of that buttermilk mixture, and we'll use that as part of our dipping station.

(fork clanking) It's really important at this stage that you have a really nice hot pan with your oil, about 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup of vegetable oil.

If your pan isn't hot enough, your crust comes off in clumps.

Now let's dip in a little flour, then into our egg wash, and then into some panko crumbs.

And make sure you've really covered all of that flour, or the panko won't stick.

And if you try to keep your tongs, so that one is more for dry and the other is for wet, it works best.

(chop sizzling) Nice little sizzle in the pan.

Let's get all of our chops in the pan, get those done, and then that applesauce will be ready for plating.

So let's get in and get those pork chops.

They are sizzling, a beautiful brown, and I just want to put them on a platter to serve.

(chops sizzling) And I like to blot them just a little bit so they are not swimming in grease in the platter.

There we go.

(slow jazz music) Let's take that Riesling applesauce and give a drizzle all over the plate just like this.

(fork clanking) Oh, it's so delicious.

With the Riesling in the applesauce, it highlights the Riesling wine.

Now let's just lay a little thyme over top, because we have that in our applesauce and we have it in the marinade for the pork.

Such a delicious dish, and I hope you'll enjoy it with a glass of Riesling.

(uptempo jazz music) Michael Shaps, it is so great to see you again, and I always love visiting you at whatever winery you're visiting that day.

>>It's been a while.

Yeah.

>>It has been a while.

So tell me about your life here at Shenandoah Vineyards.

>>It's been great, it's really been a, really a labor of love here.

We've, you know, I worked with Emma and her staff about 14 years ago, and fell in love with this place as a consultant and always saw the potential, and really thought that the vineyards here could be absolutely outstanding if they got the proper attention, and we put a lot into it, and we're really showing in the wines.

>>That's fantastic, that's fantastic.

So you've planted some new varietals as well, right?

>>Yep, yep.

When we took over in 2018, we took out a lot of the hybrids that were in really the ideal spot for Vinifera, and replanted with some new varieties that weren't here before, like Petit Verdot or Cabernet Franc and Lemberger.

>>Oh yeah.

>>Or Blaufrankisch, and then we replanted some Riesling up front and then actually put in some Pinot Gris as well.

>>Take us through the life of creating wine from being in the vineyard, and you bring it in for your crush.

What goes on after that?

>>The whole season is trying to gear up, and maintain the vineyards so that we can, you know, deal with what mother nature's gonna, you know, run our way, and be prepared for all the potential outcomes, and that's really the challenge, and if we get to the finish line, like we are here pretty close this time of year, you know, in a good, good position, then we're ready for anything.

But then, you know, once it comes in, whether it's a great vintage like we've had in the, you know, in the past couple of years, or challenging vintage, you know, we're prepared, we're prepared, and try to let the vintage speak for itself.

Some years you're not gonna have, you know, maybe the ripeness you want or the, you know, the aromatics you want, but, you know, we'll work with it how we can, and try to, you know, let the vineyard shine through the wine making process without over-manipulating the wines.

>>What comes in first?

>>Pinot Gris.

>>Oh, wow.

>>And we're actually probably gonna pick that tomorrow.

>>Yeah, oh wow, wow.

>>I'm gonna go out for one last sampling today.

And Pinot Gris is our first grape to come in of what we have here on site, and you know, we treat it a little differently.

I like to do some skin contacts and maceration on the skins to bring out a little more aromatics, a little more, you know, tactile on the palate.

It's, you know, fermented in a combination of stainless and older barrels, no new oak in it, and we just want to bring out some of that nice spicy notes and some of the fruit characteristics without, you know, overpowering any oak into the, any new oak on the wine.

So something light and fresh with some, you know, little spice characteristics to it.

Which I like in a Pinot Gris.

>>Oh yeah, me too, it's delicate, it's wonderful.

Yeah, so as you look through your season, what's the last to come in?

>>Cabernet Sauvignon is the last to come in here, you know, Petit Verdot, then Cabernet Sauvignon.

And so here we're just kinda leaning more towards the traditional dryer style wines, and trying to really build the quality level for, you know, dry heavier reds, the Petit Verdot, Cabernet Sauvignon.

But then at the same time, we've uniquely have this Lemberger, which there's only a couple people in the state that are growing, and I think it really does well here in the valley, and that's a lighter fruitier style, you know, it doesn't get the same aging or the same amount of new oak, and something that's a little more approachable early on.

So we have a nice diversity of style of wines here.

(slow jazz music) >>Lemberger is a varietal that you don't often see.

Actually it's from central European countries and maybe some places like Germany.

You might see it once in a while, Austria, but there it's even called Blaufrankisch.

Something a little bit different.

Well, Lemberger is a kind of a spicy, deep berry grape and it works perfectly with beef.

So today, I am going to make a dish that's from Germany that I absolutely love, and this is one where you roll the beef, and you fill it with lots of great things, and the flavors are just incredible when you finish.

So I'm gonna take a few slices of this beef, and this is just a top round beef that you can get sliced really, really thinly, and it's perfect for this particular recipe.

Now, what I'm gonna do is take a slice of the beef, and I wanna take just a little bit of either German or Dijon mustard.

I happen to have Dijon.

Sometimes I use German mustard for this, it just depends on what I've got on hand.

So let's spread it with about 1/2 to 3/4 of a teaspoon of the mustard right on the inside like that.

And then we're gonna take some different vegetables than you'd ever think about.

Pickle, because it's so German.

Love it, those pickled cucumbers, and we'll take two slices for each piece of the meat.

Then we're gonna take two pieces of carrot for each one of these, and some slices of onion.

Now, I just wedged this.

You can also just chop it finely, and that works fine, and you can just sprinkle it all over the meat.

I like the chunkiness of having those slices of onion, perfect.

All right, now what we wanna do is put a couple of pieces of bacon right on top.

And you can put the bacon against the mustard or you can put the bacon just like this over top.

I kinda like to have the bacon over top because then I'm getting more of that bacon flavor.

When it's against the mustard, sometimes the mustard actually hides that bit of bacon.

There we go.

And then we're gonna roll them up.

Just like that.

You wanna make sure that your seam side is down when you start to cook these.

Now let's get some oil going in our pan, and I'll show you how to prepare these for the oven.

Now I have all of my beef rolled and my oil is very hot.

When I put a little tiny drip of water, it just sizzled all over.

So we want to take our beef again, seam side down.

Make sure you're always seam side down.

That way your beef will not unroll for you.

There we go.

(beef sizzling) So you're not trying to cook the beef all the way through.

You just want to get a little brown on the surface.

And as you turn the beef, try to make sure that the flat of the seam is still downward.

That way it won't come unrolled.

If you turn it and it's up, it's going to start to sag, and unroll for you as you start to cook.

Now you want to fill the pan with the rouladen, but don't overcrowd.

When you overcrowd, the meat starts to sweat, and then you end up with a lot of water in the pan, which you're trying to avoid when you fry.

Now, let's get these into the pan.

Now again, try to make sure that your seams are down.

And you can see right here that part of this piece wasn't quite fried, that's okay, it's not going to damage any of your final results.

I want to make sure that I maintain all of that fond from the bottom of my pan.

So I'm going to pour my wine and my stock into this pan before I top it on the beef.

(oil sizzling) Now I'm using a cup of dry red wine in this.

Let's just give it a little stir.

So we get that fond up from the bottom of the pan.

(tongs clanking) There we go.

And two cups of beef stock.

(tongs scraping) That smells so good.

Now let's pour that over the top.

There we go.

(pan clanking) And then I want to just gently sprinkle a little salt and pepper right on top of each one of these pieces of meat.

And they're kind of submerged, that's okay.

And I know there's one in the center, so I'm just gonna put a little salt and pepper right there.

I'm gonna pop these in the oven at about 350 degrees for an hour, and then we'll finish them, and plate them up.

I love to serve these with a fried cabbage, a German style fried cabbage with a little bit of bacon, a little bit of sugar, and maybe some apple cider vinegar.

Oh, so delicious.

It's also great, of course, with potatoes, which are classic.

Now, let's take two of those rouladen.

And just plate up there.

And then I wanna take just a hint of the sauce.

It's kind of thin.

Sometimes I like it a little bit thicker, but I'm going to use that thinner sauce and just drizzle over the top.

(slow jazz music continues) And with this Lemberger, it's just a hit for any night.

So I hope you'll enjoy trying to make this rouladen and enjoy a glass of Lemberger.

(uptempo cheery music) Michael, this is a Riesling that you grow right here on property, and the aromas are incredibly beautiful and I can't wait to try it.

So tell us about your Riesling.

>>This is the 2019 Riesling, which is just now really showing itself after a few years in the bottle.

And what I like about it, it, you know, has that beautiful lychee fruit notes.

A little bit of lime, some floral notes.

And then on the palate, it's got all that crisp and richness, the oiliness of Riesling, the terpene character that I really like, with the, you know, great acidity, but very dry crisp.

>>Oh.

This has a wonderful body, it has a crispness, and it really shines through with the fruit.

Yes, incredibly- >>Thank you.

>>Incredibly well balanced.

>>Yep.

I think it really expresses this location, the lighter soils.

Yes, the cooler climate.

It allows to maintain its freshness, and that crisp palate structure.

>>Awesome, so what's your favorite wine to make?

Is there one that just sticks out, and you go, "Can't wait to make that?"

>>Well, for here, for Shenandoah, it's definitely the Riesling for me, you know, I'm a personal fan of Riesling.

I drink a lot of German Rieslings, and so the fact that we can do something like this here is exciting to me.

It's not the most complicated wine making, but you know, it's more in the vineyard than anything, but when it's ripe, and it has all these flavors, it's really rewarding for me.

>>Now this one a little different from what you're gonna find in Virginia, a Lemberger.

>>Yeah, it's different than a lot of the other varieties that I traditionally make, the Bordeaux varieties.

So this is, you know, goes through the normal Michael Shaps wine making process of maceration, and skin contact, and everything.

But we age it in oak, but a very low percentage of new oak.

We put about 20, 25% new oak in the blend, and then release this on the early side, we don't age as long, and it's really more about the fruit and the ease on the palate.

Nothing too tannic, nothing, you know, that's gonna need a lot of aging to come around.

This is the 2021, and it's really right now just drinking beautifully as a young wine.

>>Oh, that's great.

Well, and this really has that cherry, I get that deep cherry and that plum.

Oh, it's so nice.

>>And really good acidity on the palate.

That's what I like about this style.

'cause it's a lighter wine and I want to have that bright acidity, real food-friendly wine.

>>I can imagine a lot of different things in my kitchen right now.

>>I can't wait.

>>My tongue and my brain are dancing right now, so.

Well Michael, it is always a pleasure to see you.

>>Yeah, it's great to see you again.

>>Good luck with harvest.

>>Thank you.

Well, I'll need it.

(both laughing) (slow jazz music) >>Cabernet Sauvignon is the most popular red varietal throughout the United States.

It grows here in Virginia beautifully.

And of course, we also know a lot about Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa.

Well, here in Virginia, we have a lovely well-balanced Cabernet Sauvignon that grows, and I love to use it when I'm doing pastas.

So today a wonderful pasta dish called Penne alla Vodka.

We have a little bit of oil in our pan on the cooktop, and right now I'm going to add a little bit of prosciutto, four ounces.

(prosciutto sizzling) So you can use this recipe without any additional oil, but I just put about a teaspoon in the bottom of the pan, because I didn't want that prosciutto to stick when it hit the pan.

Sometimes when it hits the heat, it has a tendency, because it's so thin just to adhere to the pan, and then it burns.

Now to that, let's add half of a large onion chopped.

I want to saute this until the onion is translucent and that prosciutto starts to crisp up just slightly.

Now to make this go even faster, make sure that you have the entire bottom of your pan covered.

Keep that prosciutto and onion stirred around, but when you're not stirring, spread it out.

Now, my onion is becoming translucent and I'm starting to see fond build on the bottom of the pan.

So I want to add three cloves of finely minced garlic.

You never want to add garlic at the same time you're adding onion unless the onion doesn't need to cook all the way.

If you add the garlic too early, it burns, and then it can ruin your entire recipe.

Oh, that smells wonderful.

Now let's add a 28 ounce can of San Marzano tomatoes that have just been squeezed slightly to start that breaking process.

(sauce sizzling) It smells amazing.

Now, as soon as the tomatoes start to come to a simmer, I'm going to add some vodka, about 1/2 cup of vodka.

Don't use more than 2/3 of a cup of vodka if you want more in this recipe, because it makes the back of your throat burn when you eat the pasta.

And I want to add just a pinch of red pepper flakes.

Now let's just bring that back to a simmer.

And then I'm going to add 1/4 cup of fresh basil.

(glass clanking) And just about a tablespoon of fresh oregano or a teaspoon of dried.

It smells wonderful.

It's going to taste so good.

Now let's hit that with 2/3 cup heavy cream.

(cup clanking) And stir in just 1/4 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

(bowl clanking) And your sauce is ready.

Now I'll strain my pasta, and we'll plate it up.

I've returned the pasta to the pan, but I reserved a cup of pasta water.

This is just the cooking water in case the sauce is a little too thick.

It doesn't usually happen with Penne alla Vodka, but anytime you're doing a cream sauce, you should reserve just a little bit of that pasta water just in case.

That way you can thin out your sauce and still maintain flavor.

Now, let's stir that through and we'll plate it up.

And there we go.

A little Penne alla Vodka for a weeknight dinner and a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon.

Many thanks to Michael Shaps for joining me today from Shenandoah Vineyards.

I hope you enjoyed all of the foods I prepared with their wines.

So you can grab all of these recipes and a whole lot more at vpm.org/unwined.

And until next time, I'm Tassie Pippert 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.

(slow jazz music) >>And by.

(slow dramatic music)