>>Today on "Un-Wine'd," it's Zephaniah Farm Vineyard, where family history plays a prominent role.

Back in the kitchen, some great food.

So go grab your 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.

(groovy music) >>And by... (groovy music continues) >>There's a great recipe that comes out of Australia and New Zealand that's called sausage sizzle.

I love it, my family loves it.

And it's similar to a hot dog here in the United States.

We're gonna pair this up with a Chambourcin-forward wine.

So the first thing we're gonna do is get our pan hot, put a little butter in, and then start caramelizing some onions.

So into a nice warm pan, we want to place about two tablespoons of butter.

(relaxing jazz music) Now let's add one sliced large onion to the pan.

(relaxing jazz music continues) Now, what's the difference between caramelization and just fried onions?

Well, it really comes down to time and temperature.

So if you want to fry onions, that can be really fast, you can just turn the heat up and just toss away.

But for caramelization, you want a little bit lower temperature.

And you'll want to add a little salt that will bring the moisture out of the onions.

(pan sizzling) So let's sprinkle in, oh, about a half teaspoon to a teaspoon of salt.

(pan sizzling) Now let's make sure that heat is at about medium to medium-high, and then we'll let these onions just go for about five to seven minutes.

(pan sizzling) Now, the great thing about this dish with this particular wine is Chambourcin really loves that sausagey flavor.

Chambourcin tends to be a little lighter in color and in texture and lighter in tannin, but this particular blend brings in a little Petit Verdot at the end, along with some Cab Franc and some Cabernet Sauvignon.

That Petit Verdot really gives that inky color, so it adds a little bit of color, a little bit of tannin, and some texture to this wine.

(pan sizzling) Now, once the onions have sweated, that moisture is coming out, then you know you're on your way.

You can now start to caramelize those onions.

So just leave them in the pan, tossing occasionally until they become a beautiful golden brown.

(pan sizzling) Now you can see the caramelization actually starting on the bottom of the pan.

As it begins to turn that brown, you get those little brown bits down in the bottom, that fond, as it's called.

So you can see this golden color starting on these onions.

Now let's remove these from the heat and then add the sausages to the pan.

Now I have my really hot pan all caramelized in the bottom, and I wanna drop in five, six, four, however many you want to do, sausages that are either pork or beef.

Now, it's best to get a sausage that has really great flavor in it; a lot of fennel and sage works great.

If you can find a sausage that has a little less fat in it, that's the way they're done in Australia and New Zealand.

So you want a little less fat, which is hard to find sometimes in sausage, but a little less fat.

Just look for something that's more an 85% meat and you'll do fine.

So we want to just make sure these sausages are well cooked through and then we're gonna plate up.

(pan sizzling) So the sausages are now done.

When you test them for temperature, go in from the end of the sausage and not from the center so that you can make sure that you don't intentionally break that casing.

You're looking for about 170 to 175 degrees.

So we want just an old fashioned piece of white bread.

Simple white bread is all they use for this particular dish.

And then we'll take that sausage and just place it right diagonally in the center.

Now let's finish that up with some of our caramelized onions and some delicious mustard and spicy ketchup.

So here we go.

And again, this is a classic in Australia and in New Zealand.

One large onion gives you about enough for four sausages.

So we wanna take about a quarter of those onions and just drizzle across the top.

(pan sizzling) And then a little spicy mustard.

Now, I like to use a German style mustard for this.

(relaxing jazz music) And then just a little bit across the top.

There we go.

(relaxing jazz music continues) And in Australia, they love their spicy ketchup, so that's what we'll use.

(relaxing jazz music continues) And there you've got it.

Sausage sizzle straight from Australia, with this Chambourcin-forward wine.

(relaxing jazz music ends) (mellow music) Oh, Bill, thank you so much for joining me today and talking about this incredible winery, Zephaniah Farm Vineyard.

So tell me the history.

>>We dairy farmed for about 50 years.

In 1979, we kind of slipped our heads, financially, underwater.

So, you know, we stayed milking 'cause that was our goal, we loved it.

But we got out of the dairy farming business in 1986.

Wandered in the woods.

We, my brother and I grew beef, along with my dad.

And I realized that at some point this was not gonna hold the family farm together.

So I visited my daughter Emily in the Alps in a place called Sutera in 2001.

She was studying in a 1,200 year old castle.

>>Wow.

>>So one of the courses she took was agro archeology, how farming was done 1,200 years ago, how wine was made and grown 1,200 years ago.

So I bought a bottle of their wine in a crusty, old bottle with a beer cap on top.

It was a red wine, it was Vernatsch, and I enjoyed it with my wife Bonnie.

And the next day we spoke to the professor of agro archeology.

His name was Zizzo.

And I said, "Zizzo, this is fabulous.

A light went off in my brain that this is not rocket science, this is farming.

I'd love to grow wine like this in Virginia.

But maybe it's beyond a dairy farmer from Virginia to grow this beautiful wine."

And Zizzo replied, "Bill, it's farming.

Just plant the grapes."

>>Wow.

>>So we did.

Now we're growing 10 acres of grapes on a 360-acre farm.

>>Well, tell me about the grapes that you grow, the things that you specialize in, and the importance of having those growing here in Loudoun County.

>>Well, it's an eye-opening experience to try to grow wine in Virginia: a lot of rain and cold winters.

So we're looking for grapes that survive and make good wine in Virginia.

So Cab Franc was definitely the first grape we planted.

I ordered Chardonnay and Chardonel.

We love the, any grape that has some native Virginia, North American DNA in it.

They tend to survive better, they grow better.

>>When you're creating your wine, I know that for a lot of people, they like to do stainless, they like to do barrel, but how does that affect aging in your wine?

And how do you go about deciding how long to age your wine?

>>So we believe in aging wine.

The white wines, we age for at least 6 to 12 months.

And the red wines, we age 18 months, and that's... We'd leave it longer, except we have to make room for the new harvest.

So 18 months and then we do blending trials and then we blend.

But we think that the aging part is very, very important.

So 18 months in oak and then at least two years in bottle.

(groovy music) >>Sparkling wine is classic with fried chicken.

And today we're gonna make a Southern classic, chicken and waffles.

So let's get started with our marinade.

So in my bowl, I want to put in about a cup and a half of buttermilk.

Now, it's important that you use buttermilk in this because the acid is what you need to break down the texture of the chicken to make it extra tender.

(relaxing jazz music) Next, let's go for a half cup of dill pickle juice.

Now, I love dill pickles that are cold packed, and I think they work a little bit better in this recipe.

But if you like a shelf product, then use that.

And two tablespoons of garlic.

(relaxing jazz music continues) Now let's give that a little whisk.

And then I'm going to add to that four to six pieces of chicken.

These are about a five-ounce chicken breast with the tenderloin removed and all of the sinew removed, skinless and boneless.

I want to marinate these for about three hours or up to overnight.

Now, I have a batch that marinated overnight.

And before I start the process of dipping them, I want to just add a little salt and pepper to this and just toss that chicken around.

There we go.

Now, you're going to reuse this marinade.

I know that sounds odd.

But remember, you're cooking your chicken.

What you wanna do is take a bowl or a dish and pour that marinade right in.

There we go.

We're going to set up a three-system dipping plan, but we only really use two pans for that, because for this recipe, we want to dip into the flour, then back into the liquid, then back into the flour again.

So I have some all-purpose flour in my dipping station, and I'm going to dip this chicken right in, flip it over and dip again.

Then let's go to the wet ingredients.

And we're gonna dip that into wet.

Make sure all the chicken is covered with that wet ingredient or else the final flour will not stick.

Now, if you want to make these a little bit in advance, you can do that.

Just put your chicken out on either a cookie sheet or on a cooling grid, and you can hold them for up to three hours in the refrigerator.

Now I've got a very hot pan here ready with some frying oil.

Just vegetable oil will do.

(pan sizzling) Now, as that fries, I want to sprinkle it with just a little more ingredient that makes it so delicious.

(pan sizzling) So let's take just a little more salt, (pan sizzling) just like so, a little more pepper, (pan sizzling) and a hint of cayenne.

Now, some of this goes right in the oil, but a lot of it gets right on your chicken.

(pan sizzling) And if it's in the oil, it will season just as well.

(pan sizzling) There we go.

Now, this is a classic brunch recipe and one that's so important in the South for brunch.

(pan sizzling) Now, to get ready for that yummy chicken and waffles, we're gonna make a little bit of a maple-butter glaze for our chicken.

So we're gonna take a half cup of butter, or a quarter pound, however you like to measure yours.

And this is a salted butter.

You can use unsalted if you'd like, but I prefer to use salted simply because salted butter lasts longer in my refrigerator, (pan sizzling) not that I don't go through a lot of butter.

Now, to that, I'm going to add about a teaspoon and a half of garlic powder (pan sizzling) (pan clanging) and a teaspoon of cayenne.

Remember, this is a Southern recipe.

(pan sizzling) (pan clanging) Now let's stir that around just a bit until that butter melts.

(pan sizzling) Now, as we get down to almost completely melted, I want to add two tablespoons of a good quality maple syrup.

(pan sizzling) And let's just stir that through.

Our chicken is about done, and we want to make sure it temps out at 165 degrees or a little higher.

(pan sizzling) Now, I like to move my chicken to a plate with a little paper towel just so it has a chance to get rid of some of that oil.

(pan sizzling) Now let's just remove that paper towel.

And then we want to take a little brush and just give a brush of this glaze to the chicken on both sides.

Now, the reason that sparkling wine works so well with fried chicken is because it cuts through that fat and it's just a natural flavoring to go with it.

So usually sparkling wines are made with Chardonnay or Pinot Noir, and those wines go great with chicken.

So if the grape goes well with chicken and the tenderness and process goes well with chicken, it's just a natural to put them together.

Now, you can use your choice of waffles.

And in this recipe, I've actually embedded my master mix recipe, which is great for waffles, pancakes, biscuits, lots of different things, and you'll be able to make waffles with that.

Or you can go with store-bought.

Now what I wanna do is take two waffles and one of these pieces of chicken, and I'm just gonna top it with a little maple syrup.

(relaxing jazz music) And, of course, you can always put on more butter if you want.

(relaxing jazz music continues) And then we garnish this, believe it or not, with a couple of pickle slices just like that.

Now, who wouldn't want a plate of chicken and waffles that looks just like this, and a sparkling wine to go along with it to start your day?

(relaxing jazz music ends) (groovy music) So, Bill, these are really colorful wines.

I love the gold in this.

And this particular one, your Steamship White, is based on Chardonel, right?

>>Based on Chardonel, which is a French-American hybrid.

I don't like that term, I prefer to say heirloom.

But there is North American DNA in there, therefore it grows well in Virginia.

And this was... Lemme see.

We started with the Chardonel in 2004, I believe.

And we really enjoy this wine.

It grows well.

It has a deep golden color, which is, I think, just beautiful.

And we age this in Puncheons.

We aged it for almost 12 months in Puncheons.

A Puncheon is a 500-liter barrel.

Most barrels are 225 liters, so this is twice as big.

And the whole reason is less surface area per volume of wine, so we are hoping to not over oak.

Because we had to start with new Puncheon somewhere.

And so that's the whole idea, is not to over extract the oak and let the fruit shine and speak for itself.

>>And it really does.

And the coloring in this is just incredibly beautiful.

And I know that a lot of that will come from that oak aging.

>>It does.

It does.

And we believe in oak.

>>Now, this particular one, your Three Captains, based in Chambourcin?

>>Based on Chambourcin.

The biggest ingredient is Chambourcin.

And again, we love grapes that grow well and make good wine.

>>Well, this has beautiful bouquet.

It's just a really great berry, (mellow music) really strong and wonderful character.

So when you put this together, what other grapes are you putting in this- >>Cabernet Franc.

>>Okay.

>>Petit Verdot.

I believe... Now, this is, my memory is shot.

Yeah, Petit Verdot, Cab Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon.

>>Oh, okay.

>>And Cabernet Sauvignon, minor player, but adds just enough to a little pop.

>>Yeah.

And I can see the Purple of the Petit Verdot.

And certainly the Cab Franc comes through there as well.

>>Cab Franc does well in Virginia, I- >>Yes, yes.

>>Yes.

I'll say that again.

Cab Franc does well in Virginia.

Almost every winery who's planted grapes has planted a Cab Franc.

It's a standout in Virginia.

And it is the parent of Cabernet Sauvignon, one of the parents.

>>Exactly.

Exactly.

And I do love that grape.

I do love that grape.

Well, Bill, I can't begin to thank you enough for taking your time and celebrating a little of your family history with me.

(glasses clink) >>Thank you.

(groovy music) >>Everyone thinks creme brulee is such a difficult dessert, but it's really quite simple and it only takes a few ingredients.

So we're gonna start off with two cups of heavy cream in my pan.

Now, you always wanna make sure that you're using heavy cream for this because a milk that has less butter fat in it is just not going to set.

I want to turn this on and bring it to a light simmer.

Now, in a separate bowl, I'm gonna take a half cup of sugar, and I wanna take five egg yolks, and these are large egg yolks.

Remember, anytime your recipe calls for an egg yolk or an egg, it means large, not medium or small, or extra large.

(soothing music) So let's crack these one at a time, that way, if there's anything wrong with the egg, we know that we've protected all of our other ingredients.

Now, let's just give those egg yolks a little whisk into that sugar.

Just mix them through thoroughly.

And then we want to add just a pinch of salt and the inside of a vanilla bean.

Now, I love to use fresh vanilla beans in this because it gives a much richer flavor.

And I like to use the vanilla bean on the inside for this, and then I keep the pod to make vanilla sugar for my guests or for us around our house.

Sometimes I use that for cookies and sometimes I just love to use it in coffee.

So let's take that vanilla, put it right in there, and just stir it through.

Now our cream is simmering.

And what we want to do now is to incorporate a little bit of the cream into the egg mixture, but we want to do this slowly so the eggs don't curdle, always making sure that you're whisking all along.

If you have trouble with your bowl dancing on the counter, just put a towel under it.

(whisk clinking) A couple drops at a time, just like that.

(whisk clinking) We don't want curdled eggs in our creme brulee.

(whisk clinking) There we go.

Now we have that tempered.

Now I'm just gonna add a couple more ladles of the cream, and then I'll incorporate that egg yolk into the cream mixture, and we'll cook it for just a little bit.

(whisk clinking) Now let's take our ladle out, And we'll be working just with the whisk, Working really, really fast, you just want to whisk the cream as a little bit of tempered egg mixture goes in.

(whisk clinking) Beautiful.

(whisk clinking) And the next thing to do is bake it.

I like to pour my cream mixture into a large measuring cup so it's easier to pour out.

And for this recipe, it will make four larger six-ounce portions or six smaller four-ounce portions.

So what we wanna do is pour to about three quarters of the way.

And then we're going to sit these down in a 9 by 13 pan, put water all around it to serve as a water bath, and then we'll give it a bake and then they'll be ready.

Now, I like to cool my creme brulee before I serve it.

But then I want to brulee it, which is to burn.

So we're gonna put a little bit of sugar right on the top, just like this, and sprinkle it around so that it's nice and even.

I usually use about a half teaspoon per bowl.

And then I want to take a brulee torch.

Now, if you don't have one, all you have to do is use your broiler just for a few seconds, close to the top, and then put your bowls in.

So what we're doing is just trying to get a nice little crispness on this sugar and give it just a hint, just a hint of brown.

You don't want black when you're doing creme brulee.

(torch blowing) Just toast that sugar.

Oh, that looks so good.

And make sure you get all of it, all the way around, even on the edges.

And then I want to take some fruit, some berries are my favorites for this.

And I just took some of my vanilla sugar and I rolled my berries in that sugar.

And then I'm just gonna arrange those right in my brulee just like this.

And then I want to brulee those.

(relaxing jazz music) Now, I'm serving this with a late harvest Petit Manseng.

Petit Manseng has an amazing flavor of pineapple in it.

So let's just brulee that.

Mm.

So some toasty berries and some delicious creme brulee.

So I hope you'll enjoy this lovely creme brulee with a late harvest Petit Manseng.

(relaxing jazz music ends) Thanks again to my guest from Zephaniah Farm Vineyards.

It was such a great day.

And I hope you'll enjoy all of these foods that I paired up with their wines, including this chicken and waffle dish, this wonderful creme brulee, and the Australian sausage sizzle.

So 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 >>And by... (groovy music) (gentle chiming music)