Poplar Grove Winery Shares Their August Wine and Recipe Recommendations

The Goods from Poplar Grove Winery

Penticton, BC | When it comes to summertime wines, lots of folks immediately think of “white” or “pink”…but we think that a slightly chilled bottle of Merlot is the perfect accompaniment to your summer BBQ.

Poplar Grove’s Merlot 2018 (14.2% ABV) is a well-structured wine with a suave flavour profile including cranberry, red cherry and raspberry, notes of sage and bramble, and a hint of vanilla. Bottles of the Poplar Grove Merlot 2018 are $30.35 each, and are available to purchase from our online shop now.

For your next August BBQ or picnic, Poplar Grove Chef Rob Ratcliffe recommends pairing this bottle with pickled beets – a vegetable dish that easily complements any summertime spread – such as this one by Senior Sous Chef Kale Hegberg:

Pickled Beets with Bois Boudran
Recipe by Kale Hegberg – Senior Sous Chef, The Restaurant at Poplar Grove

Ingredients

Pickled beets:
4 large beets
Sprig of thyme
Sprig of rosemary
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
300ml red wine vinegar
200ml water
100ml sugar

Bois Boudran:
2 diced shallots
150ml tomato ketchup
1 clove minced garlic
1 tablespoon Worchestershire sauce
4 dashes of tabasco
8 tablespoons of chopped herbs preferably (dill, chive, tarragon and parsley)
300ml peanut oil
Salt to taste

Method
In a pot add the beets and cover with water. Simmer them with the thyme, rosemary, peppercorns, bay leaf and salt.
Once cooked leave to cool, then peel and cut into pieces.
To make the pickling liquid, warm the red wine vinegar (200ml water and the 100ml sugar) until the sugar has dissolved, then pour over the portioned beets.
For the bois boudran sauce, gently sweat the shallot and garlic in the peanut oil.
Add to a bowl with all the other ingredients and season with salt.
To serve, remove the beets from the pickling liquid and spoon over with the bois boudran sauce.