An Evening at Elderslie

It was another beautiful spring evening in Kansas, and Bart’s wife wanted to take him to Elderslie Farm’s Happy Hour. It was Friday evening Bistro Night, and Happy Hour ran 5- 9 pm (their kind of happy hour(s)). We’re lucky at Elderslie to have an in-house sommelier, Richard Routon, and Bart had a chance to chat with him and pick his brain. He enjoys small producers, avoiding large, commercial operations. With the help of their wonderful server, Olivia, Bart and Melissa ordered a 2020 Domaine du Pere Benoit Beaujolais and a 2020 Requiem Cabernet Sauvignon.

Don’t know much about Beaujolais? This is a region in France that’s technically the southern part of Burgundy, but it really is a largely separate area. Burgundy has some of the most expensive red and white wines in the world! But reds from Burgundy are almost 100% Pinot Noir, and in Beaujolais, they are almost 100% Gamay, a completely different red grape. At one point in history, Gamay was grown in Burgundy as well. Then in the late 1300s, Duke of Burgundy Philip the Bold decided that he didn’t like Gamay. He called it “foul” and “harmful” and banned Gamay from Burgundy, ordering it all pulled up and destroyed. Fortunately, Beaujolais wasn’t under his control, and they became the home of Gamay.

This Beaujolais is harvested from 85 year-old vines and made with carbonic maceration. We’ll spare you the details, but this makes Beaujolais fruity and even candied (though not sweet). It’s a beautiful late afternoon patio wine.  This has vibrant floral notes, with unfolding red and black fruits, including black and red cherries and raspberries.  The more playful among us will also note a distinct pink bubble gum scent.  

They decided to pair this with the Baked Brie, an Elderslie Cloversdale brie with lavender and honey (seriously, YUM). The Beaujolais’ brightness gracefully cleared the palate, and the fruitiness matched the honey seamlessly. The pairing was spectacular.  

The 2020 Requiem Cabernet Sauvignon is another small production winery, this time from Columbia Valley, Washington.  

This aromatic wine captures your attention with cassis, black cherries, and cedar. On the palate it is rich and well rounded with flavors of raspberries, sweet pipe tobacco, and soft herbal notes while maintaining a vibrancy. This is again a very nice wine on its own, but they had hors d’oeuvres in mind. With the Brie, this worked, but it seemed a little too big and bold.

Next up: the Meatballs.  This is not your everyday meatball! This is locally sourced Gypsum Hills grass-fed beef, pork, and Elderslie westfork gouda meatballs in a red sauce and served with sourdough toast. Paired with the 2020 Requiem, the richness of the meatball and red sauce see-sawed seamlessly with the Cabernet’s dark fruit and structure elements. Bart agreed with his wife’s smile—a match made in heaven, right there on the patio.

They enjoyed this so much, they finished their glasses before the meatball dish.  

With the baked Brie, they thoroughly enjoyed the 2020 Domaine du Pere Benoit Beaujolais.  With the Meatballs, the clear winner at their table was the 2020 Requiem Cabernet Sauvignon. If you have just a few extra minutes, drive north of town to Elderslie Farm and enjoy Thursday and Friday nights on the patio or a much more extensive evening indoors enjoying a five course dinner!  Richard Routon provides a wonderful wine pairing option for a magnificent experience. They say it best - An evening at Elderslie is a celebration of the ‘terroir’ of our region.