Omen Sierra Foothills Red Blend - Product Of The Day

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2014 OMEN SIERRA FOOTHILLS RED BLEND

$ 20.00

$0.01 shipping on orders of 6 or more

$9.00 shipping on bottles 1-5

VINTAGE

The third year of drought and the direst year on record, was coupled with an early bud break and a hotter than normal summer. Overall the harvest started earlier than normal. Although with slightly lower yields, an incredible quality and concentration was obtained, especially for red varietals. 

TASTING NOTES

Omen, Red Blend is an explosion of flavors and intensity. From spices to cassis and dark cherry notes, the complexity of the blend transcends into subtle notes of leather and dark chocolate. The mouth feel is rich with luscious and elegant tannins. A very bold and powerful wine that is still approachable and balanced. 

WINEMAKING

In order to create the complex foundation of Omen, we work with a vibrant community of distinguished vineyards across the Sierra Foothills. Each block has been fermented separately to be able to preserve the single characteristics of the variety and the vineyard. The blend is then created and aged in 30% new oak for 8 months.

Numbers

Grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon (40%), Zinfandel (40%), Merlot (15%) and Pinot Noir (5%) 

AVA: Sierra Foothills 
Alcohol: 14.1%
PH: 3.81
TA: 5.16 g/L
RS: <0.1g/L (Dry) 

Food Pairings

Omen is great with steak, ribs, and duck. Any kind of barbecue will be complemented well by this wine. One of my favorite is a charcoal baked camembert with herb crackers as an appetizer. For dessert, I highly recommend a dark chocolate torte. Bon appetite! 

Qorkz Kitchen

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Bucatini And Red Sauce

Welcome to Qorkz Kitchen! Today we are doing one of our own recipes and making fresh semolina Bucatini pasta from scratch. We are then finishing the pasta in our homemade red sauce. This dish is hearty with just a little kick of spice and is perfect for a cold fall day. We hope you enjoy it! 

Ingredients For The Pasta

115 grams of Semolina flour
225 grams of Duram flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fine ground black pepper
3 eggs

Flour measurements are by weight. We like this kitchen scale for our measurements because of its weight zeroing function allowing us to weigh everything in one bowl. 

Directions

Mix the semolina, durum, salt, and pepper in the bowl of a stand mixer to incorporate them together. Then slowly add one egg at a time, then the oil, and let the dough start to come together. Depending on the humidity in the kitchen you're working in, the dough may be finished at this point or still may need some water to help smooth it out. Add the water one tablespoon at a time until the dough forms a ball and comes away cleanly from the sides of the mixing bowl. Because this dough is destined for a pasta extruder, it can't be too dry or the pasta will crack and fall apart as it's being extruded. 

The dough coming away from the sides of the bowl cleanly. 

Once the dough comes away cleanly, form it in a ball on the counter and then wrap it in saran wrap to rest for 30 - 40 minutes. 

For this next part, we use a Kitchen Aid pasta extruder to create our Bucatini pasta. Available Here. If you don't have a pasta extruder, this dough could be rolled out into sheets and hand cut into the noodles of your choosing. 

Forming The Pasta

Take 1/4 cup of the semolina flour and coat the counter of your workspace. Then roll the dough out gently until you have a disk about twelve inches in diameter. Next, cut the dough into smaller sections roughly equal in size. Once you have your pieces cut, roll each one into its own smaller dough ball to go into the pasta extruder. 

To form the noodles, attach the extruder to your Kitchen Aid with the Bucatini plate inserted. Turn the power on to full. Take the dough balls one at a time and insert them into the top of the extruder. They will work their way down the screw inside slowly, so be cautious of that and don't overload the machine. The pasta will come out the bottom fully formed and you cut it off at your desired length. 

Air dry the noodles on a pasta drying rack for 30 minutes prior to cooking. This step makes a big difference in the integrity of the noodles as wet noodles are more likely to stick and clump together during cooking. We like this pasta drying rack for its easy storage. 

Boil the pasta in salted water for 9 minutes or until mostly cooked through. The noodles will cook for additional time in the red sauce prior to serving so you don't want to overcook the noodles, but because there was raw egg used in the dough, be certain to cook the noodles thoroughly. We did not add any oil to our water as that would coat the outside of the noodles and make it harder for our red sauce to stick.

Meatless Red Sauce

This red sauce is our go-to for hearty pasta dishes when we don't want to have a big meaty sauce. It is rich and fragrant with just a touch of spice. 

Ingredients

28 oz can whole peeled Roma tomatoes
1 bunch basil
8 cloves of garlic sliced
1 tube/can tomato paste
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup red wine
1 tablespoon red chili flake
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 table spoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
5 bay leaves. 

Using a heavy bottomed pot, add the olive oil, garlic, and 10 fresh basil leaves and cook over medium low for ten minutes to bring out the garlic and basil flavor to the oil. Once the garlic and basil have cooked through, remove the basil from the oil leaving the garlic behind. increase the heat to medium and add the tomato paste. Cook the tomato paste for five minutes or until it starts to brown on the bottom of the pan. Add the balsamic vinegar and stir for another two minutes. Move the paste to the sides of the dish and add the red wine directly to the center of the pan to deglaze any parts of the tomato paste that have stuck to the bottom and then stir the whole mixture together and cook for another 1 -2 minutes. 

Pour the tomatoes into a blender or food processor and pulse 4-5 times until the tomatoes are chunky but not smooth. Add the tomato mixture into the pot slowly so as not to splatter the hot tomato paste.  

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Next add all the spices along with ten fresh basil leaves and give the whole sauce a stir. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for one hour stirring occasionally. If the sauce reduces too much, add another 1/4 cup of wine or 1/4 cup of water to thin it back out. Remove bay leaves prior to serving. 

Red Pasta Sauce

Bring The Dish Together

Remove the pasta from the pasta water but do not rinse. Bucatini is a pasta that is hollow inside so it is going to retain some of the pasta water inside of the noodles, which will help add some salt and starch to the sauce. Pour the Bucatini directly into the sauce and stir to coat. Simmer the pasta on low for about five minutes to bring the dish together. To serve, use thongs to twist the pasta into a bowl and grate some Parmigiano Reggiano over the top and ad one basil leaf for presentation. 

Wine Pairings 

“Pasta and red sauce and Merlot. Is there anything more perfect? This Merlot has big cherry flavor with hints of leather and tobacco with soft tannins. Grab a glass and taste why this partnership will always be timeless. ”
— Jill Hoffman - Qorkz
“I love a good Rhone GSM blend anytime but especially with spicy pasta. The spice of the Grenache, lavender fragrance and perfumed berries of the Mourvedre and the dense, tannic fruit of the Syrah lend themselves perfectly to this flavorful and hearty bowl of pasta. ”
— David Toomey - Qorkz