Superior Farms Lamb Rack and Guest Post!

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Last week, Superior Farms sent me this beautiful rack of lamb along with a few other cuts of lamb to showcase it a recipe to all of you. On Sunday, (to close out my birthday celebration, and to celebrate seven months together), we grilled the rack and enjoyed it with our usual huge salad.

To prepare the lamb, you’ll mix lemon juice and olive oil in equal parts, and then flavor with sea salt, dried oregano and minced garlic to taste. Then marinate in the refrigerator anywhere from 5 to 48 hours.

Now for the wines!
One of the wines we purchased during our Seattle trip from Fall Line Winery, and the other wine was given to me at a media tasting at BevMo! We knew both wines were perfect for the lamb, and I did mention we were celebrating, didn’t I? 🙂

The first wine was Michael Pozzan’s Marianna (2009) (Bordeaux-style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot) retailing at about $39-$40, and the second was Fall Line’s 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon at a $28 price point. (Also, it is apparently so good that it is currently sold out).

For your enjoyment, I have included the wine review, guest written by my Winer-in-Crime, Andy Harris:

The wine is simply called “Marianna”, of the 2009 vintage year, and is a proprietary wine produced by the exquisite Michael Pozzan wine company in Oakville, California, the epicenter of great Cabernet Sauvignon growing and producing in the United States.  This special wine is in the Bordeaux style as evidenced by its blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.  It comes in a beautifully tapered bottle made of thick glass and sealed in wax.  We paired it with rack of lamb prepared in the traditional Greek style, marinated in extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, organic oregano and sea salt.  This repast was taken outdoors in 90 degree weather with light and simple side dishes consisting of a lettuce salad and sliced Tuscan Mellon.  However, the lamb and wine were the co-stars, not unlike Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.  The wine was young by Oakville Cabernet standards but perfectly acceptable for drinking in 2012, 2022 or any time in between.  It was tannic and structured but beautifully balanced with the nuance of the three other blending grapes.  It showed its strength and heft in standing up to my heavy seasonings and hickory-smoked barbequing method.  This wine is characterized by intense red and black fruit flavors and a superb minerality in the finish.

For comparison’s sake, we also opened another wine to try with this dinner.  The other wine, a 2009 Fall Line Winery Cabernet Sauvignon, Yakima Valley, was an intriguing pairing with the lamb because it, too, is a wine which typically gets blended into Bordeaux-style Washington State wines by Seattle’s eponymous wine maker, ex-Harvard economist Tim Sorenson. We’ve been to his winery and believe me, this guy knows what he’s doing!  The 2009 Yakima Valley Cabernet is a blend of sorts, even though it’s 100% Cabernet Sauvignon.  Tim sources grapes from three different vineyards to produce this tour de force of flavor without being overbearing with alcohol (14.4%).  The result is a very light and dry wine with a delicate finish.  It will also complement the aforementioned lamb, especially if you’re into lower tannins, floral bouquets and lots of subtlety.  Robert Parker rated this particular wine at an astounding 92 points!

You can find Superior Farms on Facebook here and follow them on twitter here. Look for more recipes next week, as we will prepare the ground lamb and the lamb shoulder from my Superior Farms shipment.