Wine, Beer and Food Pairing: Perfect Date Cake and a Sparklet have a date for the Holidays

It’s the holiday season and things can get kind of crazy with the shopping, the family, the friends, and the food.

While KUVO might not be able to take care of everything for you, but one way that we can help is by putting a bug in your ear regarding a great after meal dessert and drink to help with your holiday meal.

Carolyn Joy of Joy Wine and Spirits and Desiree Kelly of the Makery Cake Company stopped by KUVO recently to share a Sparklet Effervescent Off Dry White Wine and a sumptuous Date Cake with a mouthwatering whipped cream frosting, fresh strawberries, and a chocolate ganache drizzle.

Carolyn discussed the local Colorado grower that she used for this months pairing, while Desiree described why this is the PERFECT Date Cake.

A WORD FROM CAROLYN REGARDING THE SPARKLET:

Bubbles are most often associated with Colorado beer…until now.  Joy Wine and Spirits is now selling Colorado’s first and only sparkling wine, just in time for the holidays.  At Joy we love introducing our customers to our amazing small growers from Champagne, but now we have a small grower of our own.  Sparklet is very different from traditional Champagne, from where it is grown to the varietals of grapes and how the bubbles are “produced”.

Kaibab from Colorado vineyards, started his career as a vineyard manager for Bookcliff, which eventually turned into his own gig after acquiring land leases to grow his own crops.   He has been growing grapes for other well known Colorado wineries for the past 7 years, and was just waiting for the right opportunity to produce his own wine.  The 25 varietals he grows now are a testament to Colorado’s efforts in figuring out what grapes grow best here or produce the best wines.  Colorado has many challenges, most obviously the weather, however, our location also is a challenge in terms of production as we don’t always have the same resources as a large wine growing state, in terms of access to bottling facilities and supplies.  And while Coloradoans have been growing grapes since the late 1800’s, and there was a resurgence of commercial Colorado wines in the late 1960’s, today’s Colorado wineries have to often overcome the stigma of inconsistent and really questionable quality of many of the wines produced then.

Fast forward to this new generation of Colorado winemakers who have learned from the past.  Because of better growing and cellar practices, they are gaining recognition on national and international scales.  And now, we have sparkling!  Come try the off-dry, which is really quite dry, even though with its floral and peach aromatics, it smells like it should be sweet.   The grapes for these wines are sustainably farmed, and the wine is bright, balanced and so refreshing, perfect from start to finish for any holiday meal.