Wine Pairing: Lemon Chicken with Unionville Vineyards Classic Chardonnay
Unionville Vineyard's Classic Chardonnay is unlike any other Chardonnay, East coast or West. Cameron Stark ferments and ages the Chardonnay in neutral French oak barrels, which add only subtle hints and allow the wines to express the fruit rather that the wood. Rich citrus and creamy butterscotch notes dominate, with hints of oak. The Classic Chardonnay pairs well with most chicken recipes, but it pairs particularly well when it highlights the lemon and herb notes in our Lemon Chicken recipe. Prepare the Amaretto Green Beans as a fresh green side. Together, with a bottle of the Classic Chardonnay, you have a complete meal, perfect for your next dinner party or date night.
Lemon Chicken with Artichokes, Capers, and Potatoes
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, butterflied, rinsed & dried
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 4 tablespoons of butter or margarine
- 2 tablespoon ground or fresh thyme
- 2 tablespoons orange zest
- 3 tablespoons Montreal Chicken Seasoning
- 14 oz can of quartered artichoke hearts
- ¼ cup of capers
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 4 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 cup (250 ml) chicken stock
- 3/4 cup Unionville Chardonnay *place the remaining bottle in the fridge to serve with dinner
- 2-3 lbs of red skinned potatoes cut into 1 inch slices
Directions
- Mix together salt, pepper, 1 tablespoon thyme, 1 tablespoon orange peel, and Montreal seasoning. Season chicken with dry mix and set aside.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil and 2 tablespoons of butter in a large saucepan over medium high heat.
- Cook the chicken for 2–3 minutes per side or until browned. Remove from pan and set aside
- Add artichokes and cook for 1–2 minutes on each side. Add garlic and cook until lightly browned. Add stock, Unionville Chardonnay, lemon juice, thyme, capers, 1 tablespoon thyme, and 1 tablespoon orange peel. Stir and bring to a boil. Check seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste.
- Add potatoes and return to a boil. Add chicken, cover, and reduce heat to medium.
- Cook for 12–15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the potatoes are tender. Place chicken and potatoes on a platter. Add remaining butter to sauce and whisk. Pour one cup of sauce over chicken. Place the remaining sauce in a gravy boat and serve on the side.
Amaretto Green Beans Almandine
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. green beans, trimmed and halved
- 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup slivered almonds
- 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 3 tablespoons of Amaretto
- Salt and fresh cracked black pepper
Directions
- Cook green beans, steam or boil, for 3-5 minutes. When done, they should still be bright green and have a little snap. Drain and rinse under cold water immediately to cool and stop the cooking process.
- To toast almonds, preheat oven to 350F. Lay almonds in a single layer on a roasting pan and place in the preheated oven. Every 5 minutes remove the pan and shake. When the almonds are nice and brown remove them from the oven to cool. The entire process should take 10-15 minutes. Keep a watchful eye, they go from browned to burned quickly.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil and 2 tablespoons of butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until lightly browned. Add Amaretto stirring constantly until fragrant, about 40 seconds.
- Increase heat to medium high, add green beans. Cook for 6 to 8 minutes, tossing occasionally to coat green beans in the sauce
- Salt and pepper to taste and transfer to platter
- Sprinkle toasted almonds on top and serve as a side
Recipe, photos, and the drool at the corner of your mouth, courtesy of Jim, Tasting Room Associate at Unionville Vineyards
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Desk or vineyard? This is the question I asked myself when making the leap of faith to leave my corporate life behind to pursue my passion for wine. After working in the medical communications space for 10 years, 2022 was the year of epiphany. It may sound old fashion, but I did have a major realization in the beginning of the new year that I was not meant to work behind a desk and chug along doing work that I was no longer passionate about.
My first notion of my interest of wine came during my frequent business trips to Boston about 4 years ago. For the first time I was immersing myself in the world of wine through client dinners, networking events and a lot of self-exploring through Beantown. During this time was my first encounter with sommeliers and wine experts. I was fascinated and intrigued by the expertise knowledge of wine, wine making and learning about the intricacies that goes into producing a bottle of wine. At this moment, I thought about how amazing it was to witness such passion for the craft of wine.
I enrolled in an online sommelier level one course at the Wine School of Philadelphia and began studying and reading everything I could about wine. This is where my 2nd major epiphany happened – I asked myself, the question that I stated in the beginning “desk or vineyard?”
This is the question that started the major stepping stone to my journey. I no longer wanted my wine passion to be in the background – I wanted to be 100% committed and both feet in. Unionville Vineyards was the first winery that popped into my head when I thought about making my “9:00- 5:00” switch. I attended a wedding at Unionville the year prior and loved the atmosphere, the wine and the people. The position that I applied to was half farm work half hospitality. I was instantly attracted to the idea of being out in the field to where it all begins in wine making. Thoughts of my “office” transforming into the beautiful vineyard was something I desired. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Unionville has multiple vineyard sites with the Coventry site located within Coventry Farm in Princeton being my favorite (love the views there!) Working at the different sites allows you to see how the different micro climates, soil and land impact the vines and fruit cluster growth. Also working in the field to me was the perfect learning opportunity to understand the craft of wine making soup to nuts. Being surrounded by vines that produced grapes such as Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Chardonnay was eye opening to me. I was so used to seeing the finished product of these grape varietals in their bottled form, but actually being able to perform farming techniques on the vines starts to create another level of perspective and appreciation for wine.
One of my favorite farming tasks to perform in the field on the vines is leaf pulling. Leaf pulling is when you remove leaves from around the fruit clusters. The rule of thumb is to remove leaves that are across and below from the fruit cluster. Removing the leaves creates oxygen flow, openness for pesticides to be sprayed and exposes the fruit to more sunlight. I enjoy seeing the satisfying result of a perfectly balanced vine with the right number of leaves removed. Working in the field creates a huge bond between you and your other field peers. You become a family unit and learn how to work together and communicate as a team. To me, this is a very important factor for having a successful vineyard. My experience with people at Unionville in general has been amazing. You have the opportunity to interact with people from all different backgrounds (teachers, college, corporate, etc.) which makes for some great conversations and comradery.
To anyone reading this, do not be afraid to follow your passion and take a chance on doing what you want to ensure your happiness. It was scary to make such a drastic shift from corporate to farm work, especially since the two are extremely opposite ends of the spectrum, but I have no regrets and I am happy with where my career and focus is going.
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