Wine Pairing: Lemon Meringue Pie and Cool Foxy Lady
It was the middle of the summer when I started working at Unionville, and we were just releasing the 2013 Cool Foxy Lady. Made from 100% late-harvest Vidal grapes, Cool Foxy Lady, with a velvety sweetness and subtle hints of citrus, is our unique twist on the classic ice wine. In the tasting room, one of our team members always asks our guests to envision eating a slice of Lemon Meringue pie while sipping Cool Foxy Lady. The tartness of the pie contrasts the sweetness of the wine - refreshing your taste buds.
My father and I love lemon meringue pie! I bake this dessert for holiday parties, when I want to offer a light refreshing alternative at the dessert table. This year, I will be baking this pie and serving it alongside Cool Foxy Lady. It is a perfect pairing! Do you offer a unique dessert at your holiday parties? Tell us below!!
Ingredients
Yield 1 9in pie Total Time: ~3 hrs. Includes some time for cooling
- 1 graham cracker pie crust
Lemon filling
- 4 egg yolks - save the whites for the meringue
- 3 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 1/4 cups of fine sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 egg whites
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 6 tbsp fine sugar
Directions
Lemon Filling
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- In a saucepan, over medium heat, combine 1 cup of sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt. Whisk together.
- Add water, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla extract
- Cook over medium-high heat until the mixture, also known as curd, comes to a boil. Stir constantly!
- Stir in butter.
- Add the egg yolks to a separate bowl and slowly whisk in the sugar mixture. Once you have added about half of the sugar mixture to the egg yolks, return the contents of the bowl to the sauce pan. Reduce heat to low
- Cook the curd on low until it is nice and thick - depending on your stove top and preferences this can take up to 15 minutes. Make sure your stove top is set to low. If you need to, add a heat diffuser to reduce heat.
- Once the mixture is thick enough, pour it into the pie shell.
- Cover the entire filling with meringue - taking care to seal the edges. See below for meringue instructions.
- Place in on a rack in the middle of the oven for 10-15 minutes or until pie is golden brown.
- Allow the pie to cool for 2 hours, or until you can comfortably touch the underside of the pie pan.
For the Meringue
- Using either a hand held mixer or a stand mixer, begin to beat your egg whites on low. Gradually increase the speed and beat on high for 2 minutes.
- Add the cream of tartar and vanilla extract
- Beat for another minute
- Gradually add the sugar and beat for until you have stiff peaks. Check every few minutes - you do not want to over beat!
To test your peaks, turn your whisk upside down. The meringue should cling to the whisk and hold their peak without collapsing.
Once the pie is cool, serve alongside a glass of Cool Foxy Lady. Tell us about your favorite dessert and wine pairings below.
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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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