Queens Uncorked

Last night I had the most fun time pouring Bouké wines at Queens Uncorked, a food and wine tasting event of local Queens restaurants and Long Island wines.  Bouké (pronounced 'bouquet') is a wine brand from the North Fork of Long Island, New York.  It was created by my friend and wine school colleague, Lisa Donneson.  Lisa feels her wines should be drunk every day and have gorgeous labeling.  Thus far, her wines have won numerous wine awards and has a cult-like following.  Last night's event took place at The Foundry, a 19th century old building that used to house the Albra Metal Foundry in Long Island City.  Today, The Foundry is an event space. 

The Bouké wines served last night:

• Bouké white -- a blend of chardonnay, gewurztraminer, pinot gris and sauvignon blanc. A very aromatic and food friendly wine.
• Bouké rose -- a delicious blend of cabernet sauvignon and merlot.  The color is fabulous but the taste is even more fabulous.  Dry.  It's one of my favorites.
• Bouké red -- a blend of merlot, cabernet sauvignon, syrah, cabernet franc and petit verdot.
• Bouquet rose -- an off-dry rose of cabernet savignon, merlot and gewurztraminer. 
• Bouquet dessert white -- a luscious blend of chardonnay and gewurztraminer. It's not coyingly sweet and surprisingly crisp and light as far as dessert wines go.
• Bouquet dessert red -- a sweet blend of syrah and pinot noir.  A little more weight than the dessert white (naturally!) and a nice alternative to a port.

The editors of Edibles Magazine, the sponsors for this event, paired up each winery with a restaurant. Bouké was paired up with Sweet Silk, a boutique online confectionary.  We had tasters pair up Bouquet dessert white with walnut apple spice candies.  It tasted sweet, but not too sweet.  The walnut apple spice enhanced the perfume and rose petals in the dessert white.  It was a marriage made in heaven.  My other favorite pairing was the Bouquet dessert red with Sweet Silk's fig with roasted cashew candy.  The fig (which brought me back to my Fig Newton days) brought out the black cherry and cola flavors of the dessert wine!  Delicious!

Jennifer

Links:
http://www.boukewines.com/
http://www.savorsweetsilk.com/

http://www.ediblecommunities.com/queens/
http://www.thefoundry.info/