Wine & Country Living

Each year, I make my own door wreath of recycled materials collected throughout the year on treks across the Great Northwest. For instance, this year's wreath is to be composed of old grape vines clipped in spring from Pepper Ridge Winery. The twine from a visit to a Napa Cheese Maker. The grapes and leaves are from a discarded wine display found while attending last year's Aspen Winter Food Fest, and the satin ribbon, something I bought at a Dayton community yard sale. "Now, where's my scissors?"

Over the weekend I sampled a new Bordeaux of exceptional verbosity: Foundry Vineyards '08 Artisans Blend. This is a wine barreled for 27 months in French oak, created by Foundry Winemaker, Ali Mayfield, one of the late Stan Clark students turned professionals. Before stepping on board at Foundry Vineyards, Mayfield worked under Longshadow's Gilles Nicault, a distinguished French-disciplined winemaker we are so fortunate to have here in the valley. In Mayfield's '08 Artisan Blend, even a novice to wine and food pairing can understand the pairing of this wine with bright foods like sun dried tomato mashed potato, clean beef steaks slathered in garlic basil pesto, kalamata olives, feta cheese, organic roast vegetables splattered in extra virgin olive oil and salty Cajun spices. Foundry owner and renown American artist, Mark Anderson leaves his print in the winery as well as across the U.S. in wine sales. A personal friend in Long Island tells me he buys Foundry wines from a little seaside bottle shop. But it's the '08 Bordeaux blend I speak of today with its generous, 57 percent cabernet sauvignon, 23 percent merlot and 10 percent each; petit verdot and cab franc. Nuances obvious: nose buried in mace spice, blackberry fruit forward, cheeks flushed in cassis, dusty crushed sage, marjoram and a twisted tongue stealing the insatiable notes of violet-rose lipstick smeared in tiny droplets of verdot and cab franc. Because you have stuck to your roots representing your work in true example, yours truly, Judith Henderson of Wine and Country Living gives Foundry Winemaker Ali Mayfield, 98 points for the '08 Foundry Artisan Blend, a Bordeaux wine like no other in the valley and unrated until today. Congratulations Ali and Foundry team! 509-529-0736. Until next week, "Eat Art Drink Imagination! "

Cajun Baked Chicken

4-organic half breasts of chicken

1-teaspoon each: cumin, chili powder, cayenne, paprika,

garlic granules, onion salt

2-tablespoons corn oil

Method:

In a bowl add chicken; douse in oil toss to coat. Add spices, toss to coat. chicken. Place chicken in buttered cast iron skillet; bake at 350 for 1-hour. Serve with mashed potatoes studded in a tablespoon of softened chopped sun dried tomatoes and a bottle of Foundry '08 Artisan Blend Bordeaux styled red wine.