Long Island Wines Meat Their Perfect Match in Master Purveyors at Dan's Harvest East End

As a celebration of Long Island Wine Country and the bounty of the East End, Dan’s Harvest East End offers guests an evening to not only sample the incredible wine and fine food created by local masters, but also the unique opportunity to enjoy food-and-wine pairings that have been created specifically for the event—notably a trio of fine meats that will be grilled on-site and eight local wines that match perfectly.

“The Master Purveyors team will be grilling and serving prime dry-aged angus NY strip steak, skirt steak and lamb medallions,” says Mark Solasz, CEO of Master Purveyors, Inc., premium sponsors of Dan’s Harvest East End.

“Each type of meat provides a different flavor profile. Aged steak has a musty-nutty flavor that many people are now accustomed to eating and requires a certain red; the fresh skirt is more robust and has a sweet juiciness that will demand a lighter profile; and the lamb, which has a slight gaminess to it, requires a different profile as well. A dry-aged steak works very well with a full-bodied wine, whereas the skirt performs better with a lighter less dry red.”

“The wines exaggerate the unique flavors locked within the food,” Solasz continues. “It is tantalizing to the palate and makes for a joyful eating experience. Pairing the correct wines with meat makes the flavors arouse the senses on the palate.”

With that in mind, we are excited to share not only the pairings of Long Island wines and Master Purveyors meats that guests will be enjoying at Dan’s Harvest East End, but also insights from Steven Bate, Executive Director of the Long Island
Wine Council.

The Meat: Dry Aged Sirloin
The Wines: 2012 Martha Clara Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon; 2012 Sannino Bella Vita Vineyard, Spotlight; 2010 Pellegrini Vineyards Vintner’s Pride Petit Verdot
The Pairing: “Grilled dry aged sirloin is among the top examples of high quality meats that pair exceptionally well with many of the classic red vinifera grape varieties grown on Long Island,” says Bate. “The tannins in reds such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, often blended together, are mellowed by the fat in a choice cut of marbled beef. The Martha Clara Cabernet Sauvignon demonstrates the classic pairing. Petit Verdot is usually blended with the other traditional Bordeaux grape varieties, but here on Long Island it can produce a unique, balanced flavor profile that goes extremely well with high quality beef. Both Sannino Bella Vita and Pellegrini offer great examples of this single varietal bottling.”

The Meat: Skirt Steak
The Wines: 2012 Harbes Vineyard Red Blend; 2011 One Woman Wines & Vineyards Merlot; 2010 The Old Fields Vineyard Cabernet Fran
The Pairing: “Skirt steak is a ‘fun’ cut of beef with a lot of flavor, often treated with a marinade or spice rub before cooking,” Bate notes. “Depending on the preparation, skirt steak goes well with a range of red wines. Our selections show its versatility, offering perfect matches with a nicely rounded Merlot from One Woman Wines, a nice example of Long Island’s most-planted red grape, a spicy Cabernet Franc from the Old Field Vineyards, and a beautifully structured red blend from Harbes Cellars—winner of the Best Red Vinifera Blend award at the recent New York Wine & Food Classic.”

The Meat: Lamb
The Wines: 2004 Jamesport Cabernet Franc; 2011 Harmony Vineyards, Harmonious Red Blend
The Pairing: “Grilled lamb is a wonderfully flavorful meat that has evoked generation-long debates among certain wine regions about which wines offer pairing supremacy,” says Bate. “Few dispute that red blends of traditional Bordeaux varieties make a strong claim for the top choice. Our selection from Harmony Vineyards shows the depth and complexity, which exemplifies this classic pairing. As one of the most-planted red grapes on Long Island, Cabernet Franc is very important as both a single-varietal wine and a component of red blends. The older vintage selection from Jamesport Vineyards not only demonstrates its versatile pairing attributes, but also shows how well our region’s wines can mature
over time.”

Dan’s Harvest East End is Saturday, August 23, at McCall Vineyard & Ranch in Cutchogue. For tickets, and more information, visit HarvestEastEnd.com.

For more information on Master Purveyors, visit masterpurveyors.com