Writing for Bon Appétit, Rick Andrew Martinez described his mother’s recipe for Chili Colorado as “the greatest recipe of all time.” Who am I to argue with that? What I love about this recipe is that it exemplifies the best aspects of home cooking, where a few simple ingredients come together to make something special. In this case, pork shoulder is cooked slowly with reconstituted chiles, garlic, good broth, and spices like cumin and oregano. The end result is something you simply cannot stop eating, whether piled over rice or sopped up with tortillas.
I made Chili Colorado recently when David, our cocktail columnist, came over for dinner. David grew up in Los Angeles, and he always talks about how much he misses the myriad Mexican food options available on the West Coast. We have every cuisine under the sun available on the East Coast, including Mexican, but for David it’s just not the same. I knew that Martinez’s family recipe would satisfy his craving, and I was right. He hasn’t stopped raving about it since.
I used the opportunity to try out two wines I recently received. Last week, I introduced you to Wild Arc Farm through their popular Piquette, but they make wines in many other different styles. One that caught my eye from their most recent release was a Rosé of Cabernet Franc, using grapes from At Last Farm in the Finger Lakes. The color is extremely pale and could almost be mistaken for a light white wine, but the flavor is pure Rosato. You’ll taste strawberries, tropical fruit, a hint of vanilla and a touch of Makrut lime leaf. This is a wine that can be enjoyed well on its own, but it stands up nicely to a dish like Chili Colorado, in which sweetness and spice are evenly balanced.
As mentioned before, Wild Arc Farm primarily sells their wine directly to customers through their website. Wines are released twice a year, in the spring and fall. If you’re not already signed up for their email list, do it now so that you’ll be in the queue for the Spring 2022 release. Their wines do occasionally end up in bottle shops—usually ones that specialize in natural wine—but because their production is small, that’s never a guarantee.
I also got my latest wine-club shipment from Las Jaras Wines, which included several bottles I was eager to try. Las Jaras was founded by actor and comedian Eric Wareheim and winemaker Joel Burt. They endeavor to make wines in the classic California style of the 1960s and 70s. One grape they use often in Carignan, which is planted in abundance throughout California. Perhaps due to its high yields, Carignan is often used to make cheap, sweet wines—but talented winemakers know that it can also be extremely refined.
I’ve had past vintages of Chloe, their 100% Carignan wine, but 2020 was different. (How many times have you typed that sentence?) Wildfires ravaged Northern California, which left the grape harvest in jeopardy. Burt and Wareheim decided to pick their Carignan grapes early to avoid smoke taint and use carbonic maceration to create the 2020 vintage. Used primarily to craft Beaujolais Nouveau, carbonic maceration involves whole-cluster fermentation in steel tanks filled with carbon dioxide. The resulting wine is often light in color and low in tannin. Unlike the 2019 vintage of Chloe, which was also included in the wine-club shipment, the 2020 is lightly chillable, with notes of raspberry and currants. This could easily still be a pizza and burger wine, but I liked the crispness with the Chili Colorado.
The 2020 Chloe is currently sold out, but hopefully more will become available soon. But whatever you end up drinking, make sure you cook Chili Colorado and marvel at the greatest recipe of all time!
All photos by Cameron Kelsall
Vin de Jerz 