Pairing Chardonnay With Green Vegetables

DIXONS CREEK, AUSTRALIA--(Marketwired - Sep 4, 2015) -  As summer draws to a close in the Northern Hemisphere, make the most of the last warm days by getting together with family and friends to enjoy some good food and wine. For your late-summer entertaining, try pairing a cool Chardonnay with a simple but tasty zucchini salad.

De Bortoli Wines, a fourth-generation family wine company in Australia, recommends the 2014 De Bortoli Regional Reserve Chardonnay. Winemaker Steve Webber sourced the fruit from controlled vineyards in the Yarra Valley to craft this fine and composed Chardonnay with a gentle balance of flavor, texture and acidity.

The wine, which received a silver award at the 2015 San Francisco International Wine Competition, has a fine and textural palate with creamy flavors, while the bouquet is bright and complex with hints of grapefruit, hazelnut and subtle oak.

Webber suggests pairing this wine with a zucchini salad bursting with summer flavor. The recipe below is from Emeri De Bortoli, the matriarch of the De Bortoli family.

Zucchini Salad

Serves 4-6

Ingredients
3 small zucchini, cut lengthwise into thin ribbons
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tbsp. tarragon, chopped
1/2 small red bell pepper, thinly sliced
4 ounces semidried tomatoes
Olives

Preparation
Salt the zucchini ribbons liberally, place in a colander and set aside for 20 minutes. Rinse well and pat dry. Combine vinegar, oil, mustard, garlic, salt and pepper. Place zucchini, tarragon and capsicum in a bowl and toss with the dressing and let stand for 1 hour. When ready to serve, toss through the semidried tomatoes and garnish with olives.

About De Bortoli
De Bortoli Wines is an award-winning family wine company established in Australia by Vittorio and Giuseppina De Bortoli in 1928. Winemaker Steve Webber is on a constant quest to make better and more interesting wine. He seeks character and detail in wines, picks fruit with natural balance, and makes considered and judicious use of oak. While chardonnay, pinot noir and syrah styles are the focus, the winery is committed to developing sangiovese, gamay noir, pinot gris, pinot blanc and pale textural rosé into mainstream food wines in Australia. As a result of his unique approach, Steve has received much recognition for innovation and wine-style development, including being awarded 2007 Winemaker of the Year by Gourmet Traveller Wine. De Bortoli lives by a philosophy that good wine begins in the vineyard, has minimal handling and interference during the winemaking process, and reflects regionality through an expression of the soil in which it originates. For more information, visit www.debortoli.com.au.