Wine, Food & Vehicle Pairing of the Week!

There's less than a week left until the Burlington Wine and Food Festival, which we're so excited about! If anything has prepared us for a Saturday full of wine and food tasting, it's been constantly writing and learning about wine and the food that goes with it. If you haven't entered our Facebook contest yet, be sure to do it today! We're only taking entries through tomorrow, and this is an event you don't want to miss!

For today's wine, food and vehicle pairing, we're going to be pairing a versatile treat with both a versatile wine and vehicle. Here is a recipe for spiced herb nuts, which look delicious and are perfect for an evening treat or for when you have guests over.

Ingredients (recipe courtesy of epicurious):

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons (packed) light brown sugar
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound (about 2 cups) raw unsalted mixed nuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F.

In medium saucepan over moderately low heat, combine all ingredients except nuts. Cook, stirring frequently, until butter and sugar melt completely, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add nuts and toss well to combine.

Spread nuts on large rimmed baking sheet and bake, stirring after 7 minutes, until golden and fragrant, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool in pan on rack. (Nuts can be made up to 3 days ahead and stored at room temperature in airtight container.)

For this recipe, both a bubbly Prosecco or dry Riesling would pair nicely, with the acidity standing up well to the spice of the nuts. We found a wine that has both the bubby and Riesling; Bonny Doon Vineyard's DEWN Riesling to Live, which is a dry Riesling made à la méthode champenoise, making it a sparkling wine. We chose this wine not only for its excellent pairing ability with our recipe, but because Bonny Doon Vineyard will be one of the vineyards showcased at the Burlington Wine and Food Festival this weekend.

Lastly, what vehicle do we think pairs best with this spicy, enjoyable combo? The all-new Subaru BRZ. This innovative sports car went outside of the box for Subaru, merging the great minds behind different but huge automobile makers. It's absolutely a "spiced" up model for the Subaru line.

The best part is, we have a few in stock! My pick from our BRZs for this food, wine and vehicle combination is the lightning red BRZ, but we have a few others as well; check out our 2013 Subaru BRZ inventory to see for yourself.

Enjoy this spiced-up combination of food, wine and a vehicle, just don't mix the last two together! And start getting excited for the Burlington Wine and Food Festival, this Saturday June 23 at the Burlington Waterfront Park.


Image 1 via southerncomfort.com
Image 2 via dutchuncle.co.uk
Image 3 via clubcj.net