Wine and Food Pairing with Merlot and Figs
What should you cook with Keenan Merlot? Try figs and pork. Michael Keenan shares a fig-and-pork recipe that pairs perfectly with Keenan Merlot, along with the story of the winery garden and the “one tree fig jungle.”
▶︎ Watch: Wine and Food Pairing with Merlot and Figs
There is a fig tree in front of the winery, and every year it decides when lunch gets interesting. In the video above, Michael Keenan stands in his favorite corner of the property and shares the fig-and-pork pairing he cooks for harvest lunch — with Merlot, naturally.
Wine and Food Pairing
In Michael's words
- This is one of my favorite spots on the property. We're standing right between my house, the tree house, and the infamous Love Shack, which is a stone throw behind me. And then on this side of the reservoir inside the fence is our garden, which has become to me one of the most important parts of the winery, because I told the team two years ago that it's not so much about wine anymore; we've got that down – it's all about food and how to pair the wine
- to know what's really great and having a garden is just such a pleasure.
- That giant, bushy tree in front of the winery is our one tree fig jungle. That usually ripens at the same time the Chardonnay does, so it's nowhere near ripe, which is unusual. It's one of the mysteries of Mother Nature to see the figs so hard right now, and it's a good crop. So, we'll have a lot of them, but it's still weeks away from really coming in.
- You know, taking those figs when they're nice and ripe and you cut the top off, a little scoop, a little bit of fruit out, pack some goat cheese in there, wrap it with pancetta and grill it with boneless loin pork chops that have been marinated in the assessable oil marinade with a little chili flake in it, and then serve that little couscous. And when you pull the figs off when they're nice and cooked its a little balsamic drizzle, and with Merlot it's the perfect pairing for harvest lunch.
Three more ways with figs
If your figs come in faster than you can wrap them in pancetta, three directions that never fail. Bacon-wrapped: halve thin-cut bacon lengthwise, wrap each fig snugly, and crisp them in a pan or under the broiler — count at least two per person, because "leftover bacon-wrapped figs" is an urban myth. Blue-cheese-stuffed: slit ripe figs and press in a half-teaspoon of something creamy like gorgonzola dolce; serve them cold, or warm them briefly so the cheese just melts. Or simmer them whole in a light spiced syrup — sugar, water, a piece of cinnamon, five minutes — and spoon them over ice cream, yogurt, or a pork roast that's earned it.
All three sit happily next to a glass of Merlot — soft tannins and ripe fruit are what figs have been waiting for all summer.