Chanterelle Mushroom Bread Pudding

This rich and savory bread pudding has a touch of earthiness, making it an apt companion to the muscular and robust Stagecoach Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. The pudding’s umami notes complement the subtle hints of forest floor in the wine. Start by toasting the bread cubes to highlight the wine’s French oak aging.

SERVINGS: 8

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 c Fresh bread cut into 1” cubes

• 1 ½ lbs Chanterelle mushrooms, washed and trimmed

• ½ c Shallots, minced

• 2 Tbsp Butter

• ¼ c Flat leaf parsley, chopped

• 2 Tbsp Rosemary, chopped

• 4 ea Garlic cloves, peeled and minced

• 2 c Heavy cream

• 4 ea Eggs

• ¾ c Parmesan cheese, grated

• TT Salt and fresh ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Step One: Preheat oven to 350˚.

Step Two: Bake bread cubes on a baking sheet for about 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Step Three: Melt butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add shallots and garlic and sweat for about 3 minutes.

Step Four: Add mushrooms to the pan and add about ½ tsp of salt and a pinch of black pepper. Cook over low heat until the moisture is cooked out of the mushrooms – about 15 minutes.

Step Five: Add parsley and rosemary and cook for about 2 more minutes.

Step Six: Remove from heat.

Step Seven: Whisk eggs and cream together in a mixing bowl. Add cheese, about ½ tsp of salt and another pinch of black pepper. Toss bread cubes in egg mixture, then add mushrooms. Allow the mix to sit for about 10 minutes to absorb some of the egg batter.

Step Eight: Butter eight 4 oz ramekins and place a small piece of parchment paper in the bottom of each dish, then butter the top of the paper.

Step Nine: Spoon mixture evenly into each ramekin and bake on a baking sheet for about 30 – 35 minutes or until it is firm to the touch.

Step Ten: Unmold the puddings and discard the parchment paper.

Pairs Well With

pts

2018 Stagecoach Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

Like the gigantic boulders found in the vineyard itself, Stagecoach Cabernet is robust and unhindered. On the nose, aromas of cassis and wild blueberries with hints of baker’s chocolate, bay leaf and camphor waft out of the glass. The full-bodied palate is characterized by flavors of dense black fruit that linger with subtle notes of cinnamon dusted pastry while the vineyard’s enormous quantities of rugged rock mixed with hard volcanic soil imparts subtle hints of forest floor and clean earth, adding to the complexity. Fresh and youthful, muscular tannins support the concentrated fruit profile and round out the very long, textured finish. Grapes for this wine were hand harvested from two blocks of our Stagecoach vineyard in October and hand sorted at our micro-winery, Cellar No. 254. Fermentation took place in small open-top tanks, allowing for precise and gentle extraction of color and flavor. In total, the wine was aged for 19 months in French oak barrels (73% new) and a year in bottle. From the towering volcanic terrain in the eastern reaches of Napa, Stagecoach is among the most renowned vineyards in the valley. The 2018 vintage began, like 2017, with plentiful winter rains. A consistently warm and steady summer eased into a mild fall, resulting in a slightly later harvest that delivered beautifully developed fruit with outstanding mountainside characteristics.