image(11)
National Grilled Cheese day is certainly a comforting and delicious day to celebrate! I decided to partake in the festivities of the national day and turn it into a fun food and wine pairing. I was exploring my new home of New York City and I stumbled upon a great wine shop so, of course I had to go in! While looking around wanting to purchase all of the wines, I decided on one, a Chilean Sparkling Rose; the 2011 Santa Digna Estelado from the Miguel Torres winery in Chile.
image(12) Because I wanted to celebrate this fun national day, I chose to do a food and wine pairing. I paired it with sautéed garlic, Manchego cheese, and chorizo for my twist on the classic grilled cheese sandwich! The wine was a wonderful compliment to the sandwich, as I wanted to keep the Spanish theme going tonight and well…this happened to be a very nice pairing.

image(13)

Santa Digna Estelado is the first sparkling wine made with 100% Pais grapes which is one of the oldest, almost forgotten grape varietals. This beautiful bubbly is made in the traditional sparkling method with second fermentation in the bottle. It is pale pink colored with light, fresh, herbal and fruit notes. On the palate, this wine is bright, with notes of cherry, raspberry, and a pleasant mousse. This wine is refreshing and has a nice amount of acidity.

My fancy version of grilled cheese went very well with this wine. Sparkling wine and cheese usually make a great pairing in general, but because the Manchego cheese is nutty and tangy but slightly sweet, and the chorizo is spicy and so full of flavor, the Rose really complimented the dish.

Puro Wine is a great shop in NYC near Canal Street where I found this wine. The staff is extremely knowledgeable and the store is beautiful. I recommend going in and trying this wine, for $25.00 the price is worth every sip!
You can visit this great shop on Grand Street in NYC or go to their website at www.purowine.com