Brew Crew Magazine

Brew Crew Magazine recently joined Michael DiCrescenzo out among the vines at Altamont Vineyard and Winery to help pick petite jewel grapes.

You may not immediately think of grapes as an autumn harvest. We can grab a package of grapes at the grocery store year-round and enjoy them even in the depths of winter but if you are a winemaker, August and September are peak harvest times. Recently, we joined our friends at Altamont Vineyard & Winery to help pick petite jewel grapes for their Spiders Rose. These tiny, sweet, seedless grapes can be used in winemaking or as a table grape, perfect for snacking on in or out of the field.

Petite jewel grapes are one of the diverse varietals that Altamont grows and this is down to the vineyard’s founder, Larry Grossi who had vision of creating wines like the ones he remembered from Italy. Grossi founded the vineyard in 1981 and worked closely with Cornell University over the years, testing different grapes in order to see what worked best in the cold and windy climate of the Altamont hills. Grossi’s dedication to exploring winemaking in Albany County resulted in today’s vineyard, ripe with variety and flavor profiles.

The DiCrescenzo family purchased the winery in 2006 from the Grossis. Father Louis and son Michael, work together to transform the grapes into rich and flavorful wines that harken back to Lou’s childhood also in Italy.

Grape picking, pressing, and the act of winemaking is not as romantic as some films suggest. The days are hot and long, the work delicate and rigorous all at the same time. While we often sit back and enjoy the end product, rarely do we think about the hours of work it takes to get the juice into the tanks and barrels. It is this process, unseen and all-too-often unacknowledged, that adds flavor and complexity to the wines we enjoy.

I’m more familiar with the process than most. Long ago, I worked for Mike and Lou at the vineyard as I saved up for my first trip to Italy. I worked in the fields, the winery, weddings, and the tasting room…I even taught monthly cooking classes. A decade later, Mike and I still wistfully talk about one particular dish we made on a late September evening for class: Vintner’s Sausage, a wood-fired combination of grapes from the field, onions, and sausage.

In that vein, I decided to take some of my haul (about 2 lbs. worth of petite jewel grapes) and recreate the dish in my own way. Simple but decadent, unusual yet familiar, this dish ends up being almost as memorable as the first time we made it.

Vintner’s Sausage

Feeds 2

Ingredients:

4 sweet sausage links

1 medium onions, sliced thin

4 cloves garlic, sliced thin

1 lb. red-skinned table grapes

½ cup deep red wine (like Leon Millot from Altamont Vineyard & Winery)

4 sprigs thyme

Salt and pepper

1. Poke your sausages and place into boiling water for 3 minutes in order to extract some  of the oils. Drain and set aside.
2. Place sliced onions on bottom of a cast iron skillet and layer grapes and garlic on top.
3. Add sausages, salt and pepper to taste. Cover with aluminum foil.

Cooking Method:

• Oven: Preheat oven to 375 degrees and place the covered cast iron skillet in the center rack. Bake for 20 minutes. Take out and turn the sausages over and uncover the pan. Return the pan to the over and bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes or until the onions are soft.
• Wood Fired: You can try to make this dish directly on wood fired coals as we did the other night. Timing can be tricky but it is recommended that you check the sausages and onions every 10 to 15 minutes, turning as necessary and moving around the fire to ensure things do not get burnt. Total cooking time for us was 40 minutes.

Serve with mashed potatoes or chunks of fresh bread used to sop up the sweet and savory sauce.