À votre santé!

You know, when the French toast with a glass of wine, they say “santé!” which literally means “health.” Just like you, we care a lot about the health of our family: exercising (the skiing is getting better and better at Apex this year!) and eating right, making smart choices with what we put in our bodies. Wine is very much a part of our healthy lifestyle – it’s not a contradiction, but part of our intention: plaisir de vivre.

Not all wine is made the same way, of course, but we can tell you a little about how we farm and craft artisan chez famille Roche. In our vineyards, we do not use pesticides, or herbicides… only organic treatments. Our farming practices boost the vibrancy of the vineyard, feeding the soil with ground covers. We even have several bee hives on the property to help with pollination and biodiversity. These practices also allow the grapes to develop flavours with more moderate amounts of sugar – this means when the grapes ferment, less alcohol is produced, and our wines end up being lighter.

In the cellar, we ferment our wines to dry – that means they usually have less than 3 grams per litre of residual sugar. Of course, this is the way we like to drink our wines, but the added benefit is that dry wines are lower in calories. We don’t use or add any animal products during production, so our wines are also vegan-friendly.

Lower alcohol, lower calorie, vegan – it all sounds pretty healthy, right? Well, this is simply tradition farming and winemaking, the way we like it. And we hope you do too.

This month we enlisted a guest chef to show off our lighter, lower alcohol Vig Schönberger – we hope you give Sonal’s delicious delicious daal recipe a try below. It was a big hit at the ski hill: the perfect healthy dish to warm from the inside out this January.

Santé! Health and happiness to you ~Pénélope & Dylan

Schönburger & Daal

From our chef friend and recipe creator Sonal Singh: “Vig Schönburger is a tropically crisp white that blends beautifully with the richness of daal. The wine’s fruitiness reminds you of ripe mangos, just like you would traditionally serve beside Indian dishes – a cooling taste to a spice-filled meal.”

Sonal's Daal Recipe

Ingredients

• ½ cup toor dal pigeon pea lentil
• ½ cup masoor dal red lentil
• ½ tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 cups water divided
• 1 tbsp ghee
• ½ tsp mustard seeds
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• ¼ teaspoon asafoetida
• 6-7 curry leaves
• 1 medium yellow onion finely chopped
• 4 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 green chili sliced, or more to taste
• ¼ teaspoon garam masala

Onion Topping

• ¼ onion, thinly sliced
• ½ tsp cumin-coriander powder
• Salt to taste
• ½ tbsp lemon juice

Instructions

1. Rinse the daal thoroughly until the water becomes less cloudy and almost clear. Transfer to an instant pot or pressure cooker. Add turmeric, teaspoon salt and 3 cups of water. Give it a stir.For an Instant Pot, set to cook on high pressure for 8 minutes with natural pressure release.For a stove-top pressure cooker, cook for 5 whistles on high then lower the heat and let it cook for 3 to 4 minutes.
2. Set cooked daal aside. Only begin the next step after all of the pressure has been released and daal is done.
3. In a pot, heat ghee and add mustard seeds once the ghee is hot. The seeds should begin to pop. Once mustard seeds pop, add cumin seeds which should immediately sizzle. Add asafoetida and saute for a few seconds. Add curry leaves and allow to sizzle for 5-10 seconds Add onions and cook until soft and light golden brown in color. Add minced garlic and stir until fragrant followed by sliced green chili Add the cooked lentils to the pot and mix. This is generally a thick daal however it can be thinned out as preferred by adding more water. Stir in garam masala and adjust salt to taste.
4. Serve with brown rice and onion topping along side a chilled glass of Vig Schönburger.

Please share your version of Sonal’s dish on Instagram, tagging @rochewines and @vigwines so we can savour your plats délicieux.

100 cal per glass

There are three factors affecting the calories of wine: sweetness, alcohol level and serving size. Our light and bright Vig Schönburger is very dry, with only 1.6 grams per litre residual sugar (left over after fermentation.) It’s a lighter wine, with only 12% alcohol. The serving size – well, that’s up to you! – but in Canada, a standard serving size is 5 oz (142 ml) at 12% alcohol. According to the government of BC, a (standard) glass of a dry, 12% wine like our Schönburger has around just 100 calories. Plus, as all our wines, there are no added colours or flavours -> just organically-farmed grapes creating an all natural, vegan-friendly wine. Cheers to your health! Santé! 

Vig Schönburger

Taste: vibrant tropical, pops of tangerine and starfruit. Clean, steely, electric acid and floral notes. Pale citrus yellow. Grab a glass, grab a friend, and hit the dance floor. Synthesizers, big bass speakers, driving a long finish. Powerful, persistent and lively.

Pairing: Salmon ceviche with avocado, vermicelli with olives and chili, Applewood-smoked pulled-pork sliders. Elvis festivals. Old fashioned game of Twister.