Gimme a Man with Mussels: Romantic Pairings from Eola Hills and Oregon’s Coast #winepw

Take the beautiful coastal views of Oregon, Classic Chardonnay and dessert Vin d’ Or from Eola Hills Winery, plus a free food foraging adventure and you have a recipe for romance.

 

This all started when we spent New Years at the Oregon coast (near Seal Rock).  If you haven’t been then tack a trek onto your next Oregon wine adventure.  The coastline is about an hour from wine country and all of the beaches are public access so there is plenty of room to spread out and enjoy nature.  Think rocky terrain and peace, not bikinis and high rises.  Anyway there was a guy on the beach with a cooler and I don’t meet strangers. A nosy inquiry revealed he was picking mussels.  Like off of rocks. Rocks you could just walk up to and pick musses. For free. A plan began to form.

One month later we had done a little research and were on our way to get dinner  Shellfish license   ($7),  rain boots ($15),  picking free seafood from beach rocks with my husband of 15 years – priceless.

1. You need a license.

2. Pick mussels the size of your thumb.

3. Don’t pick mussels in a cluster. They attach to the rocks and to each other. Picking in a cluster weakens the colony and puts them at risk of being washed away by a big wave.

4. Put your mussels on a bag of ice in a cooler and don’t close the cooler.  They need air and cool but will die if they sit in fresh water.

5. Dislodging them with a dishwashing gloved hand was easier than a screwdriver.

6. You can remove beards (the brown hairy things that attach them to rocks) on the beach or at home.

7. Once home pull off the beards if you haven’t already. We used tweezers and pliers.  Scrape off any barnacles. We used  the knife on our corkscrew.

8. We placed our mussels in the fridge in a single layer on a cookie sheet and covered with a damp dishcloth.

9. Mussels are supposed to keep about 4 days. If they open, tap them on the counter to trigger them to close. If they won’t close they are dead.  Don’t eat them.  Once cooked all of the mussels should open.  The rule is uncooked won’t close – discard, cooked won’t open- discard.

10. Prepare with your favorite recipe like the one we tried from Eola Hills Winery (see end of post).

Here is the biggest thing we learned…  Much of the coastline is protected area and you cannot harvest mussels. You get a book with your license and the info is online here.  This was news to us so we found ourselves wandering down the coastline looking for vulnerable mussel rocks.  By the time we found a spot we were quickly losing light and it was misting. While balancing on a rock, picking mussels as fast as possible, and getting a bit damp Mark calls, “You know this is a quintessential Oregon experience.”  “Really?” I responded looking around at the empty beach.  “I don’t see any Oregonians out picking mussels in the rain!”  Half an hour later we had a cooler full of dinner and huge grins.

Coincidentally the folks at Eola Hills Winery had been enjoying our recipes and wine pairings and had sent us samples plus favorite recipes from their team.  Time could not have been better.

There are many Oregon wines only available in Oregon.  Eola Hills was one of the few wineries that we had tried before we moved.  I remember ten years ago Mark coming home from a meeting in Seattle talking about an Eola Hills Reserve Pinot Noir.  For us Eola Hills and Pinot Noir were synonymous.  When we made a quick 5 day house buying trip, Eola Hills was the winery we visited and found some familiarity and welcome during a stressful time.

 

 

The samples gave us the opportunity to try wines from Eola Hills we had yet to experience.  Classic Chardonnay was a study in oak, good oak. The Eola-Amity Hills AVA is not known for aromatic, fruity Chardonnay so most winemakers use oak influence to add interesting textures.  This wine was full, viscous and a bity oily.  It could easily be substituted for red wines for anyone who doesn’t like red or for a pairing that needs weight without tannin.  Probably not the perfect pairing for plain steamed mussels but when we added Eola’s sauce of onions and mushrooms reduced in wine – yum.  The label reads “everyday extraordinary.”  It also comes with an everyday price – $11 at Safeway.  Seems like everyday could be a extraordinary..

We also enjoyed a sample of the very decadent Vin d’ Or.  This dessert wine is pressed from late-harvest, frozen Sauvignon Blanc grape and barrel fermented in new French Oak.  It was kind of awesome and divine.  Honey, floral and tropical fruits – pineapple, mango.  Sweet but acid prevented a syrupy result.

 

Both of these wines were used in Eola Hills Sautéed Mushrooms and their Poached Pears.  It really hurt to pour some of that Vin d’ Or in a pot to make the poached pears. It was worth it though because the flavors in the wine really shone through in the sauce.   Scroll down for recipes.

For our main dish, we rolled out homemade fettuccini noodles and topped with the Sautéed Mushrooms and steamed mussels.  You will need to reduce these recipes to make romantic servings for two.

 

Sponsored post – samples were provided by the winery and enjoyed by the wine writer but remember good reviews are a gift not an obligation.