The Other Cab + Meat Melange

This past weekend some friends and I sampled tasty meats from our friend Jake Dickson, owner of Dickson's Farmstand Meats (http://dicksonsfarmstand.com/). Jake sources his meat from small-scale family farms in New York State and sells it at the Chelsea Market Thursdays - Sundays. He and his fiance, Jen, suggested we do a steak tasting and helped us choose the cuts. We went with ribeye, flat iron, and sirloin. They gave us instructions and we were off!

I paired the meats with a Cabernet Franc, one of my favorite reds and "the other Cab" as compared to Cabernet Sauvignon. Cab Franc is a lighter style red that is less tannic than Cab Sauv and therefore a bit easier to drink. It also tends to have spicier, greener flavors. It is often included in Bordeaux blends in small amounts, alongside the dominant Cab Sauv and Merlot, and in the Loire region of France it dominates the reds. NY's Finger Lakes and Long Island regions also do Cabernet Franc on its own really well. I happened to have Hermann J. Wiemer's 2006 Cabernet Franc on hand for this pairing.

The meat melange was amazing - the cuts were so tender and fresh. In my limited steak experience I've never had ribeye or flat iron, so I don't have much to go on, but these meats had a grassy, organic quality. The ribeye, my favorite, was melt-in-your-mouth delicious. The flat iron was everything I hoped it would be. The sirloin was the best I'd ever had. And the wine - the lightness of the Cab Franc really balanced the hearty steaks. It had notes of cherry on the nose and bell pepper and cinnamon on the palate. With certain bites of steak there was a lingering chocolate finish. It was the perfect marriage of flavor and texture. Cab Franc + meat melange = perfection.

Special thanks to Jake and Jen for their amazing meats and exceptional customer service! And to my fellow tasters for preparing the meat while I napped on the couch.