Garlic Parmesan Baked Eggplant with an Astrolabe Province Sauvignon Blanc #worldwinetravel

Our #WorldWineTravel group of bloggers explored the wine regions of Australia and just finished up an eight-month exploration of Australian wines in August.  From September-December of 2022, we will be looking at New Zealand wines up close and personal, starting with wines from Martinborough.

You will learn a lot about New Zealand wine by looking at this post.  It will give you the ins and outs of New Zealand wines.

I'll focus on the wine I chose which was the Astrolabe Province Sauvignon Blanc.  As David mentioned in his post above, almost 1 in 5 bottles of Sauvignon Blanc come from New Zealand.  It's a pretty pale straw color with green highlights.  You certainly pick up the citrus pith of lime and grapefruit. The minerals are there, too, and this has a dry finish. It's a wine that will continue to develop in the bottle.  This wine is paired with raw oysters, tempura vegetables, and delicate white fish.  Wine Advocate says it's a medium-bodied wine with a long balanced wine and elegant, not often seen in Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.

We served it with homegrown baked eggplant slices that mimicked a tempera.  We hoped (and lucked out) that baking the eggplant would keep the batter light and airy and would let the wine flavors enhance the dish.  I think we hit a jackpot here.

We have a LettuceGrow farmstand. This is our second year of using it but the first year to grow Piccolo eggplants.  We are planning to grow more next year.  This is a smaller eggplant, typically harvested in the fall, and is a cut and regrow plant.  The lavender and white striped of eggplant is the ripe color, the yellow can mean it is overripe or needs to ripen. The size helps you decide what to do!

Check out these other posts on Marlborough wines:

• Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla will be serving up Chicken Salad, Calamarata Pasta, and the 2020 Craggy Range “Te Muna Road” Sauvignon Blanc
• Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm is Saying Farewell to Summer with a Craggy Range Sauvignon Blanc
• Terri of Our Good Life is sharing Garlic Parmesan Baked Eggplant with an Astrolabe Province Sauvignon Blanc.
• Martin of ENOFYLZ Wine Blog Ata Rangi Pinot Noir Crimson + Smoked Portobello Mushroom Burgers #WorldWineTravel