The Perfect Wines For Chilling & Grilling With A Camp Chef Ambassador
Last month Jack Haworth and Adam Bible published The Best Grills of 2023: 9 Options for Mastering Your Next Summer Barbecue - they named the Camp Chef Woodwind Pro as Best Pellet+Smoker Grill. Naturally I had to catch up with Camp Chef Ambassador Carlos Bradley leading into the 4th of July to find out what wines he pairs with meals smoked in the Woodwind Pro!
Carlos is a Camp Chef Ambassador and Co-Founder of RubCity BBQ Seasonings. He has over 400k followers across TikTok and Instagram and has garnered 100 million views of his bbq content centered around cooking dinner nightly for his family!
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According to Bradley, the Camp Chef Woodwind Pro is "the most innovative smoker/grill to hit the market in the last 10 years!" Why you ask? Well it regulates and maintains temperature with pellets, but also allows the ability to add real wood into the smoke box for flavor! The most important marriage of smoking meats is blending convenience with consistency, and the Woodwind Pro does exactly that.
I asked Carlos to tell me his favorite things to smoke in the Woodwind Pro, and name the perfect wine to pair with each. He got out of the gates quickly - dropping that making brisket in this smoker will change your life. The real smoke flavor will have you making a true Texas style brisket in your backyard anywhere in the world. "Some people use smoke tubes to try and get more smoky flavor...but there is no substitute for real wood!" His wine pairing: 2021 Russel Joyce Syrah Santa Lucia Highlands - "Santa Lucia Highlands is an unsung hero in California winemaking. Texas style uses a lot of pepper so I want a wine that has tons of black pepper."
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Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner? Making a whole chicken in the Woodwind Pro will also blow your mind. The smoke box allows you to smoke at higher temperature of around 300 degrees. No more low and slow! This is where the convenience really comes in, allowing you to speed up the smoke without sacrificing quality. His wine pairing: 2021 Ross Knoll Vineyard Pinot Noir Russian River Valley - "When I eat a whole chicken, I want Pinot Noir! My favorite area for Pinot is definitely Sonoma. The Ross Knoll Vineyard team makes Pinot Noir in a more Burgundian style."
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Now let's talk cauliflower! One of Carlos' secret weapons around the Bradley household is a slow-smoked entire head of cauliflower. He'll baste it with a butter sauce, but remarks that it'll take on whatever flavor profile you season it with. Not only does he baste with herb/garlic butter, but he also adds it into the actual smoker so it melts and absorbs the smoke flavor deep into the cauliflower. Game changing veg preparation here! His wine pairing: 2020 M. Zobeck Wines Gamay Noir - "The cauliflower is so filling and almost tastes meaty this way! So I reach for something crisp and refreshing. Something COLD. And no I'm not going for white wine. In fact, I'm going to the M. Zobeck Gamay! Meghan is the winemaker of Burgess Cellars and recently dropped the first release from he own wine label."
