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"Cow-Bernet" Burger Debuts at 26 brixThe innovative Walla Walla restaurant 26 brix has developed a novel twist on the convention of matching beef with red wine. The restaurant, which recently earned a Washington Wine First Award from the Washington Wine Restaurant Awards, is serving beef that’s been raised on red wine. More precisely, the cows are fed the skins of cabernet sauvignon and merlot wine grapes. Only one ranch in the Walla Walla Valley is raising the so-called “wine cows,” and 26 brix is the only restaurant to serve the meat. “We’re using the ultimate wine country beef,” says 26 brix chef and owner Mike Davis, who bought the first two animals to be sold commercially. “You just can’t get more local than these cows.”
The source is a 45-acre family farm run by Lynne Chamberlain at nearby Spofford Station where she raises half a dozen head of Angus cattle. Like cows everywhere, the wine cows are first fed their mother’s milk. Then they’re moved to the Walla Walla Valley’s rich pastureland. Fall and winter is often a difficult time for ordinary cows because plant life loses nutrients. But the wine cows are given a distinctive feed.
“I know these animals. They’re well looked-after, and it makes a difference,” says Davis, who is currently working with a local butcher to obtain more “refined” cuts of meat from the cows. “No question, the cows are more contented, less stressed, and it translates to better flavors.” For more information about 26 brix, visit http://www.twentysixbrix.com or call (509) 526-4075. For more information about area wine, visit the Walla Walla Valley Wine Alliance at http://www.wallawallawine.com. For more information about wine-related destinations, visit http://travellady.com/Special/wines.htm. For more information about interesting restaurants, visit http://travellady.com/Special/restaurants.htm. For more information about Washington state, visit http://travellady.com/destinations/west.htm#Washington. Edited by L. Kim Loop Restaurant photo by Tyson Kopfer |
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brix now features a steak salad with baby frisée and tomatoes, $10, and in a
popular “Cow-bernet Burger” with Point Reyes bleu cheese, $12. “It’s wonderful,”
says Davis. “It’s not that you taste the grapes but there is a definite richness
to the meat.”
Normally,
when grapes from the region’s famous vineyards are harvested and pressed to make
wine, their skins are discarded or used as fertilizer. But Chamberlain mixes
them with grain, hay, wheat, soy, molasses, rolled corn and flax for a natural
diet without growth-hormones, antibiotics, chicken litter or fish meal.