CleverRoot

w i n t e r w i n t e r w i n t e r w i n t e r w i n t e r w i n t e r w i n t e r w i n t e r 2 0 1 8 2 0 1 8 2 0 1 8 2 0 1 8 2 0 1 8 | 7 3 WINE PAIRINGS BY MICAH OLSON SOMMELIER/OWNER, CRUDO For Micah Olson, the collaboration with Huxton was the first time he'd created wine and cannabis pairings "in a semi-professional setting." "I've done it at home, of course," Olson says with a laugh. "Wines and cannabis are both great at creating a mood, and you can definitely achieve that with the Huxton strain-specific line. It's no different than pairing food and wine, and I love that Huxton is pushing this and wants to see where this can go." The Pairing: Huxton BLCK Green Crack with Château Ducasse Bor- deaux Blanc. Notes on the Pairing: "Green Crack is a high sativa meant to get you going, and that always makes me think of lively acidity in a wine— something with a bit of brix that you can have during a high-energy part of the day," Olson says. The bright- ness in the wine was a welcome match for Johnson, who commented that it balanced the "butterscotch sweetness of the Green Crack." The Pairing: Huxton Wonder Woman with Dos Cabezas Rosé. Notes on the Pairing: "The Wonder Woman has some sweet tropical and flowery notes, a little berry and some citrus, and this is a straight-up flavor pairing. Both are lively and fresh with sweet berry notes," explains Olson. "This really picked up on the lavender notes in our Wonder Woman," agrees Johnson. "This might be a new favorite!" The Pairing: Huxton BLCK Cannalope Haze with Tawny Port. Notes on the Pairing: "This was inspired by a classic French dish called Melon au Porto, a cantaloupe cut in half and served with Port," Olson says. "The flower has sweet, tropical notes, and the Tawny brings in some almond and nutmeg notes that also reminded me of a tiki drink." FOOD PAIRINGS BY DAVID DUARTE EXECUTIVE CHEF, PANE E VINO David Duarte may be a newcomer to working with cannabis, but to say he was inspired by this challenge would be an understatement. "Cannabis is an herb, plain and simple, and I used it like any other herb I would buy at the store," Duarte says. "Flavor-wise, it adds a real earthy flavor to food, and there's a lot to explore with this new ingredient. Working with cannabis is a chef's dream because there are no rules: Sometimes you fall on your face, sometimes you knock it out of the park. But it's cool to try something so new." The Pairing: Huxton Rise chimi- churri with cod. Notes on the Pairing: Duarte used a sous vide technique to create his own infused chimichurri, which topped a cod marinated with oregano, cilan- tro, and lime. "I'm an out-of-the-box thinker, and I love being able to make my own cannabis oils using classic cooking techniques," he explains. The Pairing: Huxton Zen with a 36-hour short rib and a smoked-carrot jam smear. Notes on the Pairing: "For this dish, I created a sauce by cooking the can- nabis in wine to release some of that smoky flavor, and added a bit of Xan- than gum for thickness," Duarte says. "I used my smoking gun with the actual cannabis to make the smoked carrot jam, and it gave this dish that real smoke flavor you get from smoking cannabis." The Pairing: Huxton Hi-Fi with can- nabis, mushroom, and truffle ravioli. Notes on the Pairing: "I made a pasta dough by dehydrating and pulverizing the cannabis and putting it into the dough, which made it green. Then I soaked the cannabis in some low-fat milk overnight, strained it, and used that to create a parmesan cheese foam," says Duarte. For more photos and pairings, as well as additional infomation on Huxton, visit TheCleverRoot.com/Huxton. Sommelier Micah Olson noses the bright, acidic, and slightly earthy notes of the varietal-specific Huxton BLCK Green Crack. Chef David Duarte is a cannabis newcomer, but welcomed the challenge to work with a new ingredient. ■cr

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