Here it is, the first ever blog post with an ACTUAL review from Sanaya herself. Andrew here (still), convincing Sanaya to sit down and write reviews is proving to be harder than I thought. I decided I’d try to trick her into making a review by giving her a pairing challenge.

The Challenge

Out of nowhere I looked at her and said “I have a challenge for you. Tonight I’d like to cook burgers and sweet potato fries. I want you to find the perfect wine to go with that meal”. It’s a tough ask, as burgers and beer have traditionally been the celebrity fast food couple. But I had confidence in Sanaya; if anyone can pair a wine with burgers, it’s her.

She pondered the request for all of five seconds. Honestly I thought she was pondering whether to accept the challenge or call me an idiot – a 50/50 chance either way. Then she looked at me and said, “I think I have something”. Come ON! This was supposed to be difficult!

The Wine

She goes to her infamous wine rack and searches for a minute for what she’s looking for. And then there it is: A 2019 Forks & Knives Rosé by Milan Nestarec. A thing of beauty.

Why is it the perfect pairing, I ask her. She came up with that in seconds, I need to know how her mind jumped to this one.

“From what I’ve heard it’s a very drinkable, everyday wine. It’s a Czech wine, and it’s supposed to be very easy to pair with anything. Kind of like a table wine for everyone to enjoy. So that’s why I think it will go great with burgers.”

I’m sold.

The Research

Let’s dive into this “Forks and Knives” wine a bit deeper. I don’t know much about natural wines, and even less about Czech ones…so I had some reading to do before I could even think about writing up this article.

Milan Nestarec came up with the idea of the F&K line of wines because he hated how wine was used to either binge after a meal or only used at special occasions in his native Czech Republic. “For me and my family, wine is like food, something that should be on your table every day,” he said on his website.

And so that’s what he’s done. He’s created a wine that is affordable, friendly and an everyday type of drink. It’s not something to swirl in your glass and analyze or use terms like viscosity or minerality (terms he hates), but instead just to enjoy with an open mind and a happy pallet. “My wine is for drinking, not for flashing posh terms”.

The Burgers

As much as this is a wine blog, I’m going to talk about the burgers we made for a minute…because they were some of the BEST burgers I have ever had in my life. We did smash burgers, so you put them in a hot pan as a ball and smash them into the pan so they’re super thin, and then you double stack them with cheese in between.

We used the cast-iron skillet, easily one of the greatest purchases we’ve ever made. It can be used for literally anything, and the flavours you get out of it are incredible.

Anyways back to the burgers – they were insanely delicious. And then to pair them with some sweet potato fries baked in the oven and then seasoned perfectly with some salt…what a combo. It’s safe to say I will definitely be making these again.

The Pairing

Sanaya was right – this wine could pair with ANYTHING. It is a fun, fruity wine with lots of cranberry notes. Here’s her take on the wine:

“This is a super fun rosé – like cranberry juice for grownups. Closer to a red with it’s tart, deeper notes than a light & floral rose, I appreciated the body and depth each sip provided. I can’t help but smile at a cute label & the punchy green with the light red in the bottle gave me watermelon vibes and transported me to burgers in the backyard on a hot summer’s day – a perfect pairing for covid lockdown smash burgers.”

Editor’s note: Sanaya wrote this and then expected me to edit it and make it sound fancier, but honestly I didn’t have to change a single word of her review. It’s almost like she actually knows what she’s talking about…what a crazy thought.

So there you have it – Sanaya’s first wine review! The irony was not lost on me that there were no forks and knives required to eat the burgers and fries – I guess Sanaya is also a comedic genius.

Catch you next time!