Redtree in The White Mountains

Over the weekend my buddy Tom and I went on a White Mountain hiking trip. It was awesome, we had great weather, great views and we made great food. This time we took a 16 mile trip hitting six mountains, most of them under 4,000 feet, but the last one is a top 10.  Moosilauke is 4802 feet and has some of the best views I have seen so far. 360 degrees and it's the first of the 4,000 plus in the Whites so you have an outstanding view of the rest of the chain. It was a pretty challenging hike, the first day we had to climb straight up, 3,200 feet, right away, and from then on until we hit Asquam Ridge Trail, the trip was up 3,000, down 2,500, up 2,500, down 3,000, up 4,000.

When we finally hit the ridge it was all smooth sailing to the top. The top was really stunning, as you come out of the tree line the turf turns from rocky to a grassy field. Most of the mountains I have been on top of, especially above 4,500 feet, have been all rock face. The hardest part of the trip was the 2.6 miles down, 4,802 feet. I thought the decline would never end, it was like we were marching to the core of the earth. All in all, the trip was one of the best.

If you read The of Love of Wine and Hiking post  you would know that I like to eat well when I'm out hiking. This time I bought some beef jerky  at Nasty Nonni's in Saugus, Janey's beef jerky. It's gourmet beef jerky!! SO GOOD!! So we had the beef jerky, couscous, and asparagus for dinner. It's real easy to do and uses very little gas for the stove. You boil 1 1/4 cup water to 1 cup couscous. While the water is coming to a boil add the asparagus, shallot and beef jerky. When it comes to a boil add the couscous and take it off the heat. Let it sit five minutes and eat. The beef jerky comes back to life and is a real nice treat after a long day of hiking. The problem this time it was a little bland. I had in the pack a red pepper, garlic clove, lemon rosemary oil and old bay. I should have sauteed the shallot, garlic, red pepper and asparagus before adding water and beef jerky. It was a good meal and was great after such a long day. Luckily I had wine and bought a dessert from REI. It was a chocolate pudding: just add cold water, stir up, and let sit 10 minutes.

Breakfast, on the other hand, came out awesome. We brought some eggs (we had already taken them out of the shell and had in a ziplock bag) and made scrambled eggs. We had a dried sausage that I bought at Beacon Hill Wine and Gourmet. I cut that up, added half garlic clove, half red pepper (cut up), the rest of the asparagus and sauted them in the lemon rosemary oil. After it started to smell great, we added the eggs and let them cook about five minutes, then covered them for three more. This was better than any breakfast I've had in a long while. It was a great start to an eight mile hike.

I do like to bring wine with me camping. It is a treat that is worth it's weight in gold. It is hard to bring wine because there's glass (weights a lot) and you have to to bring a half bottle or less due to space in the pack. Lucky for me Redtree Winery just came out with a plastic 187ml (about one glass of wine) bottle of wine. They have Cabernet, Chardonnay and White Zinfandel in this size so far. Great for camping, at the pool, on a boat or when you just want a glass of wine at night. Redtree makes good, inexpensive, everyday wines that go great with dinner. I love their mission statement, "Redtree offers consumers fresh, fruit forward, distinctive varietals of consistent quality and exceptional value that are ready for immediate consumption. These wines are ideal as an aperitif and complement everyday meals as well as special occasions.   We bring global winemaking expertise and resources, focusing on what the consumer demands:  a fruit forward wine style, consistency and excellent value.  We are small enough to provide outstanding service, while big enough to bring the world of wine to our portfolio - authentic, bold, and progressive.", it's so true. I took the Cabernet up with us and it went great with the dinner. Nice dark jammy cherry, medium/full body and softer tannin. Next time I make a stir fry at home I may just open a bottle. Redtree is a wine that my company sells and it's pretty popular wine for us. Right now they are having a contest on Facebook. It's about who has the best looking case stack in a store. If you are on Facebook please go and vote for me, the second link will bring you to their Facebook page, my picture is The Wine Emporium, Boston by Dan.