Welcome fall meals with wine

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Fall is the perfect time to welcome warm, robust flavors to your kitchen as well as your wine glass. With its bold, spicy, dark fruit flavors, cabernet sauvignon is a perfect wine for crisp fall weather.

This recipe for a savory lamb shank stew has just the right amount of salt, acid and spice to create a deliciously balanced meal that is perfect to pair with an elegant glass of cabernet sauvignon.

Slow Cooker Lamb Shank Stew

Serves: 4

1 yellow onion, diced

2 celery stalks, diced

2 carrots, peeled and diced

3 garlic cloves, crushed

2 cups chicken stock

1 cup peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

4 lamb shanks, external fat trimmed

salt, to taste

freshly ground pepper, to taste

2 tablespoons olive oil

lemon juice

In slow cooker, combine onion, celery, carrots, garlic, chicken stock, tomatoes, tomato paste, thyme and bay leaf; stir.

Season lamb shanks with salt and pepper. In large saute pan over medium-high heat, warm olive oil until nearly smoking. Add shanks and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes. Transfer to slow cooker and cook on high 6 hours.

Transfer lamb shanks to large serving dish. Remove bay leaf from cooking liquid. Using blender or stick blender, add generous squeeze of lemon juice to cooking liquid and puree until smooth. Pour some sauce over shanks. Serve with cauliflower puree and glass of Sequoia Grove Cabernet Sauvignon.