Salt and (Good) Taste
From the historically divine to salt in your cuisine, and salt on the farm at Kiepersol, this fascinating seasoning is our topic of taste today. Salt is a critical balancing component in any meal. It’s one of our favorites…so much that we named a building at Kiepersol “Salt”.
One of our mentors, Master of Wine Tim Hanni, taught us that while most people know salt enhances flavors in a dish, its real superpower is that it suppresses bitterness, allowing for an enhanced perception of sweet, sour, and umami (a fun story for another post).
This brought him to the conclusion that when we talk about having big red wines with a steak, it’s really about the salt on the steak suppressing any bitterness in the red wine and enhancing your enjoyment, not the wine cutting the fat or proteins in the steak. Try it yourself with an unseasoned steak and let us know your thoughts.
While the Restaurant at Kiepersol is known for outstanding steaks, our Salt Kitchen pays homage to the kitchen being the heart of the home. Our founder, Pierre grew up where all the important conversations were around the dinner table and everything was made from scratch. And when he built Salt in 2015 we were watching a lot of the competition show “Chopped” on the Food Network. It inspired the professional double kitchen fully equipped with any tool a chef would want. Today you can visit the kitchen at Salt for our Food & Wine Experience or Estate Tours on Saturdays and most of our interactive classes are held at Salt.
While a balanced dose of salt on our steaks inspired the Salt building, there is a much deeper heart to the name. It comes from our ideals that this is a special place built upon The Rock of salt & light in the Bible.
Salt is the world’s foremost preservative and was considered historically divine. In the context of Jesus giving his Sermon on the Mount, we are called to be preservers. Preservers of ideals that are against evil inherent in society. Preservers of the good in the world. We believe that the warmth you feel when visiting Kiepersol portrays that the people you meet here are truly the salt of the earth, genuine and kind.
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.” {Matthew 5:13}
The Salt Kitchen at Kiepersol
Kelly Doherty is the Branding and Marketing Director of Kiepersol. A photographer, graphic designer, and writer at heart, the winery and vineyard are the inspired backdrop for Kelly’s creative endeavors.
She holds a WSET Level 3 Award in Wines from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust, is a member of the Society of Wine Educators, and loves talking about wine.
