For our October wine tasting party of course we had to go for a Halloween-based wine theme — “Deep, Dark, and Spooky”. So Petite Sirah was the perfect choice due to its mysterious nature and dark, brooding appearance.
In deciding the food to pair with our Petite Sirah, I tried to select flavors as bold and challenging as the wine itself – spicy, sweet, and savory. Here’s the food we prepared and the wines we sampled!
Food:
Braised Short Ribs
Caramelized Soy Pork Loin
Thai Red Curry Pumpkin
Chili Jam Long-Bean Stir Fry
(Laurent’s Endive and Goat Cheese Torte)
(Linda’s Homemade Membrillo Spread with Manchego Cheese)
Wines:
2003 Mettler Petite Sirah
2004 Mettler Petite Sirah
2005 Rock Rabbit Petite Sirah
2005 Shypoke Petite Syrah
2001 Varozza Petite Sirah
2004 EOS Petite Sirah
2005 Rosenblum Appellation Series Petite Sirah
2003 Ursa Paso Robles Petite Sirah
2004 La Felice Cepage (a somewhat off-theme blend…)
And then to finish the evening and in consideration of 2 French visitors who joined us, we opened a Laurent-Perrier Brut Champagne and a 2001 Cabernet Franc IceWine. Great stuff!
Petite Sirah is one of my favorite wines and this tasting event turned out great. We enjoyed some good wines and I have to say my favorite was the Rosenblum – it just seemed to have a deep core of dark fruit which held off the raspy tannins. I was a little unsure of how the food was going to be received since some of these dishes were first-timers for me. But everyone “said” they liked it — and it all disappeared!
What did you guys think?!
-mark
PS: Stay tuned for next month’s wine tasting, November 30th, which brings us to a holiday wine theme that we’ll have to figure out…