Ah, Can’t Beat Steak and Petite Sirah
I received samples from El Jefe over at the Twisted Oak Winery last week and finally psyched myself up to review one of the bottles. If you’ve been reading along, you may have picked up on my palate insecurities. But I’m getting better, so here goes.
Someone who’s relatively new to this (say, me) might worry that the very first samples could be not-so-good wine and then no one will send that someone (again, me) bottles to review again.
Not to worry with the 2004 Twisted Oak Petite Sirah from the Silvaspoons Vineyard. As appropriate for a PS, the color was deep and dark, and the nose was big and beautiful, promising blueberry and black pepper. There was also something there which reminded me of soy sauce, leading to my decision to make a quick version of Lo Mein.
After enjoying the aromas, the taste did not disappoint. More blueberry and spice, with the subtle presence of oak, demonstrated with hints of vanilla. Moderate tannins allowed it to go down easy, and the alcohol was not searing, despite the grapes being sourced from Lodi, where it can get pretty warm. Despite the recommendation of Corn Flakes on the bottle (those kids over in Calaveras County really are twisted!), I had mine with those noodles and a steak seared with a little of the wine, salt, pepper, and garlic. Yum.
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By the way, the rubber chicken who accompanied my wine package tried to help himself to a glass until I took it from him. I was too slow, though, to stop him from helping himself to a piece of meat…
Stay tuned for the Viognier.
….Farley Walker
December 20th, 2006 at 8:13 pm
hi Farley - thanks for the review!
I think that you should take those insecurities, put them in a shoe box, and tuck them into some faraway corner of the closet - and then forget where you put it. I wish more wine reviews were as thoughtful and well written as this one! I especially like how you developed the food pairing as you evaluated the wine.
And you don’t have to do the corn flakes, as long as you start your day with a nutritious breakfast…:) cheers! - j
December 23rd, 2006 at 2:40 am
[...] As I was smelling the cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla, which were all going into my French toast, I was reminded of the 2004 Twisted Oak Petite Sirah I opened the previous night. After I had written my own review, I looked over the winery’s assessment, which compared the red wine to Grandma’s eggnog–linking the vanilla, cream, and nutmeg flavors. Therefore, I decided I would try a much different pairing than my first choice of garlic-seared steak and Chinese noodles. [...]