Merry Christmas! This being Christmas Eve, I am pretty much done with all my shopping and preparations, presents have been delivered and I am getting ready for a lovely winter's nap in front of the fire with a cup of hot buttered rum, easy on the butter, listening to a rebroadcast of a radio play of "It's a Wonderful Life" that I did with the Elkhart Civic Theatre two years ago. But before that can happen, it's time for a glass of wine and some dinner. Tonight I've chosen to open a bottle of a recent wine club shipment from DaMa Wines, the 2018 Stoney Vine Vineyard Syrah. This wine is the first that DaMa has produced from Syrah grown in the Rocks AVA, so I expect this 100% Syrah will be a bit more muscular and earthy, hence the image of Hercules on the label. So, let's see what this wine has to offer!
The wine is a deep ruby color in the glass, with great clarity. The nose is an interesting combination of ripe black fruit, blackberry, plum and currant with strains of savory notes of black olive and umami. The taste is a rush of black fruit that washes over your palate, with hints of anise and rose petals, that transitions effortlessly to some mineral notes of dusty limestone with this faintest hint of vanilla midpalate. The tannins are soft and well integrated, providing a velvety smooth, and very dry finish that lingers.
Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 9, as it's one of the more approachable Syrahs I've tried from the Rocks District, muscular but not brutish. This wine would pair well with many classic Syrah pairings, from lamb to salmon, pasta to barbecue. Tonight I am trying this wine with a new recipe I found on Instagram from a gentleman who goes by the moniker, "dontgobaconmyheart" for Boursin linguine. I've modified the recipe slightly for such a special dinner as Christmas Eve and replaced the smoked sausage with Jonah crab claw meat. In any event, the creamy, herb laden sauce on this pasta is ideal with the black fruit and minerality of this wine. Cheers!
No comments:
Post a Comment