Warm weather draws people outdoors and from there, they are intuitively drawn to their grills.   Grill tops are adorned with a variety of creative fare from ripe garden vegetables, freshly picked corn, sizzling steaks and barbecued chicken to juicy stone fruit.  The wines which accompany these grilled delights vary across the varietal spectrum and while Zinfandels are readily selected to serve, Syrahs are often mistakenly sidelined.

Syrah wines, while increasingly produced in Napa Valley, are still often a misunderstood Rhône varietal by much of the public.   The age of the Syrah in question will determine a great deal about its characteristics.   For example, when a Syrah is young, it is often loaded with pepper and spice and characterized by strong tannins.   As the wine ages, however, maturation is kind and brings forth elements of sweet black fruit and smoky nuances.   In other words, a Syrah can be very different depending on when it is bottled and when it is subsequently opened.   For those who love to explore a wine and study how it develops, Syrah is a fun varietal.   Syrahs age quite nicely (if stored properly) and can easily age longer than ten years post-bottling.  

This week, to select a wine, I decided to pull a Syrah that I purchased in the fall of 2008.   Given that it has been intentionally stored in the spirit of “out of sight, out of mind,” memory had lapsed thinking that perhaps in late 2010 it might be time to check on that Syrah and consume it.   Searching through the collection, there still sat two bottles of Alpha Omega Winery’s (“Alpha Omega”) Syrah.   Pulling them from the shelves, low and behold, I discovered that they were bottled in 2007!   (This meaning, purchasing a Syrah in 2008 after only sitting in the bottle for one year would make the Syrah at the time of sale very young.)  Nevertheless, it is 2010, now approximately three years post-bottling, this Syrah should be an interesting discovery to see just where aging had taken it.

Opening Alpha Omega’s 2007 Syrah, the wine tumbles into the glass with coloring dark as night.  Looking at the rim of the wine in the glass, there is the slow ember hue of ruby.   Its nose has matured since I originally discovered it in the tasting room, as it proffers forward notes of blackberry, plum, allspice and anise, dressed with a slight lavender perfume.   Taking these aromas into account, I began dinner preparation and allowed the wine to decant in the glass for about 20 minutes before taking my first sip.   There was no disappointment as my palate experienced an elegantly smooth wine with now refined tannins with lovely notes of ripe red plum, thyme and soft caramel.

The wine’s characteristics on the palate were anticipated simply from personal experience, but the nose of the wine guided my determination for this week’s menu:

1)      Grilled PorkChop with a Cinnamon-Allspice Rub;

2)     Grilled Red and Black Plums with Honeyed Chevré; and

3)     Haricots Verts Almondine.

Putting together the seasoning rub for the grilled porkchops is highly driven by the bouquet of the wine paired.   Given that I did identify anise and allspice in the wine, I blended proportional amounts of cinnamon, allspice, clove, black peppercorn and salt to make a rub which would compliment dark fruit on the palate and yet continue to coax forth sultry spice elements in the wine.

August is a terrific time to find seasonal plums at the grocery store or the local produce stand.   Slicing them in half, brushing them with honey and then placing them face down on a hot grill will help soften the fruit and ebb away some of the tartness typically attributed to plums.   Finally, after discovering honeyed chevré last week, I am still enamored and thought that it would be the perfect touch to the grilled fruit.

Similarly, as summer lumbers forth, green beans are being harvested daily in large bunches from the garden.   Just as it has been a task to incorporate zucchini in prior meals, it is imperative to find an appropriate use for green beans.  Almonds are freshly sliced and sautéed in melted butter and then freshly blanched green beans are added to finish heating with a dash of salt to add a French twist to the meal in the spirit of traditional Haricots Verts Almondine.

Plated together and taken with the wine is a lovely combination of cinnamon, spice and everything nice.

Taking the grilled plums and honeyed chevré with the wine, it is simple to see that deep flavors of roasted plums would come forth in the Syrah as well.   Plums inherently pair well with porkchops and when taken together here, cinnamon, allspice and clove add an air of mystery and intrigue with the wine.   The 2007 Syrah, still being a young wine, does set forth a certain tartness but it is tempered when taken with the pork.   For any guest lamenting for more smoke in his or her Syrah, the Haricots Verts Almondine allows that quality to shine forth in the wine due to the earthy nature of the green beans and the flavor of the almonds.

The meal itself is a lovely way to enjoy the last full month of summer while taking advantage of seasonal produce and firing up the outdoor grill.   The addition of a Syrah adds an element of intrigue for as this 2007 Syrah is still young, it exhibits enough substantial characteristics to be elegantly enjoyed now or similarly hints as to where it might go with more aging.   That second bottle of this wine still sits in my collection, for it waits for that undetermined day to be revisited again and reveal what else it has gained from aging.