Elyse Winery’s (“Elyse”) 2005 Syrah may be long gone from the tasting room, but it is not forgotten:  particularly if you had the foresight to set some aside to cellar.

Months ago, I brought a bottle of this gem to work on a Friday for an end of the day impromptu happy hour.  A co-worker the day prior had insisted that I try a bit of cheese wrapped in nettles and wondered what wine I would pair.  Nettles have a grassy, nutty flavor and when combined with a creamy buttery brie cheese, Syrah immediately leaps to mind for pairing purposes.

Syrah is a varietal that California vintners passionately embrace as it continues to become exceedingly popular and equally unique both in winemaking style and flavor profile.   The grape itself seems to soulfully search the soil from which it grows to augment its flavorful identity and with California vintners seeking to put their own thumbprint of individuality, varied styles can (and often do) take this varietal to new heights.

Elyse makes a lovely array of varied wines and is particularly successful with Rhone-style varietals.   When made well, Syrah can reflect art in a bottle and Elyse readily meets this challenge.  Easily four years have lapsed since I first tasted the 2005 Syrah and quite frankly, Syrah is not a varietal that I reach for on a regular basis.  Knowing that the varietal’s flavor profile would fare well with the nettle-wrapped cheese, I brought the 2005 Syrah with an almost cavalier spirit and wondering how it had aged in the bottle.  

How well did the 2005 Syrah fare?  It fared so well that it was gone in 40 minutes among eight of us.   As I watched my colleagues smile and their eyes glisten in delight of discovering a velvety smooth Syrah, I knew that the other bottle sitting at home needed to be featured in an article and more importantly, I knew exactly what to pair with it.

This past weekend included Memorial Day and as tradition holds, the charcoal barbeque grill was fired up.   The first true barbeque of the season was about to unfold and in the kitchen, I was measuring, tasting and creating a new sauce to baste with.   I had been contemplating this sauce ever since the impromptu work happy hour and largely because of the wine’s attributes.

Elyse’s 2005 Syrah flaunts gorgeous, expressive, voluptuous aromas of blackberry, red plum, raspberry, bits of bacon fat and roasted fennel with intoxicatingly herbal touches of mint and thyme.   A nose not to beguile, the mouth is not disappointed as heaven coats the palate with an utterly perfectly smooth velveteen of roasted raspberries and gently woven herbs.  Despite being easily enjoyable on its own, the wine begs for herbs, charcoal grilled meats and savory dark barbeque sauces.   During the happy hour, the nettles and brie show off the perfection of the wine’s luscious fruit.   While nearly no one has nettles readily available to him or her, more often than not rosemary can be found growing on a patio or nearby.  If you include a woodsy herb like rosemary in your dish, you will be rewarded by a seemingly never ending Syrah, allowing you to discover the gifted touch of a knowledgeable vintner and the indescribable value of patience coupled with time in a bottle.

With these notes in mind, this week’s menu hosts:

1)      Grilled Rosemary Zucchini Medallions;

2)     Spinach Wild Rice Quinoa; and

3)     Bacon Wrapped Chicken Skewers in a Maple-Balsamic Blackened Barbeque Sauce.

Chicken is wrapped in center-cut bacon and loaded onto skewers with alternating pieces of sweet red bell pepper and sweet Vidalia onion.   Prior to being placed on a hot charcoal grill, the skewers are basted with my newly created Maple-Balsamic Blackened Barbeque Sauce.   Barbeque Sauces are highly proprietary but with a combination of ingredients to create a dark mingling of sweet and spice, this sauce is a winner.   As the balsamic vinegar has higher sugar content, reduced sugar maple syrup is used.  The marinade based on basic ingredients in the cupboard will be plenty sweet and does not merit additional sugar.   Coming off the grill, these skewers are a sultry medley of caramelized sweet odors and flavors with that of charcoal and bacon fat.

Normally I am not a fan of carbohydrates or starchy rice or potatoes.  But after discussion with my sibling, his prodding won over and realistically the skewer need to be plated a top something.   Brown rice, wild rice and quinoa are combined and mixed gently with cooked chopped spinach.   Using some meyer lemon from the backyard, the medley is dressed before being adorned with the skewer.

Taking a bite of the bacon wrapped chicken with the spinach and the quinoa medley equates to a “come to papa” or (“come to mama”) reaction that only intensifies with a sip of Elyse’s 2005 Syrah.   One sip in conjunction with this bite of food unleashes huge berry notes, smokiness and herbaceous flavors.   These flavors almost race forward in the wine as if they are ready to aggressively embrace the savory layered flavor profile of the food.   Because the wine has had the opportunity to age in the bottle its texture is sensually smooth yet despite aging, flavor profile has not dissipated as it continues to be intensely savory.

While the perfect bite could be constructed with a piece of pepper, onion and chicken, the onion slices should be enjoyed on their own.   They are truly like a side dish when eaten separately as during grilling they have taken on a dash of bacon fat, the rich flavor of the marinade and the smokiness of the charcoal grill.   Perhaps the “casual glutton” reading this will wrap wedges of Vidalia onion with bacon and baste with an inspired version of this marinade and write with the results.   One can only hope.

As for the slices of sweet red bell pepper, these initially were included to add color to the plate.  The 2005 Syrah softly tames the red pepper as if with an older and wiser knowing touch.   The peppery bite subsides and smooth fruit glides forward to waltz with the sweeter and caramelized aspects of the red pepper pieces.

The grilled zucchini medallions look benign but it has been marinated in minced fresh rosemary and olive oil prior to being grilled.  Rosemary is herbaceous in a forest-like sense and it triggers the desired effects that nettles would solicit from the 2005 Syrah.   Fruit flavors in the wine seemingly turn somersaults across the palate with explosions of rosemary.

I resisted topping the zucchini with a fine grated dusting of provolone.   While that would be good, I really wanted to test the merits of the zucchini, rosemary and this particular Syrah.  I am not sorry in the least.   When paired with this Syrah, something as simple as farm stand fresh zucchini, backyard harvested rosemary and olive oil is a pairing that is just flat out sexy and can stand confidently and definitively on its own.   The empowerment of using simple, fresh ingredients is mind blowing to anyone who is a guest at your table.

Continuing to nibble, the wine is romantic with bacon-wrapped chicken bites and the spinach quinoa mix.   Each bite is distinguishingly earthy, smoky and dramatic all at once.  It is something that you would expect from a cottage tucked among the redwoods on Spring Mountain where the temperatures are slightly cooler where a fire is lit on a late May evening and a charcoal grill slowly seductively would smoke outside on a stone-laid patio.  A glass of this Syrah would be sitting outside, waiting patiently for the culinary goodness destined to be paired with it.   With an image like that, if your Memorial Day weekend was even remotely inclimate regrets would instantly be dispelled.