Dec 19 2013

Salivating for Syrah Noir

Published by at 12:31 am under Beef,Food,Red Wine,Risotto/Rice,Syrah Noir

Wine is meant to pair with food and some wines are simply destined for food.  Earlier this week I posted an article featuring a unique red wine varietal found at Benessere Vineyards in Napa Valley called Sagrantino.  By itself, it is a complex wine that surprises the senses as it steps farther away from the traditional red wine profile.  Upon tasting, it is evident that your mouth literally begins to salivate.  Pair the wine with food and suddenly both the wine and the dish taste better than either would alone.    This phenomenon of wine triggering the mouth to salivate is not isolated to Sagrantino; it also happens with Syrah Noir.

Most people have tried a Syrah wine at one point or another and depending on the style in which it is made, people quickly have a preference.   Yet, specific clones of syrah can create a unique wine.   In particular, Syrah Noir accomplishes this in a single varietal bottling. 

Syrah Noir is alleged to have arrived in the United States in the 1980’s and is a unique clone of the Syrah grape.   It grows in loose clusters but produces grapes capable of delivering dark, inky red wine that is intensely flavored and firmly structured with readily recognizable tannins.  Flavors typically display a certain acidity such as cherry, blackberry or plum and yet the texture of the wine can be velvety smooth.  To find this unique varietal, you have to search but with a simple trip down Highway 101, you can find it with the good folks at Casa Dumetz Winery (“Casa Dumetz”).


Casa Dumetz’s 2009 Syrah Noir finds its place at home, at the table, with holiday meals and throughout winter at the classic Sunday supper.  On its own, the wine is strikingly unique.  The collective consensus is that this wine makes you salivate . . . and salivating goes hand in hand with good food.

Alone the wine is dark, nearly brooding in the glass.  Yet on the palate, the wine is soft and dominated by blackberry juice and a bit of black plum.   The wine does not try to masquerade behind dramatic oak, it stands on its own legs and slips across the palate cleanly:   as if to arrive without pretense, say “this is who I am” and after baring its wine soul, impose to you that you figure out what to do with it.

I have tried this wine before in the summer and spring and found my palate “pondering” after a sip but it was not until now during the final days of autumn and on the cusp of winter that I realized that I knew exactly what to do with it.   With certain cuisine and produce in Napa Valley, I knew exactly how to invite this truly artisan bottle of wine from my friends in Santa Barbara County to the table:

  • ·        Sauteed Portobella Mushroom Slices with Lemon Thyme, Rosemary & Red Wine
  • ·        Classic Roast Beef, braised in red wine, sweet onion and lemon thyme and garnished with Ragout of Mushroom, Leek and Garlic
  • ·        Mushroom Leek Risotto with Lemon Zest
  • ·        Red Wine Thyme Braised Onions, seasoned with cloves, allspice, lemon thyme and rosemary
  • ·        Simple salad of Arugula

While alone the wine’s tartness may cause you to almost pucker, when coupled with the food, the wine finds its place.  Its acidity calms, yet it still makes you salivate.   As you salivate, this heightens the flavors of the meal and the wine weaves itself throughout, like an integral ingredient. 

With some candles lit on a dark early December evening, this takes the classic holiday meal at home to a heightened level of finer dining.   Savoring food and wine abounds and a meal quickly becomes a conversation among your holiday friends.

Comments Off on Salivating for Syrah Noir

Comments are closed at this time.