We’ve been talking a lot about specific wines lately. More specifically, what our current favorite varieties of wine are.
For Annie, it’s anything big, juicy, and red! A big, fruity Petite Sirah that brings about thoughts of baked blueberry cobbler or warm cinnamon bread. One of those inky red wines that stains your teeth and makes your tongue all purple so that you’re embarrassed to smile at people.
For Hoot it’s been Pinot Noirs lately! Give him a funky, grungy, earthy Pinot that can stand up on its own and screams “YES” and he’s happy!
It’s funny, our preferences have changed, and will change again. Not sure why that happens, but our favorites are affected by the season, the moon, the weather, the day, the food on our plate, and how work went that day. Tomorrow Annie may be craving a lovely Viognier, or a toasty Rose, and Hoot might want one of those awesome Rhone blends like a GSM or something.
What’s your favorite right now? What was your favorite last month? What do you think affects the change in your preferences?
Syrah. Any Syrah, but with a preference for a big Paso Syrah. I don’t care so much about pairing wine with food. As a good friend has said, “I don’t want a weakling wine that needs food to make it good. I want a wine that can stand on its own two legs!”
Right on, Doug! A huge juicy Syrah is awesome…food optional! Although, it would do pretty well with a huge juicy steak, too!
You should always start with the FACT that a wines 1st responsibility is to be RED. After that it’s easy. Cabernet Sauvigbon, followed closley by Syrah. Our production is 17% white, but that is used to get red wine stains out of our clothes. I have a fun way to get red wine stains out of your girlfriends/wifes/amours blouse, but I think this is a family blog.
Gary, while your love for reds is appreciated, white wine is damn tasty, too! Especially on a hot Paso Summer day, while playing bocce ball at Eberle Winery. As far as how to get the red wine stains out, how about you go with the fun way from now on and let us take that 17% of white wine off your hands!
P.S. Completely agree with you on the Cab Sauv vote!
Yeah, OK there are some other good reasons to have white wine around. 1st thing in the morning a good glass of chilled Viognier is a fine way to wash down some advil, and a cold glass of Muscat Canelli sure does make goat cheese taste super. Chardonnay is also useful with caviar. However, if your playing an exciting game of strip bocce ball, a chilled glass of dry Syrah is best.
Strip bocce ball and chilled Syrah…hmmm, interesting visual. Let us know when you’re holding that event at Eberle and we’ll come shoot some video, should make for some good blog posts. Definitely happy with Viognier for breakfast, as well as any white Rhone blend…goes well over Corn Flakes. A nice peppery Merlot pairs well with bacon and eggs, too!
One of the things I am proudest of is that in 40 years I’ve never made a merlot.
Ha! Well, with Viognier being the better breakfast wine, we’ll let you off the hook this time! A good Merlot is hard to find, but can be pretty tasty, especially as the 3rd bottle of the evening.
Good merlot is an oxymoron. Look at the most popular merlots and they all taste like Cabs.
Good point…the thing we like about Merlot is that it usually has some percentage of alcohol in it.
Even a few months ago I wouldn’t have said this, but Hoot I’m with you and on a major pinot kick. I love that these things change over time, and that we just can’t help where our palette is taking us. Cheers, and looking forward to seeing you both at HdR!!
Hey Scott, yeah, the palate definitely changes and shifts depending on a lot of things! I guess you just have to keep on tasting to be sure…cheers! Looking forward to HdR!
I would have to say my fav right now is a GSM blend, like a Jacob Toft, Wind Gap, or Alta Colina. When the Paso style GSM is done wel , I find nothing more enjoyable than a glass of this style wine. It can be very smooth or very meaty. In the case of the Jacob Toft, it is a big GSM, I tell people tasting to end with this one. When any of these varietals are done well they can stand all on their own, like the Herman Story On The Road Grenache or the Mourvedre from Adelaida.
Kevin – LOVE some great GSMs, such a huge range of characteristics, but all come back to delicious!
I’m with Hoot on the funky and earthy but I’d go with Mourvedre right now. And you know, even if there is a touch of brett I wouldn’t complain!
Hey Terrence! Mourvedres are awesome…we really enjoy those Rhones, and Paso does them right!