Los Carneros of Napa Valley

[mrdutton]

Well, we will change our story a bit. Today we had some grilled rib-eye steaks that had been soaked in red wine for about 24 hours, along with some garden peas, garlic mashers, grilled onions and grilled carrots.

The wine we chose to drink with this wonderful combination of protein, fat, and veggies was a 1995 Robert Sinskey Vineyards Reserve Merlot. (I've got it in my wine rack and need to get it drunk sooner or later.)

The wine was set up-right for 24 hours, cork popped, decanted, no sediment noted, and allowed to breath for about two hours before serving.

This mix of 75% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 5% Cabernet Franc had notes of black cherry on the nose and palate along with hints of chocolate and some spicy herbs, combined with and finished with a large bit of oak and a very smooth and velvety tongue which lasted and then went on a bit more..... as described below.... bite of steak, sip of wine, bite of steak, sip of wine..... oh my... this is what drinking wine is all about. My goodness, almost an epiphany.

Both the surrounding fat and the wonderfully medium rare beef inside, mixed together with this merlot blend. Trust me, every bite and every sip worked together. The beef and wine seemed to melt together with each other in some kind of very near perfect harmony.

My wife even noted that she liked the wine with the beef. Would she have tasted the wine without the meat, trust me, she would have exclaimed "oh so very dry and yuck!".

Since the beef had been marinated in red wine and liquid smoke for the past 24 hours, it was basically cooked even before it hit the grill. I just used the grill to heat it up. Did some baby carrots and some onions spiced with chervil and rosemary along with the steaks; the wife whipped up some garlic mashers and some buttered peas.

Plated we had: Rib-eye steak topped with the roasted onions and baby carrots, garlic mashers and baby peas.

The drink was the 1995 Reserve Merlot from Robert Sinskey Vineyards.

I will not take back every negative comment I had about the other Sinskey Merlot. However, this one was something to behold.

Sip of wine, bite of steak, sip of wine and bite of steak. Pure match between the fat and the meat and the wine and the tannin and the fruit and the...... well just have to admit, the oak. Gee din't I say this already. Gosh, sorry to repeat myself.

Oh gosh how can I face up to the fact that a Merlot actually worked with food......!?!


In this case, I think I picked a very nice Merlot because of the added Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.

[This message has been edited by mrdutton (edited 05-20-2001).]