2000 Buckeley Cab/Shiraz blend

[hotwine]

Hauled my trailer-mounted smoker to the church early yesterday and cooked all day, turning out 100 lb of beef shoulder clods, 65 lb of pork butts, a few pork loins for good measure, and six big trays of smoked spuds. Others cranked out grilled chicken and fillets of rainbow trout. Lots of sides and dee-serts, and fed somewhere in the neighborhood of 500-600 folks. Lights were out on the trailer, so had to hit the road to be home before dark; barely made it. But not sgtaying to eat meant I could load up a take-out plate and have it with wine at home. Popped this Buckeley, never having encountered it before. Honest Cab nose of black currant and cedar, but all varietal characteristics disappeared on the palate, leaving a non-descript red wine with 13.5% alc/vol. Still, given the mish-mash of meats on the plate, it was probably just as well. I'd buy it again for that kind of application, a mixed bag of barbecue. And especially at the give-away price of $5.99. 55% CS, 45% Shiraz.

[Drew]

Buckeley's always have a brite flavor profile to my palate which is not my style and I've had many.

Drew

[Georgie]

Wow...your church sure knows how to party! Our covered dish suppers ain't nothin' like that!

[hotwine]

These annual affairs are a lot of fun. We had three big pits going all day. Ladies prepared breakfast for us (scrambled eggs, bacon, french toast, etc.) and lunch (grilled rainbow trout and Gulf shrimp. We went through a half-chord of oak. Long day. Really appreciated the Aussie juice to top it off. Had another bottle last night with leftovers, and found some white pepper notes. Fun wine.

[Georgie]

What's the occasion for this affair? It's doesn't exactly seem like a Lenten celebration! [img]http://wines.com/ubb2/eek.gif[/img]

[hotwine]

It's our annual church barbecue and wild game dinner.... coincides with the commemoration of the Siege of the Alamo(March 1836) and precedes Fiesta San Jacinto, celebrating the Battle of San Jacinto when Texas gained its independence from Mexico, which occured in April, same year. The barbecue allows us to clean out our freezers of leftover critter carcasses from the winter, jump-start Fiesta celebrations, and raise funds (from ticket sales and auction proceeds) for youth programs. Totaled about $16K last year, should come in closer to $20K this time. Youth programs include mission trips to Mexico, feeding the homeless downtown, that kind of thing. (And that's where the leftover food went.) I'm just miffed that I got so involved in cooking preparations that I forgot the donation of wines for the auction.

[Innkeeper]

Which reminds me that when we were open, guests from Texas would ask me when our house was built. I'd answer, "Five years before the battle of the Alamo."

[Thomas]

Hotwine, your group has great excuses for a party...