Longing. Hankering. Ache. Need. Lust. Call it what you like. I've been craving a big Australian shiraz alongside fillet mignon for about a week. I've made a point of ignoring this caveman call. I've staged rational internal point-by-point dialogues along the following lines: 1) You have enjoyed many of Australia's shiraz specimens. Try something else. 2) You're palate is supposed to be evolving - flowing from the jammy black fruit, chocolate, vanilla and pepper highlands to the quiet valley floor where subtle flavours of earth, fungi, barnyard and dry-aged meat frolic about in huge Burgundy glasses. 3) Look to your left, on the Blog List Bubble thing: the two largest words are BEEF and SYRAH. Don't be a wine heathen. People will question your character. I don't know about my character, but I believe my palate is a touch slow or maybe dyslexic. It could require professional tutoring.
Having folded like a lawn chair to my base desire and proven that I'm pretty crude all-round, I need to choose a shiraz from the wine closet. Australia has many great wine regions - Barossa, Margret River, the Hunter Valley, Coonawarra - but there's something about McLaren Vale that makes my breathing shallow and a touch hurried. Just reading the name of the place gets my mouth watering. I have issues. McLaren Vale has depth and texture, it's defining notes being plum, dark chocolate and mocha. Pirramimma, which is an aboriginal phrase meaning 'the moon and stars' offers some great value for the money. The Johnstone family uses only estate grown grapes, ensuring high quality wines which reflect McLaren Vale's terroir. Tonight I'm matching it with some sweet and savoury bruschetta, which is actually vegetarian. I feel more refined already.
Bruschetta with Peppers and Smoked Roquefort
(adapted from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics)
The necessary ingredients for 2:
- 1/2 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
- 1/2 yellow bell pepper, cut into thin strips
- dash of sugar
- 1 tablespoon of drained capers
- 6 fresh basil leaves, julienned (or other herb - thyme, oregano)
- 8 baguette slices
- 2 ounces of room temperature blue cheese (recipe calls for creamy Gorgonzola, but I couldn't resist the sweet Blue Haze. Naturally Smoked Roquefort. The texture is a little harder, but you will be melting it in the oven so it works)
- olive oil to saute the peppers and brush the bread.
- salt and pepper
1) Preheat the oven to 375. Heat oil over medium high heat in a large pan. Add peppers and saute for 12-15 minutes, until tender, stirring regularly. Sprinkle with sugar and saute for 2 minutes more. Stir in capers and herbs. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Set aside.
2) Arrange bread slices on baking sheet or roasting pan. Brush each side lightly with olive oil and toast for 7 minutes, until lightly browned.
3) Top each toast with a spoonful of pepper mixture. Top each with a little blue cheese. Return to the oven for a minute, or until blue cheese has melted. Sprinkle with salt. Serve warm.
How Did the 2006 Pirramimma Shiraz Match Up?
Let me start by saying that this bruschetta is the business. Great give and take of flavours and nice balance. The sauteed peppers have a natural sweetness, which plays off brilliantly with the savouriness the capers. Once you add gamey smoked roquefort to the mix - Jesus, just look out. You'll be making this starter often and in increasingly vast batches. It's simple to make, complex, very satisfying.
The Piramimma Shiraz is everything you could ask for. Spicy dried fruits. Cinnamon. Plum. Dark chocolate. Though thick and rich, it wasn't overpoweringly sweet. There was nice acid in the finish. I thought it matched quite well with the bruschetta, especially that smoked roquefort. It obviously suited the fillet mignon that followed. I only wanted to open a single bottle. So it was fun to come up with an appetizer-main course combination that enhanced the Pirrammina Shiraz, but in quite different ways, highlighting different strengths of the wine. Recommended. Amarone would also work well.
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