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FrontRangeLiving.com -> Cooking -> Big Reds
 THE
BIG REDS: SHIRAZ, BAROLO, CABERNET SAUVIGNON, MERLOT, ZINFANDEL
By Sally Mohr, Master Sommelier
Whether it’s a hearty stew that has been simmering for hours or a quick
steak on the grill, it’s always fun to have an excuse to open a big red. Big
food and big red wines are a winning combination. Already eaten? Enjoy a hearty
red with some robust cheeses in front of the fireplace. Too hot to cook? Summer
barbeque season is a perfect time to augment that mellow Chardonnay with a
monster red.
Let’s examine the array of wines from around the world that fit the big
red category.
 Syrah/Shiraz
The southern hemisphere uses the term Shiraz, while the northern uses Syrah,
just a dialect distinction, otherwise they are exactly the same grape –
inky black, thick, rich, and hugely flavored. The typical flavor profile would
be fruit tones of dark cherry and blackberry with nuances of smoke,
bacon/sausage/smoked meat, black pepper, and subtle floral notes.
Look for them from just about every growing region throughout the world. But
the best sites are the northern Rhone Valley of France (Hermitage, Cote Rôtie,
and Cornas especially), the Barossa Valley in South Australia, and Santa Barbara
County in southern California. Prices range from $5 to $200, so let your wallet
be your guide. Enjoy these brawny brutes with just about anything off the barbee,
stews, meat or mushroom-based pasta dishes, and thick hearty soups.
Barolo/Barbaresco
These are villages in the province of Piedmont in northwestern Italy. The
grape variety is Nebbiolo, which is native to that area. You won’t find many
Nebbiolos outside of northern Italy, but some California producers are toying
with it.
Other Piedmont village names that also use the Nebbiolo grape are – Boca,
Bramaterra, Carema, Gattinara, and Ghemme. These can be some of the
most spectacular wines in the world because of the fabulous secondary aromas and
flavors that can develop with bottle age. Nebbiolo wines must be left to do
their magic in the bottle for at least 8 years for an average vintage and 20
years for a great vintage. They are tough, rough, and palate searing when young,
but with age...aahh, they turn from a frog into a handsome prince.
With age the flavors become red and black cherry fruit tones with nuances of
flowers (especially roses), smoke/tar, exotic spices, and an undertone of
mushroom/compost/damp earth. Piedmont is truffle country. What a surprise that
their best local wine has a mushroom/truffle element to it. So any hearty dish
with mushrooms is the perfect accent for these beauties.
If you insist on drinking them young, less than 10 years old, open and decant
them at least 8 hours before consuming. These beasts can’t be
tamed until they’ve had some time to slumber in the bottle. The entry price
for Barolo and Barbaresco can be steep, starting at $35 and going up to $200.
The other villages can be found for $15-40, a relative bargain, comparatively.
If you ever see the word Spanna on a label, it is the local name for
Nebbiolo. (Italians can’t have just one word for anything.) Spannas tend to be
a smaller, lighter version of any of the above village names.
Cabernet/Merlot/Malbec
Cabernet Sauvignon is the king of red wine. Long drunk by nobility, plus the
British demand for Bordeaux created the star status that Cabernets from all over
the world now enjoy. You can encounter a Cabernet from every wine growing region
in the world, and at every price as well, some can be found for as little as $4.
Those bargains come from the post-USSR countries of Eastern Europe vying for a
piece of the world economic pie.
Choose carefully when searching for Cabernet at the lower prices. The best
values are coming from some unlikely sources: Bulgaria, Chile, and South Africa,
just to name a few. Unfortunately, many wineries from California, Australia, and
South African along with the upper classifications of Bordeaux, are pushing the
price of many Cabernets beyond the reach of the average consumer--past the $100
a bottle mark!
Don’t think you have to spend that much for a mind-blowing experience.
There are fabulous bottles at all prices. Cabernet Sauvignon is a sure-fire hit
with any piece of meat, whether it is cow, lamb, or buffalo. Cabernet has a
structure, a backbone, an inner core strength that makes it the Zen of all red
wines. This structure also allows it to age very gracefully in the bottle for
decades (only the best bottles from the better vintages).
The flavors of red
currant and red cherry fruits with nuances of herbs/tobacco/tea, cedar/cigar
box, and spices (cinnamon and vanilla) hold a special place at anyone’s table.
This unique aroma of a filled cigar box is found only in a bottle of Cabernet
Sauvignon. Whether it’s labeled as a Bordeaux in France, or a Meritage in
California, they are all in the same family, that noble clan of Cabernet.
Cabernet Franc is a sibling of Cabernet Sauvignon--similar in style, except
Franc has a softer, rounder feel with a more herbaceous edge. There are several
California producers that are bottling their Franc separately, instead of
blending it all into a vat with Sauvignon or Merlot. It is a fun experiment to
look at the individual parts that make up a blend to see what they add to the
whole.
Merlot is the best selling red wine in the U.S. Its rise to top-dog status is
a case study in marketing strategies. As always, though, there are problems with
popularity. To keep up with demand, many growers all over the world grafted over
existing vines to Merlot, or planted new vineyards in less than desirable
locations. Consequently, there is a lot of awful, flavorless red wine
masquerading as Merlot.
Fortunately, the tide is shifting, the frenzy is decreasing, resulting in a
resurgence of quality. So why is Merlot the darling of the wine world? When it
is good, it is really good! Merlot has a soft, supple core and an
easy-going demeanor unlike the rest of the red wine world. Hence, the popularity
as a no food, by itself, sipper. Does this mean it doesn’t go with food? Heck
no! Put it in front of a piece of meat and experience the chemistry.
Malbec is a newcomer to the red wine community. Used for centuries as a
blender grape with Cabernet and Merlot, this often forgotten cousin is now
taking center stage in Argentina. Most likely the grape came over with
immigrants from France in the early 1800’s, but it hasn’t been until the
last 10 years that the world has discovered the wonders of Malbec. The best are
bursting with ripe, juicy fruit flavors of blackberry, black cherry and black
currant with a hint of tart red cherry/cranberry undertone, dried herbs and
flowers, and spices. Argentina is no place for a vegetarian; meat is in almost
every dish. Their wines will stand up to such robust fare. Since they are fairly
new to the market, they can be great values compared to their cousins in the
Cabernet family, wonderful bottles can be found for $10!
Zinfandel
If we categorized big reds by their alcohol content alone, Zinfandel would be
in a class by itself. The pendulum has swung back to the days of big, super
ripe, high alcoholic monsters. Bottles can be found with over 17 percent alcohol listed
on the label!
Zinfandel, unlike most other grape varieties, has a natural affinity to these
stratospheric ripening levels. Fortunately, these are not the norm and many
wonderful, perfectly normal Zinfandels can be found on the market ranging in
style from light and fruity to big and rich. These "lesser" wines are
best in a food and wine situation. The flavor profile consists of
blackberry/black cherry/blueberry jam (yes, a cooked fruit flavor), with notes
of hot-sweet spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cardamom), bramble/tree
bark/bitter herbs, and smoke and black pepper.
Zinfandel is the perfect accompaniment to grilled, barbeque-lathered ribs.
The ripe jammy fruit flavors plus that slight bitter element really mirror the
flavors of a sweet barbeque sauce, Kansas City style. Too much vinegar in the
sauce can unnerve any wine, so be careful. But, don’t pigeon-hole Zins to the
barbeque, they can go with just about anything. This very versatile red goes
with pizza, tomato-based pastas, burgers, and fowl. Zinfandel is California-born
and raised, don’t look for it from anywhere else. A handful of producers in
Australia and South Africa are trying, though. Have fun with Zinfandel, for even
the producers don’t take themselves all that seriously.
Zinfandel can also be found under the famous White Zinfandel label. Yes, this
is made from the zinfandel grape, but in a white style. Any red wine can be made
to resemble a white, what you usually end up with, though, is a rosé. Next time
you eat a grape, look at the pulp inside. Almost all grapes, whether table or
wine varieties, have a white pulp. The skin is where you get the color! So, when
you press the grapes to extract the juice you get just a hint of color from the
skins. That would make a white wine, very little color, if any. If you leave the
juice sitting on that leftover pressed matter, then you get a pink color. The
longer the maceration, the darker the color will be.
There are a lot of big red wines to experience and experiment with, so get
out there and have some fun!
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