I have a piece of game meat (antelope) that I am putting in a marinade of maple syrup and bourbon...then slicing up and sauteeing with onion and serving over mashed yukon gold potatoes...

Now what wine?

I started off thinking Rhone, but that marinade & onion threw me for a loop.

Since I'm a reformed Bourbon drinker, I ask myself "why not just some Bourbon, diluted with just a dash of ... not sweet vermouth, as with a Manhattan, but perhaps ... maple syrup?". I'd probably experiment with it by myself, but it just sounds too flippin' weird to suggest to anybody else.

Then I think of the only thing that I've ever tried with enough acidity, sugar, and style to stand up to this beast ... the 2001 Darting Rieslaner Auslese. It had this brown sugar / maple syrup characteristic that makes it unique among most Germanic sweet wines.

You're not likely to fine one of these gems (as they were greedily acquired and, for the most part, consumed, by a few forumites who shall remain nameless ... ), but I would suggest an Auslese, or at least Spatlese, from a ripe German vintage ... say, 2003. Their youth & vibrancy works for you here, so don't go with something with age and refinement.

I'm not wholly opposed to the idea of a German. But an extracted CdP or CA Zin might also work well.

If you must have a wine with a maple syrup marinade, I'd suggest an Auslese. I suppose a young fruit bomb of a Zin might also be OK.

Okay, how about rhubarb/raspberry syrup instead of the maple?

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What Wine?

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Wine an alcoholic beverage resulting from fermentation of grape.

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Okay, how about rhubarb/raspberry syrup instead of the maple?

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Still an Auslese or ripe-year Spatlese. Or perhaps a Raspberry Porter?

You probably think I'm wasting the Maker's Mark...

*whimper*

Oh, noooooo .... you're not putting the Kentucky State Drink into a marinade! For the love of all that's decent, please at least use Jim Beam. It's more industrialized and less painful to see poured into this concoction.

Never buy the stuff.
I didn't want to use the Basil Hayden - then I'd really get in trouble.

mmmm, Basil Hayden. My "training wheels" ... the first Bourbon I sipped straight without wincing or recoiling.

Even though this is also a Beam Brand, I don't hold that against it.

This turned out really well.
Marinated the meat and the onions in the rhubarb/raspberry syrup & bourbon blended with some freshly cracked pepper.
After looking at the cut of the meat, decided to cook like a pot roast, long and slow, with the marinade ingredients and a bit of beef stock. Fall apart tender.
Served over mashed pots
and with a Juicy Zin - 02 Gary Farrell
It was very good.
Would do it again and maybe add a bit of freshly grated horseradish on the side.