We had several couples over for a 'wine tasting', which was something new for 3 of te 5 total couples. These folks have all consumed wine before, certainly, but none had really tried to figure it all out and analyze what they liked or didn;t like about a given wine before or how it paired with food. Two of the 5 couple were completely unfamiliar with the Shiraz/Syrah varietal. So this was a fun way to introduce people to the wonderful world of wine.
Mrs. TJ and I prepared a number of hors d'ouvres and canapes along with the wines. These were as follows--
Chive Pancakes with Red Onion Confit
Spicy Shrimp Crostini
Carpaccio Canapes
Rosti with Creme Fraiche and Caviar
Wild Mushroom Bouchees
Grissini 'Lollipops'
Peppercorn Pyrenees cheese
They all seemed to do the trick, but the Chive pancake thingies seemed to be the hit of the night.
We asked each couple to bring a Shriaz/Syrah wine with them. Our only rule was that it had to be at least 51% Shiraz/Syrah (only one coupld, the other wine-o couple, goofed on this (their wine as only 15% Syrah). Otherwise any vintage was fair game as was any region and any producer.
Here is a list of the wines (click on any of them to see my tasting notes) in the order they were tasted--
2000 Domaine du Pere Caboche Chateauneuf du Papes 2000 Mad Fish Shiraz Western Australia 1999 Jacobs Creek Shiraz Reserve South Australia 2000 Black Opal Shiraz South Australia 2001 d'Arenberg Laughing Magpie Shiraz/Viognier It ended up being quite a lot of fun.
For me, it was the Jacobs Creek (by a hair), the d'Arenberg, the Mad Fish, the Black Opal and the Domaine du Pere Caboche. It was interesting to see that the Jacobs Creek was a unanimous #1 wine for everyone and the d'Arenberg an almost unanimous #2.
It was fun to open some peoples' eyes to the world of wine.
