Pairing suggestions

[Mattwine]

Hello people,

Haven't been around here much lately, but have been checking up on what is going on and there has been plenty of interesting discussion - so keep up the good work!

Having a dinner with friends on the weekend and after some assistance with a wine match for the tucker. The main is maple syrup glazed lamb racks and I'm looking for some suggestions. I have more than enough to choose from but am a bit stuck. We have 7 attendees so would be looking at two bottles. I have been tossing up going with one shiraz and one cab sauv, one younger shiraz and one older, or one younger cab sauv and one older? The intention would be to offer an interesting wine experience for people who enjoy wine but are not wine buffs, at the same time not necessarily being educational as it won't be formal event.

What grape, region and wine style would you recommend? Thoughts?

With thanks in advance,
Matt

[Kessler]

Well with the lamb the obvious suggestion would be a cabernet, but that syrup glaze adds another dimension

Something with good acidity but also some palate weight - A Coonawarra Cab might be a good bet although I'd be looking at a more recent vintage

The shiraz would I suspect need to be a cooler climate style - bright and again with good acidity

Be interested to see what other suggestions you receive

Oh, and have a good dinner

[Mattwine]

Thanks Kessler. Precisely, why I have hesitated; I thought the glaze brought the Shiraz into the equation.

[Mike Hawkins]

What about a shiraz / cab blend ?

[griff]

sparkling red

[Waiters Friend]

Mourvedre / mataro? Or South Australian combinations of cabernet or shiraz with mataro (Clare Valley)?

[Kessler]

Something else that crossed my mind was a grenache - something with a little sweetness but good structure and acid. I had a look in my Johnson PWB and he recommends (aside from Bordeaux) Rioja, so a tempranillo (although I honestly can't recommend any good Australian Temp)

[Michael McNally]

sparkling red

Correct answer!

[Mattwine]

Thanks Team!

The cellar is light on Mouvedre, Temp, and Grenache so unlikely to go down these paths this time around. And Carl, love the suggestion, but the last time I served up sparkling shiraz I got the "are you serious?" looks so will keep it for the privacy of my own company (I do have a cheeky Seppelts ready to go)!

Mike, I surprised myself by not thinking about the Cab/shiraz blend. I have a '99 Lindemans Limestone Ridge that is overdue for tasting and could fill one of the spots.

Keep 'em coming. I will let you all know how it ends up.

[Luke W]

Hi Matt

Let me throw a spanner in the works as it were. There is a beer called James Squire Golden Ale which would go perfectly with your maple syrup lamb racks.

I support all the other contentions regarding cabernets (particularly old coonawarras - say a 2001 Wynns), sparkling reds ((particularly if they have a bit of oomph and maybe a touch of sweetness - maybe a Rockford Black or an E & E) and would also suggest maybe a good merlot as well as it usually is a great match with lamb but I reckon the beer would be something to try. I think your Lindemans would be wonderful as well......

Let us know how it goes


cheers

Luke

[thomashouseman]

sparkling red

+1

[griff]

Shame the splurgundy isn't an option. Its hard to match sweet flavours with a dry wine, especially if the wine has a fair amount of tannin. Sweet flavours will make acid and tannin more pronounced. I don't know how sweet the glaze will be but if it is reasonably sweet then I would suggest a younger red with a lot of fruit. Personally a young grenache, merlot, malbec or even shiraz would be my second choice. In the end though I'm sure it will work out!

cheers

Carl

[Mahmoud Ali]

Matt,

With rack of lamb the normal suggestion would be any fine red wine, young or old. The problem is the maple glaze. As this is a wine forum my first thought was to serve any good wine and scotch the maple syrup. However if the maple syrup is a must then perhaps a Shiraz might be best, the big Aussie Shiraz with residual sugar. Even the Sparkling Shiraz suggestion by Griff is pretty good, but again, the sweeter bolder type.

Good luck, and tell us what happened......................Mahmoud.

[dave vino]

Bit late I know but anyway...

I think people are overstating the amount of influence the maple glaze will have. It will only be a small portion of the meat and will most likely be overshadowed by the flavours of the meat, jus/gravy you might do, and veggies/potatoes that you pick up on the fork at the same time.

But upon saying that I"d go with a younger CabSav (around 10 years if a decent one) up first to help with the initial eating where the tannins/acidity are good to help overcome any fattiness, then as they 'get used to it' move to an older shiraz which is a bit softer as they wind the meal down and sit on the wine afterwards before dessert is served. You don't want to end up with a tannic monster and nothing to eat it with.

So I'd go with 2 Mid-age CabSavs moving to maybe a shiraz with 5-10 years on it then to one with 15+ years on it.