This week it was Dave’s turn to provide the wine for Monday night. Dave always brings several bottles to choose from, as he never knows what I will be “cooking up”. We thought it would be fun to see what Dave would do with chicken tacos (plus they just sounded good). We seasoned chicken with a chili rub and barbecued it. We diced the meat, and prepared diced tomatoes, avocado, lettuce, queso fresco and taco sauce. Pete heated flour tortillas. I prepared black beans and my version of Spanish rice – made with whole grain brown rice, onion, red bell pepper and corn. A very tasty combination. Dave pulled out a 2005 Page Mill Winery Balyeat Vineyard Napa Valley Zinfandel that went with everything quite well.
The wine was very dark ruby in color. The nose was sweet with rich, ripe dark fruit. The flavors were ripe, rich and complex with dark fruit, pomegranate and dried fruit. The tannins were grippy and there was a lot of acid. The finish was fairly long with flavor and tannins as well as heat. The alcohol in this wine is 14.6%. It definitely tasted ripe, but not jammy like some Zinfandels. This was a very flavorful and enjoyable wine. It would probably pair well with most barbecue. Thanks Dave!
