WineLife365

Let’s face it – crazy things can happen in the wee hours of the night:  spontaneous, wild acts that are better left forgotten and definitely never mentioned the next day.  You know exactly what I’m talking about – the kind of night that when you wake up the next morning, rub your eyes, half open them and say to yourself, “What the hell happened last night?!” 

I’ll be the first to tell you that I’m no angel – I’ve definitely had my fair share of rude awakenings!  In most cases, I generally abide by the code of silence that is expected after these nights; but every now and then, shouldn’t a little late night “strange” be shared with others?

Instigation

It usually begins with a long talk that goes deep into the late hours.  In this particular case, it was pretty late when my wife said, “But I’m not ready for bed yet.”  Next, comes the familiar phrase, “So, what do you have in mind?”

Standing at the Crossroad

On this particular late night, my wife asked, “Can you make us a snack and grab a bottle of red?” 

I had two options here:  I could suggest that we call it a night or I could throw caution to the wind and see where this goes.

I’m a gambling man, so I said, “Sure.”  I thought to myself, “I can either keep things under control or I can take a turn so sinful and dirty that it might require asking for forgiveness the next morning.”

What do you think I did?

The Dirty

This little ‘unmentionable’ consisted of diced, (leftover) grilled Chorizo with sautéed corn, chopped bacon, chopped pecans, crumbled Gorgonzola cheese, fresh raspberries, with a scoop of sour cream and a handful of fresh cilantro.

Before you go judging my little late night indiscretions, I did take some prudence when picking the wine to go with this naughtiness.  This would require a red wine gutsy enough to contend with any “wrongness” that was happening on the plate.

I decided to go with the 2007 Wyndham Estate Shiraz George Wyndham Founder’s Reserve – that’s a mouthful!    (Sample, MSRP: $20).  Chief winemaker, Nigel Dolan does a fine job of reigning in super-ripe black fruit, coupled with a tonsil-clinging nutty characteristic (reminiscent of a port wine), and knows precisely when to apply the brakes on the alcohol level.  It’s a Shiraz that offers up a lot of “impact” on the finish – which ain’t a bad thing if you’re gonna do ‘The Dirty’. 

3 Stars out of 4 for the 2007 Wyndham Estate Shiraz George Wyndham Founder’s Reserve.  The combination of flavors between the snack and wine was almost as good as an impromptu basement burlesque show…from what I hear!