During the July wine dinner at Randy’s Steakhouse this was paired with Caprese stuffed Portobello. To be honest, I’ve seen this in stores, but the cheesy car sticker style label put me off buying it. Finding out it was part of the Gallo Family of Wines luxury collection was a surprise.
This is a blend of Grenache, Tempranillo and others (Monastrell, and Carignan/Cariñena). I noted that it had good feet.
It has a pure claret color and is very fruity. It’s a dark fruit like black current. Yet it is spicy in both scent and taste – think peppery.
I was skeptical this would go with the balsamic reduction on the portobello, but it worked really well. It paired well with the garlic too.
Final Thoughts
This is a Friday night wine. I’d serve it with the same dish Randy did, or grilled portobello with goat cheese. I’d even put it with a five cheese pizza with a white garlic sauce instead of the traditional red. If it’s a short week, I’d serve this on Thursday. I might even open a glass and enjoy it by myself on my one family free Wednesday a month. It would make a good dinner party wine as it’s got good flavor, but not a high price point.
