It was a nice warm day Monday, and we had invited our close friends Joe & Rachel for dinner. Betsy had prepared 2 ducks with a chicken liver, candied orange, and pear stuffing. Sides were green beans with tomatoes and basil (this and the duck were from recent Italian issue of Bon Appetit), a leftover parsley salad with celeriac & fennel, and baked rice. Now, usually I like Burgundy and mature Nebbiolo with duck, but I thought the bold flavors of the stuffing might need something less delicate. A poster on another forum has consistently suggested that I should try Amarone as a duck match; this seemed like a good time. As my friend Joe prefers assertive red wines, I made the other wine a bold one also, a California Syrah.
2003 Clos Mimi Petite Rousse (Paso Robles)- Big and open from get go. A little hot (label says 16%!), but nice warm ripe fruit- raspberries and red plums. Some tannins, but under the intense march of the fruit they're not especially noticable. Some time brings out some oak aromas and a nice Rhone-ish olive note. This is a clear New World in-your-face Syrah - huge, fruit-forward and brash. But very well-made and quite tasty (just watch how much you taste at 16%). Good QPR for the style at $16. B/B+2000 Tezza "Monte delle Fontana" Amarone della Valpolicella - this was a 375 ml I had brought back from Wine Expo, the excellent Italian-centric store in Santa Monica. Warm and ripe, blackberry and raisin fruit with the slightest hint of prunes. Aromatic nose, long finish. There was a note dancing around in the back that I was having trouble putting a name to - I finally realized it reminded me of the sorghum molasses my Alabama grandparents used to have on breakfast table. Amarone is not something I drink a lot of , but I usually enjoy when I do, this was no exception. On the Amarone scale this wasn't especially expensive - I think about $20/375. Very nice, very tasty. A-/B+
Indeed I think that a Burgundy would have been overwhelmed by the sweetness of the stuffing - the Amarone did quite well (and the Syrah ok). The candied orange was a bit too sweet for me, but I loved the chicken livers in the stuffing, and the duck itself was magnificent. We retired inside for the others to have cheesecake (due to time constraints, Betsy served warm, to surprised approval) as I went with some cheese (Manchego and Stilton). The last of the Amarone did quite well with the Stilton. Nice night.
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency