Saturday, April 18, 2020

To Syrah with Love #FrenchWinophiles

These are strange times in which we are living.  I find myself doing things that are completely out of character.  Like enjoying this $35 bottle of Crozes Hermitage Syrah from Jean-Luc Colombo during the middle of the week.

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The French Winophiles are virtually traveling to Northern Rhone Valley in France today.......

This little trip was planned by Rupal of the Syrah Queen. You can learn more in her invitation post.  Perhaps I should have named this post To Syrah Queen with Love.

I didn't think that I was going to be able to join in today.  I had ordered up a bottle of Cotes du Rhone and paired it with my Leftover Beef Soup with Noodles that I also posted today.  Then I went to give Rupal my title and realized my wine was not from Northern Rhone.

I went to wine.com and punched in Northern Rhone Wines and they all came back unavailable in my area.  I reported this to our Facebook group and Jeff of Food Wine Click suggested I go back and check for Croze Hermitage and recommended the bottle I ended up purchasing.

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I normally wouldn't spend over $20 for a weeknight wine but I figured that during this pandemic little indulgences are important.  So this is how I happen to be enjoying this glass of wine while writing this post.

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The nose is full of berries and a little bit musty.  The wine is smooth, dry and medium bodied. This surprised me because it pours a deep, rich, almost black color so I was expecting a heavier wine.

But drinking this wine while I type away isn't the strangest part of this story.  Last night, during dinner, the Teen asked if we could have pizza for dinner tonight.  I said "Sure, we can make pizza".  She replied that she was "dying" for real pizza.  Real pizza, to the Teen, is the stuff you get from chain pizza parlors.  She prefers Little Caesars.

pizza


Due to the pandemic, the pizza parlors near us are closed.  There is a local party store though that has pizza, so we were happy to support a local small business during this time.

I guessed if I was going to indulge Frank and I with expensive wine it was only fair that we indulge her wishes too.  Which is how we came to be pairing this beautiful bottle of Syrah with a store bought pizza.

wine and pizza


The wine transformed that piece of pizza into a gourmet dinner.  We sat around the table, laughing and joking and continued to sit at the table playing games once the pizza was gone.  It was a good night and I am looking forward to chatting with the others about my experience.

We would love if you would join us as we discuss these wines from Northern Rhone.  You will find us on twitter chat today at 11 AM ET following #winophiles.  Here are the topics that we'll be talking about........

18 comments:

  1. Compromise is the name of the game these days, right? Glad your Teen enjoyed her pizza while you and Frank sipped a nice wine. Cheers!

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  2. Real pizza, I had to laugh! Glad you found your bottle- it's great you are enjoying nicer wines mid-week. Heck, no reason to wait, right?!?

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  3. I laugh because I remember R wanting to "get pizza" one night when he was little. I started to make the dough and he insisted he wanted "restaurant pizza." It turns out he was really wanting the BOX to make a solar oven. Really?!? I could have just asked to buy an empty box from a parlor. He didn't want the actual pizza, or rather he didn't want that pizza. He kept eating it, saying, "Mom, this isn't as good as your pizza." Kids!

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  4. Totally agree now is the time for indulgences - Syrah for you, "real" pizza for the teen. Everyone is happy.

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  5. I've enjoyed Pizza with Syrah on numerous occasions. I love the grape's versatility at the table! Cheers Wendy!

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  6. It's magic when the combo elevates the parts like this! Also the "real pizza" made me laugh and I can totally remember things like from when I was teen. My mom made really good mac and cheese at home, but often I just wanted the one from the box.

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  7. Sometimes the most humble food can be elevated by a great glass of wine with a good story. I'm so glad Jeff had a recommendation for you! I need to remember to utilize the brilliant resources for wine suggestions that we have in our group!

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  8. Awesome, Wendy! I know Jeff is a good resource and I am saving up the time to ask him some question! The food, the wine, life is good.

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  9. Yes, the COVID-19 is making us treat ourselves in ways to keep us sane. I am sure you totally enjoyed that wine and your teen was happy with pizza....and all was calm.

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