Serve The Chocolate Block to your wine-loving friends
New wine is a mix of Syrah, Grenache, Cinsaut, Viognier and Cabernet Sauvignon
If you intend to entertain family and friends with wine or give wine as a gift this holiday season, consider purchasing at the LCBO The Chocolate Block 2016 Syrah blend, South Africa, (CSPC 129353), $39.95.
Combining the grapes of Syrah (79 per cent) with Grenache (11 per cent), Cabernet Sauvignon (6 per cent) , Cinsaut (3 per cent), and Viognier (aged in older oak, 1 per cent), this wine is worth its price. The wine gushes with aromas and flavours of dark berry fruit, violets, and some distinctive notes of dark chocolate. The palate is full bodied and thick at 14.39 percent alcohol and possesses firm tannin and great length. A real beauty!
This label is produced at famous Boekenhoutskloof, a winery established in 1776 and located in the furthest corner of the Franschhoek Valley. In 1993 the vineyard was restored to include the grape varieties of Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Grenache, Semillon, and Viognier.
The Chocolate Block Syrah can be partnered to a whole array of foods for holiday get-togethers. If you want to serve this wine throughout a meal, start with an easy hors d’oeuvre that will harmonize with the wine’s structure, bitterness and astringency.
You’ll need 40 pitted green olives. In a bowl mix together 3 ounces of beef with 2 ounces of pork, 2 tablespoons of freshly grated Parmigiano, pinch of nutmeg, 1 egg yolk, zest from 1 lemon, sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Divide mixture into forty half teaspoon balls. Stuff 1 ball of meat mixture into each olive. Press the olive around filling to seal.
In a small bowl whisk 1 whole egg with 2 tablespoons of whole milk. In another bowl add 1.5 cups of breadcrumbs. Working in batches, roll olives in flour, dip in egg mixture, and coat in bread crumbs. In a sauté pan, heat 2 inches of peanut oil. Heat until the temperature is 375 F. Fry olives until golden. Using a slotted spoon, transfer olives to plate lined with paper towel. Season with sea salt.
Stuffed Green Olives have lots of fattiness from deep frying, along with saltiness from the cheese in the filling, and natural bitterness from the olives themselves that complement the wine’s structure.
Bring this same wine to the dinner table and serve with roast beef, spaghetti with meat sauce, dark turkey chili, dark turkey and rice casserole, or any game meat. This wine can also be served with a more savoury dessert consisting of toasted chestnuts, blue cheese, triple cream Brie and, and chucks of bittersweet chocolate. Bittersweet chocolate ganache is also an option.