As Passover approaches we are looking to clear up space in the freezer. One of the largest inhabitants of our freezer is kosher meat and so we looked for a way to start thinning out the crowd. The chosen one was a 2lb package of flanken, which is also called English cut, all of this is explained in a previous posting. As explained in the post the idea is to cook the ribs slowly in a cup or so of whiskey or scotch, we used Canadian Whiskey, some brown sugar, tomato sauce, and a drop of water. I coated the ribs liberally, before hand, with paprika and cumin. Then I dropped them into the crock-pot that had the whiskey braising liquid, and went to sleep. The next morning I removed the sauce from the crock-pot and cooked it down some more until it was thicker and devoid of any alcohol flavor.

We also made some mushroom and sweet potato risotto, which once again was a major hit. We threw together a quick bowl of fresh green salad and that was the meal. I have to say that I always find making risotto to be a pain initially, because of all the pans it requires, three, but in the end, the flavors are well worth the cleanup 🙂

I opened a bottle that I feared was on its way to the other side, being that I did not like it the last time I had it. This time I was very happy to find that the bottle was really quite enjoyable. This is a classical version of Petite Sirah but lacking in blueberry and black pepper. We recently tasted the Herzog Petite Sirah Second Edition, and it was as classical as PS is described. This wine is rich but not as massive and inky as other PS we have tasted in the past. This was a nice wine, but it is always good to make sure you keep quality in perspective. The tobacco and chocolate along with the ripe rich fruit is really nice, just not a classical PS.

The wine not follows below:

2006 Carmel Appellation Petite Sirah – Score: B++ to A-
The nose on this bright dark garnet to black colored wine starts off screaming with cedar, tobacco, light floral notes, currant, raspberry, blackberry, ripe plum, dark chocolate, and mineral notes. The mouth on this rich and full bodied wine starts off with mouth coating while still unyielding tannins, blackberry, plum, raspberry, currant, and cedar. The mid palate is balanced with acid, tobacco, cedar, mounds of chocolate, and still massive tannins. The finish is long, spicy, and chocolaty with cedar, tobacco, black fruit, nice leather, mineral, and tannin. Tobacco, cedar, tannin, leather, and black fruit linger nicely.

Over time the tannin calms down and the fruit is more exposed, but the wine does lose its vibrancy and shows more minerality. So I would recommend drinking this soon. Open the bottle and watch it change. The time is now or within a few more months.