Sunday February 4, 2018 is Super Bowl Sunday when the 52nd Super Bowl decides which team,  New England Patriots or  Philadelphia Eagles will be the league champion for the 2017 NFL season. Super Bowl LII will be held at the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and you can bet it will be cold.

Super Bowl Sunday is the one football game that many non-football fans watch. It’s the footballs social event of the year (unless you are in high school and then maybe it is the big game between cross town rivals like Buena and Ventura here).

For non-football types who are watching the game to be social, highlights will likely be Pink performing the national anthem of the United States, Leslie Odom Jr. singing “America the Beautiful” and, in his third times a charm, Justin Timberlake is headlining the halftime show (in 2001, he performed with NSYNC, and in 2004 in an unforgettable moment with Janet Jackson )

So what should you include in your Super Bowl spread that will keep everyone super good and warm?

How about pulled pork paired with a wine that uses bourbon or whiskey barrels for part of the aging process?

While I actually think gourmet grilled cheese would pair well with these bourbon barrel wines, and they are fun and tasty, but they are kind of a lot of work, especially for a crowd, and you just don’t want to fuss. Even if you do a spread and have people build their own, someone has to cook them just right. And while you want something that is hot and ready, you really you don’t want another pot of beans (Right? Am I right?)

We love pulled pork because pork shoulder is inexpensive, it’s not that hard to put together and cook in an instant pot, and in a couple of hours, you have something truly delicious and special — something that is SUPER and that is SUPER easy to serve.

While I think nothing beats an IPA (except maybe a double IPA!) when paired with pulled pork, Wine Studio recently featured a Petit Sirah and a Zinfandel from Fetter wine maker Bob Blue’s 1000 Stories and as we already had two samples from Jacob’s Creek in AUS, a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Shiraz, and what they have in common is that they have all been barrel aged in used BOURBON barrels which gives them a distinct character.

So it was on:

The Bourbon Barrel and Pulled Pork Super Bowl Challenge: AUS Jacob’s Creek vs US 1000 Stories

Which team would win? Which one is more SUPER?

MENU

• Appetizers – Take and Bake Italian Bread Sticks with roasted tomato dipper, Brussel Sprouts, Bowl O’
• Salty snacks, carrots, cheese tray :brie, goat cheese bucheon, green olives and marcona almonds.
• Tossed Green with mixed berries salad
• Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Coleslaw: recipe

What does one do when they have a plum tree that is fully producing? Of course you share them with whoever you can, but plums have a very short life span. Over the years Sue has made plum jam, spicy plum chutney, and she is still looking for interesting things to do with plums. This BBQ sauce is however one of her favorite things to do with ripe plums fresh off the tree, and she has been making and tweaking this recipe for years.  It is a favorite of family and friends, and lends itself nicely to not only this meal, but grilled pork and chicken on the BBQ as well.

Plum BBQ Sauce: The original recipe comes from Canning by Sue and Bill Deming. It is Sue’s guideline which she’s tweaked over the years.

• 4lbs Red Plums
• 4c red wine
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 medium lemon
• 2c tomato sauce
• 1c molasses
• 2 1/2 c brown sugar
• 2T Worcestershire sauce
• 2T prepared mustard
• 1/2 c red wine vinegar
• 2t salt
• 1t coarsely ground black pepper
• 3 or 4 dried cayenne or Japanese chili pods

• Wash plum skins.
• Place the whole plums, wine, onions, garlic, and chili pods in a large stock pot.
• Scrub the lemon and slice cross wise. Add this to the pot as well.
• Stirring frequently, cook over medium heat until mixture is syrupy.
• Remove and discard lemon slices and chili pods.
• Run the rest of the cooked mixture through a sieve removing all plum pits. This is much easier than cutting them out of the plums prior to cooking.
• Puree the strained mixture with a blender, food processor, or immersion blender.
• Add remaining ingredients. Bring back to a boil. Stirring frequently, simmer over low heat till thickens. This step may take hours depending on how juicy the plums are.

Wash six 1/2 pint jars in hot soapy water. Rinse. Keep hot till needed. Prepare lids as manufacturer directs. When desired thickness has been achieved, ladle into hot jar one at a time, leaving 1/4″ headspace. Release trapped air. Wipe rim of jar w/ a clean damp cloth. Attach lid. place in water bath for 20 minutes. Makes 5 or 6 1/2 pints

WINES

2015 – 1000 Stories – Bourbon Barrel Aged – Zinfandel – 15.5% alcohol
2015 – 1000 Stories – Half Batch, Bourbon Barrel Aged – Petite Sirah – 15.1% alcohol
Jacob’s Creek – Double Barrel – Shiraz – Finished in aged whisky oak barrels – 14.8% alcohol
Jacob’s Creek – Double Barrel – Cabernet Sauvignon – Finished in aged whiskey oak barrels – 14.0% alcohol

These wines are very rich and are much better when uncorked early and allowed to open up. These are heady wines that are not for the faint of heart. They are different, and unexpected, but you become accustomed to the lush, richness in quite quickly.  If you like big bold fruit, this may be your kind of wine.

The bourbon brings forth an underlying complexity: “It takes two to tango”

Limited edition, carefully crafted wines.

Sue found herself settling in quite nicely into these wines. I felt like I needed to gear myself up to taste these wines, and then never quite settled in to them as much.

Sue: “I really like these wines with this meal. They lend themselves to this BBQ, pulled pork kind of sandwich, would be great with a southern BBQ rack of ribs types of meal.”

NOTE: I also tried them with a more traditional pulled pork with a tomato sauce base but the real winner for me was chicken mole! Because they are so rich and high in alcohol, you may not drink as much as you would of another wine in one sitting. Fortunately, they kept their flavor over several days. Bonus!

The 1000 Stories wines were part of a #WineStudio program:

But I knew about the 1000 Stories Zinfandel from a Wine Bloggers Conference pre-conference excursion to the Fetzer Barn where we had a blending workshop.

During the blending workshop, we tasted the wines to learn what goes into the blend:

It was a great way to be extra ready for this evening of #WineStudio!

2015 – 1000 Stories – Bourbon Barrel Aged – Zinfandel – 15.5% alcohol SRP $20

color – very dense, pretty color

nose – florals, breathe in too deeply and the alcohol becomes ever present.

palate – Mouth feel is very rich and powerful in this wine. The barrels add a secondary layer of complexity to this wine. There is a sweetness on the finish, caramel? toffee? vanilla?butterscotch? we could not exactly put our finger on it. It is mouthwatering and decadent.  Very fruit forward, fresh bramble fruit. Kind of like a vanilla creme brûlée with fresh berries and crushed toffee to top. This was very delicious with sundries tomatoes in olive oil on our mozzarella sticks.

2015 – 1000 Stories – Half Batch, Bourbon Barrel Aged – Petite Sirah – 15.1% alcohol

color – dense, reddish,

nose – you can smell the whiskey barrels, it almost overwhelms the underlying raspberry, blueberry fruit.

palate – This is also an extremely rich wine. At first sip I noticed a harshness on the back of the throat, but became un noticeable on the second sip. Both of these wines are very well balanced as far as mouth feel. Full bodied

Jacob’s Creek – Double Barrel – Shiraz – Finished in aged whisky oak barrels – 14.8% alcohol

color – dense, purply red

nose – lot of black pepper, minerals; iron rich

palate – minerals on the forefront with lingering fruit on the finish. red stone fruit rather than bramble fruit. Roasted tomatoes went beautifully, thinking that this would go well with any red sauce pasta, or pizza, as well as big stewed meat dishes. Even a chili bar which is always a hit at a super bowl party

Jacob’s Creek – Double Barrel – Cabernet Sauvignon – Finished in aged whiskey oak barrels – 14.0% alcohol

color – rich, dense ruby red.

nose – dr pepper, cherry cola, green vegetal, mint, eucalyptus, sage

palate – eucalyptus is on the forefront and rolls right across your mouth. herbal qualities which work nicely and shine with the BBQ sauce and coleslaw. Cherry cola, earthy cocoa nibs on the finish.

We found all of these wines to have very unique characteristics, they all have distinct flavor profiles. They were very fun to play with tonight and all of them went extremely well with our Super Bowl meal. Both teams brought their A games. The Jacob’s Creek had a bit more finesse the Whiskey is a little bit more experienced, while the bourbon barrels were a bit more brash. The 1000 stories were a bit more big and brash.

It was a tie game till the end, however the Jacob’s Creek got themselves in a position to kick and make the 3 point lead.

The Shiraz held the ball and the Cabernet kicked the 3 point field goal.

Sorry 1000 stories, maybe next year, with a bit more experience in the game!

 

What’s Fetzer’s Story?

To celebrate their 50th year, they are sharing a Fetzer story every week for the rest of 2018 — that’s 50 stories, one for each of their 50 years. They kick off the series with a story, “An Eggcellent Idea,” from Bob Blue, VP Winemaking & Winery Operations. “It was a big production and we would literally spend a day cracking eggs, and we could make a lot of custard if we wanted to.” Tap play to find out how Bob and team were using eggs in their winemaking protocol.