As a member of the "Twisted Few" (Twisted Oak's Wine Club), I get their wonderful Calaveras County wines shipped to my door several times a year, and it is always a great day when I come home to a box of good red wine. My shipment this week included the luscious 2009 "Cockamamie" Syrah, which I deemed worthly of a blog post, my time, and fluent words of praise.
So what's with naming a great wine "Cockamamie"? On the back of my bottle, in a blatant poke to our Aussie friends, the winemaker says, " We figure that if a nameless place in another part of the world (let's just say their bathtubs swirl the other way round) can have the cockamamie idea to call their Syrah "Shiraz", we can have the cockamamie idea to call our Syrah "Cockamamie". Right?"
Twisted Oak is 100% "TUDE" - and they have the big, bold reds to go with it! I love this winery and wine club for both the quality of their wines and the fun they attach to every bottle. A visit to one of Twisted Oak's two tasting rooms in Calaveras County is really a treat - if you visit the main site in the forest, you get to walk through the "Rubber Chicken Forest" (does anyone remember Gary Larson's Farside Rubber Chicken cartoon?). I must admit I have only visited the main tasting room in downtown Murphy's,CA, but a visit to this great landmark has made my bucket list. The folks at Twisted give every new member of their wine club a rubber chicken as a gift to remember them by. Mine is proudly displayed next to my wine rack.
Hubby and I took unbreakable glasses of our "Cockamamie" to our hot tub last night, and enjoyed it under the stars while letting the stress of the week slip by. A perfect compliment to the bubbly water, the "Cockamamie" Syrah was light yet rich and "plummy" - with flavors of elderberry, blackberry, red cherry, and a touch of cedar. Hubby thought it might even have been too light for a Syrah, but I thought it was like a delicate yet bold, yet non filling dessert. Just right.
Also from the wine maker's site, "This Syrah is Big, Bold and Deep Purple in color. You’ll detect pronounced aromas of ripe olive and blackberry, along with perhaps a little Smoke on the Water. You’ll taste Lazy flavors of plums, blueberry and leather. This is a wine that might make you feel like a Highway Star, but it might be better to stay at home and enjoy it with your Woman From Tokyo."
Hmm mm....I missed the olive, which is a good thing because I hate olives!
Food Pairings: This is a good Foccacia wine if I have ever seen one, and I was salivating imaging the big rosemary taste of Foccacia last night (sadly, none in sight). Add some garlic hummus and it would be total heaven. I can see this going with the little weiners in BBQ sauce that my Ex and I used to serve at Halloween parties, affectionately dubbed "Microweenies" too.
Activity Pairings: One awesome hot tubbing wine, I could also enjoy it while playing horseshoes, watching reruns of Family Guy, or sitting through one more showing of Mars Attacks (ack ack ack ack.....).
Music Pairings: An irreverant wine calls for irreverant music. I vote for AC/DC - light, fun, "out-there", and bold but not too complex. How about "Big Balls"? The winemaker has other Classic Rock suggestions in their review too.... If you're more into jazz, I suggest Sun Ra.
Where to Buy: Twisted Oak's website is the only place I know for now to get this wine. The good news is that it is reasonable.
Comments