Barbequing With Giesta

Okay, for full disclosure we didn't actually barbeque with this wine, but we did have grilled chicken with BBQ sauce on it.  My drink of choice for grilling or barbecuing is beer, and as much as I love wine I don't see that changing.  Sunday was a fairly relaxing day after a long Saturday that was topped off by a nice BBQ here at the Alonso Building.  We had a number of leftovers to go through so the meals could be fairly simple.

Pris was going through some new Wall Street Journal wines that my mom had just given us to try.  In going through the notes she discovered one that was supposedly great with grilled meats and BBQ sauce.    So I heated up some leftover grilled chicken, smothered it in sauce and loaded it up with pickles and onions on white bread.  And to go with this Pris opened a bottle of Giesta Dão 2009.

This is a good Portuguese red blend.  Its a mix of 45% Tinta Roriz (also known as Tempranillo), 32% Touriga Nacional, and 23% Jaen.  The Giesta was loaded up with bright ripe fruit on the nose and palate.  It had juicy ripe berries dominate the palate, but there's also a good acidity and subtly oak.  Soft tannins round out this great summer wine and provide a mellow finish. 

While I was drinking the wine I kept thinking that I'd tried it before, the flavor kept bringing up a flavor I couldn't quite put my finger on.  Then Pris read the tasting notes and we discovered all the same grapes are used in Port and it all clicked.  The Giesta is basically an unfortified, and far less sweet Port. 

Let me just say, the tasting notes were not wrong about pairing this wine with barbecue sauced meats.  The slight sweetness in the wine went great with the spicy BBQ sauce and jalapenos.  The acidity and heavy fruit complimented the savory vinegary sauce and the smokiness of the chicken like nobody's business.  It would have been nice to try this with brisket or ribs, but you work with what you have.

If you're a Port fan, or simply like juicy wines with loads of fruit (that are not sweet), then this is a wine for you.  This wine is a great value as an everyday or weekend BBQ wine since it runs about $13 a bottle at the Wall Street Journal site, but a bit less at others if you do a Google search.  You can find out more about Giesta Dão 2009 and order it at: www.wsjwines.com.