Stella Solitaria Shines Brightly

Pris and I went up to Austin this past weekend for the Country Living Fair.  I wasn't big on spending Saturday looking at antiques and artisan goods and collectibles, but I'll take any excuse to head to a city with a Central Market.  When we arrived in town, I headed to Central Market to pick up some food and refreshments for dinner.  While there I decided to do a little looking at the wines they had out as recommendations.  I decided to get a bottle of Stella Solitaria, a 2010 Syrah from Sicily to work on over the weekend.  At $10 for the bottle, the price was right and it also had a screw top which worked for me since I forgot our travel opener.

The Stella Syrah started off a little stilted, and needed to breathe quite a bit.  When it finally opened up it developed into a good Syrah.  The nose was fruitful and laden with ripe raspberry and strawberry.  After the Stella opened up it was exceptionally smooth, with loads of ripe red fruit on the palate.  Smooth tannins created a nice, mild and smooth finish.  This was a great red table wine.

The Stella Solitaria went fairly well with our meal Friday night, but it really came into its own the next day with my lunch and dinner.  The Syrah was a perfect compliment to the muffaletta sandwich I picked up at Central Market on Saturday.  The ripe fruit paired perfectly with the savory salted meats and the crisp bite of the olives and peppers.  For dinner I paired the last of the wine with spaghetti and meatballs from Mandola's Italian Market.  Again this fruitful and mild Sicilian red paired perfectly with the classic dinner.  The tomato sauce had just a touch of spice to it that worked very well with the light fruit in the wine.  The Stella also paired well with the bread and seasoned oil and caprese salad.  If you haven't tried Mandola's definitely head that way when you're in Austin.  I could probably have eaten nothing but the bread with olive oil and the homemade mozzarella; it was that good. 

You can find the Stella Solitaria 2010 Syrah at H.E.B. Central Markets, and it costs $10 a bottle.  It is hands down the best wine I've had that comes with a screw top.  I wasn't able to find a specific website for the Stella, but I did find the Italian company that bottled it.  For more information on them you can visit:  http://www.cantinesettesoli.it/?op=home