WBW #21 & IMBB #26 Fabulous Favorites Festival

We usually miss out on all of the on-line blogging events, but not this week. By chance of e-fate we ended up having a dinner that coincided with the Wine Blogging Wednesday #21 & Is My Blog Burning #26 -- Fabulous Favorites Festival.

The concept is simple, bloggers all blog on the same subject, with two plans of attack you can choose from.
-Pick a favorite bottle of wine from your cellar and create/cook a dish that goes with it.
-Pick a favorite dish in your culinary repertoire and seek out a wine that will pair will it.

We happened to have a favorite dish of ours, Lamb Shanks Braised With Anise & Orange & we paired it with a 2003 Broquel Cabernet Sauvignon from Argentina. The pairing was right on.

The Cab was big & loaded with youthful tannins. It was a bit on the wild side, but it melded well with the dark dried fruit, sweet tobacco, leather, licorice & subtle acidity. There was something in the background of the nose that can only be described as a new tire smell. Weird, but not bad. The finish was minty & long lasting. A great buy at $15. This wine took along time to open up & calm down, but it was worth the wait.

As unruly as the wine was, we enjoyed it a lot. It was so nice with the lamb too, which was full of rich star anise & orange. We added some carrots & parsnips to the mix & it turned out divine. We also had some purple hulled peas with rice & La's Grandmother's famous chow-chow.

It seemed a bit out of season (besides the peas), but this meal hit the spot & proved that hearty fare could be enjoyed in any season. Once again proving that rules are meant to be broken.