What makes a great barbeque wine?

For me, the perfect wine to pair will food from the grill should be full-bodied and complex, with vanilla oak and ripe fruit flavours to complement the seared, slightly peppery meats I typically eat.

If you’ve gone through the effort of preparing an incredible brisket or rib-roast, there’s nothing quite like a big, bold red to wash it down with.

Why Statuesque?

Sculpterra Winery’s ‘Statuesque’ blend combines the best attributes from three grape varieties:

• Cabernet Sauvignon is what Sculpterra in Paso Robles, California is most known for. From this grape, we get red cherry, blueberry, and blackberry flavours, along with cinnamon and cocoa powder.
• Syrah gives us peppery black cherry, blackcurrant, and strawberry fruit, and mellow tannic structure. 
• Petite Sirah provides the muscle. Bold plummy, chocolatey flavours, with molasses and black pepper. The thick skins and abundant pigments of these grapes ensure richness and a depth of colour that few other grapes can compete with.

Paul Frankel, Winemaker at Sculpterra, does a masterful job of blending these grapes together to create this wine. Tannic when very young, I tend to find that Statuesque soon mellows out to be silky-smooth and super drinkable with excellent ageing potential. The Petite Sirah usually dominates the flavour profile, while the Cab and Syrah add complexity and red fruit flavours. Add in a healthy amount of oak barrel influence, and you have yourself a complete package that always proves popular.

Want to know more?

The latest vintage of Statuesque is the 2018. You can purchase this wine in the tasting room or online.

If you’re interested in older vintages of Statuesque, call the Sculpterra Tasting Room at (805) 226-8881 and ask about library wines available for pick-up.

To see my tasting notes on the 2016 vintage, click here.

For a host of other wine reviews (not just Sculpterra), head to my blog home page.

Darren.

*While I am an employee of Sculpterra, all opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

‘Golden Hooves’ is an 18ft tall horse sculpture, fabricated using bronze welding. It’s one of 15 larger John Jagger sculptures to be found in Sculpterra’s sculpture garden.

Tri-tip, cooked sous vide for 6 hours and finished on the grill, butternut squash fries, and a peppery cream reduction. A tasty match for Statuesque. Apologies to any vegetarians for the gratuitous meat photo…