Confronted with what to do with 5 lb of leftover turkey meat, I decided
to make a traditional red mole and did so with some of the breast meat.
Having recently read Rick Bayless's suggestions for pairing wine with
Mexican food during lunch at Topolobampo in Chicago[1], I decided to
take his advice and pair a N. Rhone Syrah with this fairly spicy dish.
Looking into my holdings, I found some '98 Belle Pere et Fils
Crozes-Hermitage 'Les Pierrelles' which I had bought at a tasting almost
2 years ago. My notes from then we

1998 Belle Crozes-Hermitage 'Les Pierrelles'
color: dark red-purple
nose: blueberries, flowers, cedar
palate: blueberry, pepper, slightly tannic finish
One of my two favorite producers in Crozes, though I typically get the
"Cuvée Louis Belle". Very nice Syrah fruit wrapped up in an attractive
package.

Opened with the mole tonight, I found that the tannins had fully
resolved, the wine had taken on some weight but was still quite primary
but bursting with fruit. It matched the mole very well indeed, with the
food actually accentuating the Syrah fruit and the acids of the wine
cutting through the spices of the mole quite effectively. A definite 4
on the Hoare food-wine pairing scale and a victory for Mr. Bayless's
advice. To see the advice in full, see:
http://www.fronterakitchens.com/cook...optenwine.html
and
http://www.fronterakitchens.com/cook...wineguide.html

Mark Lipton
[1] The lunch was spectacular: we split a goat empanada appetizer, Jean
had a dish of shrimp in a red chile broth and I had a Oaxacan sampler
that had a yellow mole empanada, pork in red mole, Oaxacan chorizo and a
cactus salad. Everything was superbly prepared. If they've lost a step
since their heyday 10 years ago, I can't see it.