30-Day Beef Binge (with WINE)

30-Day Beef Binge!
I just got off a 30-day beef-consuming marathon that would make any cattle rancher proud. Not just 30 days of beef, but 30 days of steak, not even one ground beef pattie thrown into the mix. T-Bones, Rib Eyes, Sirloins, Filet Mignon, Porterhouse, you name it, I had it.

I didn’t start out to last 30 days, but after I noticed that 14 days had already passed and I was chowing on steaks for breakfast and lunch everyday, I figured that I might as well go for the whole month and enjoy the red meat before my heart exploded. When you wake up in the morning and go straight for some breakfast ideas, most likely things have gotten out of control.


So why am I telling you all this about steak, and why do you care? Well, because what do you think I drank with all my medium-rare cuts of cow? That’s right Kreskin; red wine. Full flavored, structured reds with some vigor. No Beaujolais or lite Pinot Noir for me this month. I choose some California, Italian, and French juices to go with my breakfast and lunches this Angus ingesting month. I usually have chicken and white wine for dinner; see I do live a balanced life style.

So lets take a look at some of my favorites with beef that I will happily recommend to anyone, for any time of day, or night.

1999 Ironstone Vineyards Shiraz
For $9.50 this wine offers up some downright awesome flavor. I would say that Ironstone has been putting in some excellent effort to consistently bring to market a great drinking wine at a bargain price, yep, I say under $10 is a bargain. The Shiraz is dark crimson red in color, solid and looks juicy and thick. Big fat aromas pop out, full of warm raspberry and peppery cassis. Nice medium-bodied flavors of burnt red berry and spice come to the forefront with an oaky finish blended with gamey toasty essence.

I get some nice Northern Rhone nuances out of this wine, definitely a compliment to the wine maker. The Cabernet Franc is also a nice offering from Ironstone. You will get your monies worth with these nice flavorful wines that leave some cash in your pocket so you can afford some steak.

1999 Hartford “Hartford Vineyard” Russian River Valley Zinfandel
Holy $%&# this dark red/purple, thick full and firm Zin is kicking ass all over my Porterhouse steak with peppercorn sauce. They wrestled and I won ‘cause I finished the whole bottle and the whole 15-ounce steak. This concentrated Zin has some full dark berry flavors that hint at some bell pepper on the edges. It is deep, dark and spicy with some nice oak coming into play and a pretty smooth texture and finish. This wine comes from an 80-year-old vineyard in the Hartford’s backyard. Can I come over?? With only 350 cases produced you may have to head up to Sonoma to pick up a bottle. Very fine stuff.

1999 De Loach “Estate Bottled” Russian River Valley Zinfandel
Moderate tannins with a plumy rich taste and texture that I like even though it has a gentler approach than most “bold & brawny” Zins. I would usually disregard a Zin that wasn’t kickin’ my butt; I however have started to enjoy this low alcohol Zin (13.5%) and am growing fond of the more subtle berry and briary flavors.

It is still deep but in a real food friendly kinda way with some rich earthiness and tasty oak. Tight acidity and focused pure plum make this a real winner with my medium-rare grilled filet mignon slightly dashed with some salt and pepper. Two focused and pure flavors working together. I think I’m going to cry, just give me a moment. De Loach has been presenting pure and focused wines for ages now.

1998 Livio Felluga Vertigo
This is a 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon blend from Veneto, Italy. I like its brightness, clarity, fruit and acidity. Ruby red in color that lightens up on the rim slightly and shows that it is not going to overwhelm food at the table. Soothing aromas of light red fruit, fresh cherry and a bit of under ripe raspberry in the mix.

It is focused and fairly deep in flavor but has a lighter body than many other blends of the same varietals. This wine went well with a filet I had that was panned seared with onions and a dash of balsamic vinegar and salt. Every sip starts off full-throttled and pushes hard to fill your mouth with terrific tight and juicy flavors. My advice is to definitely abuse this wine. What is a case of Vertigo down the hatch among friends, but remember the food also.

Gundlach Bundchu Bearitage Lot No. 9
Medium red with forward red berry aromas and a lite spice smell. Balanced tannins with a cherry, raspberry and oak taste structure that shows the blending went well. I got a little spice that I thought was Syrah, but it seems as thought the blend is of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Zinfandel.

This wine is not labeled with a vintage date because along with the varietal blend there also is a vintage blending as well. Should be the last three years blended together to make up this everyday drinking gem. The price is right, the fruit and body are there and the label is cool enough that you won’t forget it next time you are back at the store hunting for some favorites.

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