Guiso Latin Fusion/Chef Carlos/ Rodney Strong Vineyards/ Balletto Vineyards and Winery

Today we will enjoy the cuisine of Chef carlos at Guiso latin Fusion! Let's check out the tasting notes on our two feature wines and then enjoy Chef Carlos's Pairing off his great menu! Our first wine is the Old Vine Zinfandel from Rodney strong Vineyards! Fresh, bright berry fruit form our heritage Russian River vineyard, combined with the ripe, peppery jam from our Alexander Valley and Dry Creek vineyards, make for a wonderful diversity of flavor, showcasing the best that Zinfandel can offer. This wine boasts notes of blackberry, plum and boysenberry with a touch of red fruit jam and creamy vanilla. Enjoy this Zinfandel now with spiced short ribs, pulled pork sandwiches or a barbeque chicken pizza. I love this wine and it is a perfect food wine for this amazing cuisine. When Rod Strong first acquired benchland acreage on Westside Road just behind the winery, he wisely chose to leave untouched, the 15 acres of old, gnarled Zinfandel vines that had been thriving since 1904. Today, we still harvest Zinfandel from those same old vines, along with a handful of vineyards we farm to the north in Alexander and Dry Creek Valleys. Next we will open the great Syrah from Balletto Vineyards and Winery. This is a single vineyard wine and really aperfect wine for Chef carlos's dishes. the BCD Syrah is a work of art! This Syrah opens with classic-cool climate aromatics. The first impression is lightly smoked bacon, earth and savory spices. A core of dark fruit follows and holds the wine together without overstepping. it's complex and elegant. Then there's a tart blackberry foundation that runs from start to finish and is a reminder that this wine is grown in a cool site. It has medium viscosity and finishes with notable, just-strong-enough tannins that lengthen the finish and pull for the next sip. With just enough of everything tightly balanced together, the wine shows its seriousness and the potential to age well. It should develop in the bottle for the next five (or more) years. “The goal of the R