TN: '98 Belle 'Les Pierrelles' Crozes

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 Chicago1, 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 were:

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: and

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.