Not Our First Rôtie-O
TASTING NOTES: “The 2019 Keller Estate Rotie Syrah opens with notes of tobacco leaf and cigar box along with a hint of marzipan and clove. After a few minutes, it opens up to a sweet, red fruit nose with notes of red currant and cranberry. In the mouth, the wine has a distinctive Luxardo Cherry quality, concentrated and marinated. The cranberry notes carry over into the mouth. Hints of cinnamon come to the forefront. This wine is vibrant and food-friendly. There are lingering notes of boysenberry, which likely comes from the marriage of Viognier and Syrah.” (AbV 14.9%)
VARIETALS: Syrah, 5-10% Viognier.
BARRELS: French oak, 30% new.
PAIRS WITH: Nothing specific, but it’s food-friendly.
THAT REMINDS ME OF: The rodeo!
Taken from the Spanish word “to round up,” rodeo is a sport centered around the skills involved in rounding up cattle. In Spain, livestock herders known as vaqueros would move and control large herds of livestock from horseback using ropes. As Spain colonized Central America, the practices of the vaqueros proliferated through the region. Eventually, over centuries, they would become normalized from the bottom of South America all the way up to Canada. In fact, Canada, particularly Alberta, has a strong rodeo scene to this day.
It wasn’t until the late 1800’s that rodeo competitions became a thing, however. In the US, rodeo events typically involve the following categories: tie-down roping (rope a calf and tie three legs together), team roping (two riders must rope both the head of a steer and the hind leg), steer wrestling or bulldogging (literally get off the horse and wrestle a steer to the ground), breakaway roping (just lasso the calf’s neck and stop your horse), bronc riding (get on either a saddled or bareback bucking horse and stay on), bull riding (obvious), and barrel racing (riding around barrels in a specific pattern).
Fun fact: rodeo is banned in the UK and the Netherlands. Concerns towards animal welfare are high surrounding the sport, and, while care for the animals involved has definitely improved over time, are still pretty valid.
