♫Oh Give Me a Home Where the Buffalo Roam♪

and the deer and the antelope play....

To be factually correct the song should read where the 'bison' roam since the beast in question isn't really a buffalo and its scientific name is 'bison bison.'

Enough of being correct, last night there were two bison tenderloin fillets for dinner because it was a cool evening and they were on sale at the market. We also wanted something strong since there was a "big" wine for the evening. The fillets were wrapped in a strip of bacon, pan seared on all sides and finished in the oven to a temperature of 120 degrees. They rose to 130 by the time the pan sauce was complete.

The pan sauce was the drippings from the pan searing, some shallots, porcini mushrooms, a little of the wine, some Makers Mark bourbon, a touch of maple syrup, a little beef stock, some mushroom soaking liquid, a little Dijon mustard and after that all reduced down it was finished with a little sherry vinegar and butter. At the last minute some toasted hickory nuts were added to the mix.

The wine was a 2007 Petite Sirah from Seven Artisans. It was from the Suisun valley just east of Napa and specifically from the Clayton Road Ranch. The wine was decanted for one hour. In the glass the wine was opaque purple and with some swirling there was a tremendous amount of legs running slowly down the sides of the glass The nose was totally ripe, dark fruit, mostly very ripe and juicy black plums with some hints of blueberries and a touch of cinnamon. Calling the wine full flavored is an understatement as this was a mouthful of wine - one could almost chew it. There was the tannin always associated with petite sirah though it was actually a little softer than I was expecting. The finish was long and sweet, perhaps just a little too sweet for my taste. None the less it was an extremely well made wine though I found myself wishing for just a little more acid.

It did match up well with the bison and there were some complimentary flavors going back and forth between the two, but after a glass my palate was a little tired. We added a squeeze of lemon juice over the meat and that perked things back up a little, but I re-bottled half the wine into a previously used half bottle. There's a party this evening and there are some fans of really big wines and I want them to try this one.

There were about two swallows left in the glass about an hour after the meal so I took another sip and the wine had opened a little more. It was pretty tasty with a small piece of dark chocolate. My final thought on the first half of this bottle is that it may be best as an after dinner drink.