[RECIPE+PAIRING] Touchdown! KC BBQ + 49ers WINE

Photo: Vinnie Biskupic

Kansas City vs. San Francisco. A BBQ mecca vs. the wine capital of America. Don’t know who to pick for tomorrow’s big game? Here’s a Super Bowl pairing we can all cheer for! 

KC-style barbecue is known for its dry-rubbed and smoked meats that are slathered in thick tomato and molasses based barbecue sauces. For a dish with smoke, spice, and savory sweetness we want a wine to match those classic tailgate flavors. Turns out Northern California pumps out some killer barbecue wine with higher tannins to cut through that melt-in-your-mouth fatty meat.

KC-Style Spareribs

Created by Vinnie Biskupic

*Pair to Peterson 'Mendo Blendo' 2013 Petite Syrah, Syrah, Carignane, Grenache| Sonoma, California

*Check out our other Football wine recommendations in the "What Your Tailgate Life is Missing” Shop Page

Ingredients

Three Slabs of Spare Ribs

Kansas City Dry Rub:

• 3 cups brown sugar 
• 3/4 cup dried mustard 
• 1 tablespoon ancho chili powder 
• 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoon smoked paprika 

[WINEMAKER SPOTLIGHT] Peterson Winery

Photo: boxerbrand.com

What gets winegrower Fred Peterson out of bed in the morning? “For me, the motivation is that every day is so different in the wine business,” he says. And it’s true. Fred Peterson and his son, winemaker Jamie, never set out to make the same wine twice at Peterson Winery in Dry Creek Valley of Sonoma County.

Fred and Jamie thrive on the fact that each day, each year, is a new adventure in the vineyard. They consider it their job to harness whatever is naturally occuring at any given time and put in a bottle for you to enjoy.

This gentle way of winemaking is what the Petersons call Zero Manipulation. This philosophy emphasizes traditional winemaking practices in order to maximize each wine’s naturally occurring flavors and textures. As their website states, “Fred and Jamie celebrate vintage differences and don’t tweak or homogenize the wine to obtain consistency of flavors, a common practice in mass-market wineries.”

Fred says that this delicate balance all starts in the vineyard,...