I looooooooooooove Syrah. I’m pretty much down with any wine where I smell spice, and one of the tell-tale characteristics of Syrah is the aroma of cracked black pepper. Yum Balls. So in the spirit of my favorite US Weekly page, Syrah is spicy! It’s darkly colored! It’s tannic!

It’s grown all over the world, but the two main regions are the Rhone in France and Australia (where it’s called Shiraz).

Rhone Syrah is spicy and pungent, but also has red berry fruit flavors that are restrained and elegant. Think how Jon Stewart is usually digging into someone, but with wit, humor and wearing a suit.

For Australian Shiraz, I’m going with Mark Sanchez 1) because I had to work him into this blog at some point (I’m obsessed) so let’s just start now and 2) Shiraz wouldn’t pair so badly with a hot dog, which we know he’s all about. Shiraz is still spicy but also bigger (Sanchez: check), bolder (check), fuller-bodied (checkcheckcheckcheckcheck).

If the lockout happens, let’s take the NFL Down Under.