St. Henri Shiraz & Ascending the Iron Throne

It's been many, many years since Boo and I have made our way to the Pacific National Exhibition - Vancouver's throw back back to an old state fair, if you will. But, this year, the PNE brought the Game of Thrones Exhibit to town - and there was no chance that we wouldn't be making our way to take in that baby.

For those that remember, this was like a throw-back to the old Expo86 (and even to a few comparable aspects of the 2010 Olympics) where folks lined up or grabbed tickets hours in advance. There was no Tyrion Lannister Beer & Wine Garden (which isn't that bad of an idea if you ask me) but we did virtually ride to the top of the Ice Wall at Castle Black, see all sorts of costumes and props and take a quick sit in the Iron Throne.

The weather at the fair wasn't the greatest for our day; so, we didn't stroll the fairways for too long outside of our time at the GOT show but, of course, we did get our share of mini-donuts and we took in the BBQ cook-off. As the latter was hardly a BYO event, we grabbed a doggie bag (or in our case, a "big biggie-bag") and made our way home to finish off the Q with a big red worthy of tossing back while ruling from the Iron Throne.

1728.  2005 Penfold's St. Henri Shiraz (South Australia)

Of course, a true king may have quaffed back a bottle of Penfold's Grange but our tenure on the throne was rather short-lived. Accordingly, as mere vassals, we contented ourselves with the St. Henri Shiraz - a mighty fine drop on its own, if you don't mind. A multi-district blend, this Shiraz combines fruit from seven South Australian districts (Barossa, Eden, Clare, McLaren Vale, Langhorne Creek, Robe and Bordertown) and is fleshed out further with a bit of Cab Sauv from Coonawarra and Barossa.

According to the winery website, the wine is a bit of a counterpoint to Grange in that it doesn't see any new oak, leaving  it somewhat richer and fruitier - although the website also refers to 2005 as being a "dark horse vintage."

Well, if nothing else, Games of Thrones relies on the dark horse to come through - if only because so many of the lead characters get killed. I have no doubt that the St. Henri's would be a welcome addition to any wedding - red or otherwise.