Obsession Wines of Northern California kindly sent me a sample bottle of their white Symphony 2023 wine, along with a kit to make their suggested foods to pair with it.
The kit included a jar of garlicky pesto sauce, a container of Tikka Masala spice mix, black mole paste for a Mexican dish, and the makings of Thai green curry with coconut milk, herbs and lemongrass, curry paste, and curry powder.
Obsession Symphony is made from a rare grape that’s a cross between Grenache Gris and Muscat of Alexandria. It was developed in 1948 by UC Davis professor, Dr. Harold Olmo.
If you thumb your nose at wines that are fruity and slightly sweet, you might not like this bottle. But if you’re like me, and you enjoy a little sweetness with fruit flavors in the heat of summer, this is an excellent choice. The fruit flavors are immediate with peach and pineapple most dominant, but there’s also tropical passionfruit and lychee, as well as honeydew, gardenia, honeysuckle, star jasmine, and ginger.
Don’t get me wrong – this isn’t a dessert wine, even though the grape is part Muscat. The sweetness isn’t overpowering, and it’s also acidic. On a hot day, it will be extremely refreshing. Besides the pairings suggested by the winemaker, I think this wine would be amazing at a barbecue, with fish, or with pungent cheeses.
I thoroughly enjoyed my bottle, particularly with the Black Mole and the Thai Green Curry. I haven’t yet tried it with pesto or Tikka Masala, but I’m looking forward to those pairings as well.
The Kautz Family who bottles Obsession Wines has the most significant plantings of symphony grapes in the Lodi appellation and Sierra foothills of Northern California. Symphony is kept in stainless steel until it’s bottled.
Obsession Symphony can be purchased directly from the Obsession website, which links to Kautz’s Ironstone Vineyards, where they sell their other wines. It’s currently on sale for just $14 per bottle. I expect I’ll be ordering some more soon for the summer months.
Melanie Votaw is the Publisher and Executive Travel Writer of LuxuryWeb Magazine. She has visited more than 50 countries on 6 continents and written for such magazines as Executive Travel, Just Luxe, Business Insider, South China Morning Post, Travel Mindset, and more. She is a member of the International Food, Wine & Travel Writers Association, New York Travel Writers Association, and International Travel Writers Alliance. Melanie's photography has won awards, and she has also written 43 nonfiction books as either the author or ghostwriter.
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