by Richard Oh

Pork Chops with a Syrah pumpkin reduction sauce/marinade

• ¼ cup soy sauce
• ¼ cup water
• ¼ cup vegetable stock
• 1 cup Otter Cove Syrah
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 3 tablespoon pumpkin puree
• ½ teaspoon olive oil
• 6 table spoons brown sugar
• 2 table spoons dried rosemary, crushed
• 4 pork chops

Whisk together the soy sauce, water, brown sugar, Syrah, garlic, olive oil, and rosemary in a bowl. Pour 1/3 of the marinade into a re-sealable plastic bag. Add the pork chops, coat with the marinade, squeeze out excess air, and seal the bag. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours. Set the remaining marinade aside, this will be used for the sauce.

Preheat an outdoor grill for medium heat, and lightly oil the grill. Remove the pork chops from the marinade, and shake off excess. Discard the remaining marinade from the bag.

Place pork chops on the grill and cook until the pork is no longer pink in the center, 4 to 7 minutes on each side, depending on the thickness.

In a saucepan bring to boil the 2/3 of the marinade. Add pumpkin and vegetable stock stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to simmer for 3 minutes. Serve over pork chops.

Pretty simple recipe but adds lots of flavors of the season. Add seasonal vegetable for more flavors. You can also add chopped roasted chestnuts to the sauce. I made some wild rice, carrots, and yellow squash to compliment the whole dish.

The Wine:

Otter Cove Syrah 2010. I just released this wine on Monday. It is a single vineyard from the Santa Lucia Highlands. It was aged in French oak barrels for 22 months. This is a lot smoother than my previous vintage. Drink now forthe smoothness. The darker fruits and tannins will be more prominent later as the wine ages in the bottle. You’ll get white pepper notes up front, earthy smoky undertones, with a hint of plum on the finish. It’s very well balanced from start to finish. The flavors of the sauce paired amazingly well with the Otter Cove Syrah.

The Syrah varietal is a dark skinned grape and has a long history from the Rhone region of France. It was first introduced to California in the 1970’s. It is now grown in other regions of USA but mostly produced in California. The Syrah can be used as blending as well as a single varietal. It can range in different flavor profiles depending on the region to winemaking styles. I’ve seen Syrah blended with Cabernet Sauvignon, Viognier, Grenache, Mourvedre, Zinfandel, and Cabernet Franc… It does make a niceblend and “completes” the wine.

Not a lot of places carry this wine since I just released it. You can, however, get it at Constance Wine Room/Otter Cove Wines tasting room in Carmel.

The cook/chef:

It’s me…I wanted to do something that integrated some seasonal ingredients. The pumpkin added a nice element to the sauce. The flavors of the season thicken the sauce and complemented the pork chop amazingly well. Taste if for yourself. Your mouth will thank you for it. I come up with some of the recipes myself, tweak others and I also use local chefs. It really depends on my mood.