Thanks for the babble - you're speaking my language.
Good point about the aging. I'm not going to let anything sit for more than a year - unless I know it sucks.
Wife made some some spaghetti today (with considerable help from me over the phone) that turned out pretty damn good. She mistakenly purchased the hot italian sausage which seemed to complicate the wine selection, IMO. I tasted the sauce with an Aussie merlot that was already open. Sauce was bright and tomato-ey, with heavy garlic and anise flavors. Finished with red pepper heAt.
The merlot was overpowered but the aussie fruit was a good foil to the heat. I figured a syrah would be about right, but I also opened a "Tuscan" style local wine just in case.
The syrah (also a local) was the best match, the merlot second. The local Tuscan style seems flawed (it was a clearance job at the end of a long day of wine tasting). Not sure if the nose is sherry or rotten eggs, but it finishes OK. Maybe cork taint?
