Pairing: Medlock Ames Cabernet Sauvignon pairs well with Bolognese-style sauce

Our Wine of the Week, Medlock Ames 2011 Bell Mountain Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon ($42) is a beauty, with deeply concentrated fruit flavors interlaced with enticing threads of spice, rock and root, especially licorice root. You’ll notice little bursts of dark chocolate, too.

Because this wine is a tad lower in alcohol--13.6 percent--than many California wines these days, a result of a fairly wet growing season, these flavors shine brilliantly. Tannins are firm but not rough, with a pleasing plushness. This wine will age quite well.

At the table it is, of course, a friend to red meat. Black olives, winter squashes, sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips and slow-cooked tomato sauces are good matches, too. During the summer, enjoy it with eggplant, roasted sweet peppers and dead-ripe tomatoes.

Because it is so easy to pair this wine with meat, I’ve chosen a vegetarian dish for today’s recipe, a Bolognese-style sauce with mushrooms served with spaghetti squash. If you prefer to serve it with pasta, use fettuccine or pappardelle instead.

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Spaghetti Squash with Mushroom Bolognese

Serves 4 to 6

1 medium spaghetti squash, steamed and shredded (see Note below)

1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms

- Warm water

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 yellow onion, cut into small dice

3 carrots, peeled and cut into small dice

2 large celery stalks, cut into small dice

3 garlic cloves, crushed and minced

- Kosher salt

- Black pepper in a mill

1 pound portobello or crimini mushrooms, trimmed and cut into small dice

2 cups dry red wine

2 cups vegetable or beef stock

1 cup half-and-half

3 tablespoons double-concentrated tomato paste

2 bay leaves

2 teaspoons dried oregano

½ cup heavy cream

3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley

- Vella Dry Jack or other grating cheese, in one piece

Prepare the spaghetti squash and set it aside. While it cooks, put the porcini into a small bowl, cover with about a cup of warm water and let it rest for 30 minutes. Strain the liquid through a small strainer or coffee filter into a clean bowl; set aside. Chop the mushrooms and set them aside, too.

Put the olive oil into a large heavy skillet set over medium-low heat, add the onion, carrot and celery and cook until very soft and fragrant, about 20 minutes. Add the garlic, season with salt and pepper and stir in the chopped porcini.

Add the other mushrooms, increase the heat and add the wine. Cover and cook until the mushrooms soften, about 5 to 7 minutes. Uncover, stir and cook until the wine is nearly completely reduced. Add the stock and cook until it is reduced by about a third. Add the half-and-half, stir in the tomato paste, add the bay leaves and oregano, reduce the heat and simmer gently until fairly thick, about 30 to 40 minutes, stirring now and then so that it does not scorch.

Pour in the reserved porcini liquid, taste, correct for salt and pepper and simmer very gently for about 15 minutes. Stir in the cream and parsley and remove from the heat.

Cover and keep hot.

To finish, reheat the squash and transfer to a wide shallow bowl. Add about a cup of the sauce and toss gently but thoroughly. Divide among individual soup plates, top with sauce, grate a little cheese on top and serve right away, with the remaining cheese alongside.

Note: To steam spaghetti, cut the squash into several wedges, set in a large steamer basket over simmering water, cover and cook until the squash is tender but not mushy, about 12 to 14 minutes. Remove from the heat, cool and scrape out the seeds. Use a fork to separate the flesh in long, even strokes.

Michele Anna Jordan has written 18 books to date, including the new “More Than Meatballs.” Email Jordan at michele@saladdresser.com. You’ll find her blog, “Eat This Now,” at pantry.blogs.pressdemocrat.com.