Pairing: Meatballs with Rhone red blend

The first quality you notice in our Wine of the Week, Enkidu 2011 Humbaba ($28), is its deep garnet color. Next, as you take your first sip, you notice an initial silken texture which, as it spreads over your palate, becomes a tad rough at the edges. That’s a sign that the tannins will continue to resolve over time, making this a good wine to age for a few years.

The fruit is dark and intense, with suggestions of black plum followed by bursts of seductive spice, including cardamom, anise, allspice and nutmeg. There’s a bit of licorice root, too, and something resembling cola.

At the table, this wine has wide appeal, especially in the fall and winter. Sweet potatoes, winter squash, eggplant, parsnips and carrots are good companions.

Quinoa and farro welcome the wine, too, as does smoked turkey, braised beef shanks, braised sausages, duck burgers and duck meatballs, end-of-the-season tomato pie and macaroni and cheese made with bacon and cheddar.

It’s a great match with classic spaghetti and meatballs and goes well with American-style pizza.

For today’s recipe, I’ve chosen a favorite dish from “More Than Meatballs” (Skyhorse Publishing, 2014), lamb meatballs made in the style of Chicken Dijonnaise.

The recipe also works well - and pairs well with the wine - when you use ground beef, ground duck or ground goat.

Lamb Meatballs Dijonnaise

Makes about 20 to 24 small meatballs

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for frying

2 shallots, minced

3 garlic cloves, preferably fresh, minced

- Kosher salt

- Black pepper in a mill

5 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1½ pounds lamb shoulder or leg, ground

1½ cups (6 ounces) Gruyere, grated

1 large farm egg, beaten

2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves

1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley

½ cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons crème fraîche or sour cream

Put the olive oil into a small sauté pan set over medium-low heat, add the shallots, and sauté until soft and fragrant, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté 2 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper, stir in 1 tablespoon of the mustard, and remove from the heat. Let cool for a few minutes.

Break up the lamb and put it into a medium mixing bowl. Add the shallot mixture, half the cheese, the egg, half the thyme leaves, and the parsley. Season with salt and several generous turns of black pepper and mix thoroughly.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Put the flour in a medium bowl.

Cover a baking sheet with wax paper.

Use a 1-ounce ice cream scoop to shape the meatballs, setting each one on the wax paper.

Put 2 or 3 meatballs into the bowl with the flour, agitate the bowl to coat the meatballs evenly with flour. Set the floured meatballs on the wax paper.

Pour a bit of oil into a heavy sauté pan or nonstick pan set over medium heat.

Fry the meatballs, agitating the pan so that they brown evenly all over. Transfer the cooked meatballs to a baking dish just big enough to hold them in a single layer.

When all of the meatballs have been fried, scatter the remaining cheese over them and bake for about 12 minutes, until the cheese is fully melted and bubbly and the meatballs are cooked through.

Meanwhile, put the remaining mustard in a small bowl, add the remaining thyme leaves and the crème fraîche or sour cream, stir, taste, and correct for salt and pepper as needed.

Serve the meatballs hot from the oven, in the baking dish, with the Dijon sauce and plenty of toothpicks.

Email Michele Anna Jordan at michele@saladdresser.com. You’ll find her blog, “Eat This Now,” at pantry.blogs.pressdemocrat.com.