Pairing: Portobello burger with Rhone red

Our Wine of the Week, Quivira 2012 Estate Elusive ($36), a blend of three Rhone-varietals, grenache, syrah and mourvedre.

It’s a sassy wine with a coy moniker, as the wine is anything but elusive.

It is generous with its pleasures, which unfold from top down, with high-toned, bright red fruit and pretty almost floral aromas giving way to sweet spice, including white pepper, and a rich texture, in turn followed by a deep pool of dark fruit suggestive of black plum and olallieberry and a long resonate finish. Some wines tease; others, including this one, vamp.

The wine is lovely with the ripe flavors of summer, especially eggplant, dead-ripe tomatoes, zucchini and roasted peppers, which suggests that classic Provençal dish, ratatouille.

Add some crimini mushroom, oil-cured black olives and top with pistouand you have a marriage made in vineyard heaven.

This wine is also excellent with pulled pork sandwiches, pissaladiere--CQ--, creamy polenta with summer vegetable ragout and pasta with a sauce of fresh tomatoes, butter and creme fraiche.

For today’s recipe, it’s portobello burgers, which will delight both vegetarians and omnivores.

Vegans can simply omit the mayonnaise or chevre and use tapenade (sans anchovies, of course) as a spread.

To show the wine to best advantage, chill it to cellar temperature on hot days.

Portobello Burgers

Makes 4

For the mushrooms:

4 large portobello mushrooms, cleaned, stems removed

½ cup Madeira, such as Rainwater

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

1 shallot, minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

- Kosher salt

- Black pepper in a mill

½ cup olive oil

For the sandwiches:

6 tablespoons homemade or best-quality mayonnaise or fresh chevre (see Note below)

3 tablespoons black olive tapenade

4 round rolls of choice, sliced open

12-16 large basil leaves

4 slices red onion

4 slices ripe tomato

- Favorite ketchup, homemade or commercial, optional

Be certain to have brushed all the dirt off the mushrooms. Score the top of the caps, making slashes 1-inch apart and ¼ inch deep. Set them aside.

In a small bowl, combine the Madeira, vinegar, shallot and garlic and season generously with salt and pepper. Stir in the olive oil.

Put the mushrooms into a gallon-sized freezer bag, pour in the marinade and seal the bag, pushing out all the air as you do. Set the bag on a flat surface and arrange the mushrooms in a single layer. Massage as needed to distribute the marinade evenly. Refrigerate for several hours and as long as overnight.

To prepare the burgers, remove the mushrooms from the refrigerator and heat a stove top grill or grill pan or prepare a fire in an outdoor grill.

When the grill is hot, set the mushrooms cap-side down on the rack and cook for 2 minutes, pressing to mark them. Rotate 45 degrees and cook for about 8 minutes, checking now and then; do not let them burn. Turn to gill-side down and cook for 4 minutes, or until tender all the way through.

Meanwhile, put the mayonnaise or chevre into a small bowl, add the tapenade and stir until evenly combined. Set aside.

Set the rolls, cut sides down, on the edge of the grill and toast lightly, turning once.

Set the toasted rolls on a clean work surface and spread the tapenade mixture over the bottom halves. Top with 3 or 4 basil leaves. Add a cooked mushroom, top with a slice of onion and season lightly with salt and pepper. Add a slice of tomato, season again and add the top half of the rolls, slathered with ketchup if you like.

Cut in half, set on individual plates and enjoy right way.

Michele Anna Jordan has written 21 books to date, including the new “Good Cook’s” series. Email Jordan at michele@saladdresser.com. She blogs at “Eat This Now,” at pantry.blogs.pressdemocrat.com.