| Syrah/Shiraz Tasting Report |
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For November's Wine of the Month Tasting our hard working
staff sampled six different Syrah/Shiraz wines from around the
world. We had two from California, two from Australia, one
Vin de Pays d'Oc French wine and one from the Rhone Valley
in France. The results from our tasting showed quite a mixed
bag of wines. We had two that stood out head and shoulders
above all of the rest, three that were content to wallow around
in mediocrity and one that was just plain dreadful! In point in
fact, our new wine staff member, poignantly demanded that it
smelled like Poop! Upon wetting our lips to the foul smelling
liquid, the six of us concurred that we indeed had found a wine
with a perfect essence of manure. The irony here is that it was
the very wine that She brought to the tasting! Brad cheered
with glee! It would not be his wine that carried the lowest
score for once!
We set our price limit for the wines between $10.00 and $20.00.
All except one wine fell comfortably within that price range.
It seems like there always has to be some clown that can't
follow the rules and brings a wine outside of the established
price range. Oh wait, that was me! Truth be told, I wanted to
bring something French and I thought my $38.00 bottle of E.
Guigal's Rhone Hermitage would be sure to impress our
judges. For the most part, I was quite right, but it was an
$11.00 upstart Aussie Shiraz from Jacob's Creek that stole the
show! Ouch! My ego will be bruised for quite a while over this
latest defeat! Oh well, at least it didn't smell of Poop!
Well I'm sure your dying to know what these latest wines were
and taste like, so here they are!
staff sampled six different Syrah/Shiraz wines from around the
world. We had two from California, two from Australia, one
Vin de Pays d'Oc French wine and one from the Rhone Valley
in France. The results from our tasting showed quite a mixed
bag of wines. We had two that stood out head and shoulders
above all of the rest, three that were content to wallow around
in mediocrity and one that was just plain dreadful! In point in
fact, our new wine staff member, poignantly demanded that it
smelled like Poop! Upon wetting our lips to the foul smelling
liquid, the six of us concurred that we indeed had found a wine
with a perfect essence of manure. The irony here is that it was
the very wine that She brought to the tasting! Brad cheered
with glee! It would not be his wine that carried the lowest
score for once!
We set our price limit for the wines between $10.00 and $20.00.
All except one wine fell comfortably within that price range.
It seems like there always has to be some clown that can't
follow the rules and brings a wine outside of the established
price range. Oh wait, that was me! Truth be told, I wanted to
bring something French and I thought my $38.00 bottle of E.
Guigal's Rhone Hermitage would be sure to impress our
judges. For the most part, I was quite right, but it was an
$11.00 upstart Aussie Shiraz from Jacob's Creek that stole the
show! Ouch! My ego will be bruised for quite a while over this
latest defeat! Oh well, at least it didn't smell of Poop!
Well I'm sure your dying to know what these latest wines were
and taste like, so here they are!
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| Chateau Ampuis home of E. Guigal's Winery |
| Tasting Staff |
| Shane |
| Jacob's Creek 2000 Reserve Shiraz - Barossa Valley, South Australia |
| Score A- |
Nose - Wonderful luxurious aromas of pine and cedar wood with
vanilla and mocha accents.
Taste - Smooth and creamy butter textures with wild blackberry
fruit and loads of exotic wood flavors that persist on the finish.
I say screw dinner! Drink this wine by itself! Preferably alone so
that you don't have to share with anyone. If you do insist on
drinking it with dinner, better serve it with a darker meat or meat
prepared in heartier sauces.
vanilla and mocha accents.
Taste - Smooth and creamy butter textures with wild blackberry
fruit and loads of exotic wood flavors that persist on the finish.
I say screw dinner! Drink this wine by itself! Preferably alone so
that you don't have to share with anyone. If you do insist on
drinking it with dinner, better serve it with a darker meat or meat
prepared in heartier sauces.
| Between $11.00 and $14.00 |
| E. Guigal 1998 Hermitage - Rhone, France |
Nose - Deep and rich layers of
raspberry, cigar smoke and tar.
Taste - Starts off initially sweet
then turning dry on the finish with
strawberry, a little pepper and hints
of licorice.
This is a solid wine from a world
class winery. Marcel Guigal was
heralded as the greatest winemaker
in the world in the year 2000. Of
course, some of these wines that the
critics were referring to were his
lavishly expensive wines like Cote
Rotie. This wine would be very
food friendly or perfect to sip all on
it's own.
raspberry, cigar smoke and tar.
Taste - Starts off initially sweet
then turning dry on the finish with
strawberry, a little pepper and hints
of licorice.
This is a solid wine from a world
class winery. Marcel Guigal was
heralded as the greatest winemaker
in the world in the year 2000. Of
course, some of these wines that the
critics were referring to were his
lavishly expensive wines like Cote
Rotie. This wine would be very
food friendly or perfect to sip all on
it's own.
| Score B+ |
| Between $35.00 and $40.00 |
| Francis Coppola Diamond Series Green Label 2001 Syrah - Napa, California |
| Score B |
Nose - Blackberry, plums and subtle notes of cedar and vanilla.
Taste - Dry and tart with healthy tannins that give way to layers
of sour cherry, blackberry and peppered spice.
I know what your thinking. Is that the God Father Movie Guy?
Why yes, indeed it is! He also makes a wine that you can't
refuse! Sorry, I couldn't resist! Try this dandy with lamb chops
or pot roast. Tell em' Michael Corleon sent ya!
Taste - Dry and tart with healthy tannins that give way to layers
of sour cherry, blackberry and peppered spice.
I know what your thinking. Is that the God Father Movie Guy?
Why yes, indeed it is! He also makes a wine that you can't
refuse! Sorry, I couldn't resist! Try this dandy with lamb chops
or pot roast. Tell em' Michael Corleon sent ya!
| Around $13.00 |
| Roshambo 2000 Syrah - Dry Creek Valley, California |
| Score B- |
Nose - Rich and peppery with spicy raspberry fruit notes.
Taste - Loads of jammy fruits like cherry and raspberry with a
little spicy pepper kick on the finish.
I thought this wine was very enjoyable and would be delightful
with most of the food items on the Syrah and Food Pairing list.
The name of this wine, Roshambo, is derived from that "Rock,
Paper, Scissors" game. Look at the label.
Taste - Loads of jammy fruits like cherry and raspberry with a
little spicy pepper kick on the finish.
I thought this wine was very enjoyable and would be delightful
with most of the food items on the Syrah and Food Pairing list.
The name of this wine, Roshambo, is derived from that "Rock,
Paper, Scissors" game. Look at the label.
| Around $16.00 |
| Yalumba South Australia Shiraz 2000 - Barossa, Australia |
| Score B- |
Nose - Aromas of red berries, tobacco leaves and subtle licorice
accents.
Taste - Sweet upfront, this wine finishes off with tasty licorice
flavors followed by waves of red berries.
Considering the price, this wine is a very good deal. Easily a
great bargain for dinner. It would pair nicely with anything on
our Syrah and Food Pairing page.
accents.
Taste - Sweet upfront, this wine finishes off with tasty licorice
flavors followed by waves of red berries.
Considering the price, this wine is a very good deal. Easily a
great bargain for dinner. It would pair nicely with anything on
our Syrah and Food Pairing page.
| Right at $10.00 |
| Domaine des Blagueurs 2000 - Vin de Pays d'OC, France Imported by Bonny Doon Vineyards in California |
| Score D+ |
Nose - Off odors like manure, no kidding!
Taste - Earthy and muddy with limited mild fruit flavors. It tastes like
France was trying to get back at the US for invading Iraq one bottle at
a time!
Excuses: Well, anyone that knows anything about Randall Graham,
who owns Bonny Doon, will tell you that he is a great pioneer in obscure
grape varietals in California. He is very intelligent and makes some
very good wines. It is unclear to me just how involved he is with this
Domaine's wine making process, so I would not hold any other Bonny
Doon wines to this level.
It is also conceivable that we just opened an off bottle that somehow
went bad. It didn't have any signs of being corked though. Especially
since it was stopped with a synthetic cork.
Taste - Earthy and muddy with limited mild fruit flavors. It tastes like
France was trying to get back at the US for invading Iraq one bottle at
a time!
Excuses: Well, anyone that knows anything about Randall Graham,
who owns Bonny Doon, will tell you that he is a great pioneer in obscure
grape varietals in California. He is very intelligent and makes some
very good wines. It is unclear to me just how involved he is with this
Domaine's wine making process, so I would not hold any other Bonny
Doon wines to this level.
It is also conceivable that we just opened an off bottle that somehow
went bad. It didn't have any signs of being corked though. Especially
since it was stopped with a synthetic cork.
| Close to $10.00 |
