Decanted a couple hours prior to drinking. Quite a lighter style of syrah -- on first taste I was quite perplexed as it's nothing at all like I was expecting. Nose was a bit closed-off, mostly dark fruit. On the palate, medium-bodied with lively dark fruit followed by high acidity. Short finish. Overall not very complex but very enjoyable to drink. Now if it only cost 1/3 the price...
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
-- popped and poured -- -- tasted non-blind over 2-3 hours -- -- Syrah, Malvasia Bianca, Muscat --
NOSE: smoke; rich raspberry and black cherry; lots of tanned leather as well as healthy dose of cumin/body odor spice; hint of brown sugary oak; and a tad alcoholic; slight speck of citrus; smells "light", not goopy and extracted. (A: minty)
BODY: fine particulate matter present; medium bodied; purple-garnet color of moderate depth.
TASTE: juicy red fruits; gently spicy; short-medium finish (approx. 25 sec.); hint of incense. I actually enjoyed this wine quite a lot. I would not buy at its regular price of $55, but would surely pay $30-$35. I appreciate the restraint shown in this wine ... I think the small amount of white grapes used in the blend helped it achieve its nice acid/tannin balance, and added a complexity that I was not expecting.
B: 50, 5, 12, 16, 7 = 90 A: 50, 5, 10, 16, 7 = 88
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Starting a "new" tasting group (slave2thevine's house): Three hours later: Wow...just wow! If I didn't know any better I would think that this was a completely different wine. The nose is just exquisite, scents of earth, granite, black fruits, and as one of the females noted, "It smells like 'dirtyboy'." I think she was right though...there was something akin to pheromones rolling out of the glass. This wine was the one wine that EVERYONE liked. In the mouth it was soft and silky, rolling out layers of black & blue fruits, spice, herbs, and minerals. I am currently kicking myself in the @$$ for giving away my other bottle...I guess this goes to show that this wine needs the time in a decanter. I will be buying more in the comming release.
Starting a "new" tasting group (slave2thevine's house): I'm sniffing the dregs after pouring the wine into the decanter while waiting for friends. I have to say that I am far more impressed with this wine than I was the last time I had it. I almost wish I had not given away my other bottle. There is some earth and funk that lead into vanilla and blueberries on the nose. In the mouth the tannins are firm and offer good support for the black fruits and minerals to liner on the medium length finish. I'll report more later if it improves.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Delish. I'm not a huge fan of Shiraz, but I figured I'd give this one a try as it would be more approachable now than the '05 Naga. We drank this Monday evening with pizza in preparation for the Tool show that night. Great show BTW. As I'm sure you can imagine the scene was not conducive to detailed notes or observations so I'll just repeat what I said above, "delish". If you have some, pop one open. The blending of the white grapes really give the wine a bit of zing that was refreshing.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
11/13/2011 - anonymoose12345 Likes this wine: 90 Points
Decanted a couple hours prior to drinking. Quite a lighter style of syrah -- on first taste I was quite perplexed as it's nothing at all like I was expecting. Nose was a bit closed-off, mostly dark fruit. On the palate, medium-bodied with lively dark fruit followed by high acidity. Short finish. Overall not very complex but very enjoyable to drink. Now if it only cost 1/3 the price...
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/26/2009 - grafstrb wrote: 90 Points
-- popped and poured --
-- tasted non-blind over 2-3 hours --
-- Syrah, Malvasia Bianca, Muscat --
NOSE: smoke; rich raspberry and black cherry; lots of tanned leather as well as healthy dose of cumin/body odor spice; hint of brown sugary oak; and a tad alcoholic; slight speck of citrus; smells "light", not goopy and extracted. (A: minty)
BODY: fine particulate matter present; medium bodied; purple-garnet color of moderate depth.
TASTE: juicy red fruits; gently spicy; short-medium finish (approx. 25 sec.); hint of incense. I actually enjoyed this wine quite a lot. I would not buy at its regular price of $55, but would surely pay $30-$35. I appreciate the restraint shown in this wine ... I think the small amount of white grapes used in the blend helped it achieve its nice acid/tannin balance, and added a complexity that I was not expecting.
B: 50, 5, 12, 16, 7 = 90
A: 50, 5, 10, 16, 7 = 88
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/10/2009 - Kirk Grant wrote: 91 Points
Starting a "new" tasting group (slave2thevine's house): Three hours later: Wow...just wow! If I didn't know any better I would think that this was a completely different wine. The nose is just exquisite, scents of earth, granite, black fruits, and as one of the females noted, "It smells like 'dirtyboy'." I think she was right though...there was something akin to pheromones rolling out of the glass. This wine was the one wine that EVERYONE liked. In the mouth it was soft and silky, rolling out layers of black & blue fruits, spice, herbs, and minerals. I am currently kicking myself in the @$$ for giving away my other bottle...I guess this goes to show that this wine needs the time in a decanter. I will be buying more in the comming release.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (1)
4/10/2009 - Kirk Grant wrote: 88 Points
Starting a "new" tasting group (slave2thevine's house): I'm sniffing the dregs after pouring the wine into the decanter while waiting for friends. I have to say that I am far more impressed with this wine than I was the last time I had it. I almost wish I had not given away my other bottle. There is some earth and funk that lead into vanilla and blueberries on the nose. In the mouth the tannins are firm and offer good support for the black fruits and minerals to liner on the medium length finish. I'll report more later if it improves.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/4/2007 - snipes wrote:
Delish. I'm not a huge fan of Shiraz, but I figured I'd give this one a try as it would be more approachable now than the '05 Naga. We drank this Monday evening with pizza in preparation for the Tool show that night. Great show BTW. As I'm sure you can imagine the scene was not conducive to detailed notes or observations so I'll just repeat what I said above, "delish". If you have some, pop one open. The blending of the white grapes really give the wine a bit of zing that was refreshing.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment