Archive for the ‘Shiraz’ Category
Varietal: 100% Shiraz
Region: South Eastern Australia
Cost: $7 (SRP)
Winemaker’s Notes: Ripe blackberries and blueberries with spicy black pepper on the nose. Pairs well with BBQ baby back ribs with macaroni salad, jerk chicken with brown rice and black beans, or without any food at all.
My Review: It’s been unseasonably warm here in Virginia so I’ve been able to make use of my grill here at the end of January and start of February when it’s usually covered and forgotten until March. Because of that, my wife and I recently threw some chicken on the grill with some BBQ sauce basted on and decided to open up a bottle of Fisheye Shiraz that had been sent to me.
Varietal: Tempranillo (60%); Shiraz (40%)
Region: Spain
Cost: $11.99 (SRP)
Aromas of spice and cherry, with flavors of dark cherry, chocolate, blackberry, plum, and earthiness. Pairs well with hearty meals such as Texas pork ribs, lasagna Florentine, tapas, lamb, and Spanish chorizo.
Recommendations: My wife liked this bottle just because the label was orange, her favorite color. I was intrigued when I got this sample some weeks ago as I enjoy both Tempranillo and Shiraz, but hadn’t really experimented with them blended. Finally, this past weekend while having a friend over for dinner, I decided to give it a try.
The wine was nice and dark in the glass and featured aromas of cherry and a bit of spice and earth. On the palate I got black cherry and a nice smooth finish that was oh so welcome. While I didn’t pair the wine with a Spanish dish, I did have it with a nice nice hearty beef stew that my wife had been slowly making in the crock pot all day. Read the rest of this entry »
Varietal: Rose (70% Grenache; 30% Shiraz)
Region: South Australia
Cost: $15
Deep pink color with aromas of fresh berries and strawberries. Berry on the palate, notably raspberry, with a crisp finish.
Recommendations: I have officially consumed more pink wines in 2009 than in the previous 3 years combined – and that’s ok. My experience with pink wines started with the Peju Provence, and it has ended with the Angoves Nine Vines Rose.
A gift from my brother-in-law and his wife for Christmas, I was intrigued given the blend of Grenache and Shiraz. Dark pink in color with ripe fruit on the nose and refreshingly tart flavors of raspberry on the palate, this wine was a great pair for marinated salmon, mashed potatoes, and garlic green beans.
While I will be the first to admit that I am still hesitant about pink wines, this past year has taught me to be a bit more open minded, and the Rose from Nine Vines is a good one to be open minded with.
Varietal: Syrah (78%), Petite Sirah (9%), Alaconte Bouchet (7%), Zinfandel (6%)
Region: California – USA
Cost: $21
A deep purple blended wine with rich fruit flavors that follows aromas of black fruit, berries, and plum. Pairs with pizza, pasta, roasted meats, and wild game.
Recommendations: If you haven’t figured it out by now, the first part of this blog is what the vineyard says, and this part is what I say. Here, the vineyard and I disagree. While I did get a bit of fruit on the nose, it was pretty much buried by the heavy aroma of alcohol that I got from this wine, which is probably because it has nearly 15% alcohol by volume.
The wine itself is a bit more enjoyable…until you swallow. While Borra claims their Fusion Red has soft tannins, I must disagree, or at least say that the alcohol makes the finish much more rough than they would lead you to believe, which is fine if that’s what you prefer, but I was expecting something smoother having read the description of the wine (as I always do) before opening the bottle.
Usually a fan of blended Syrah/Shiraz and Zinfandel, I had really high hopes for this wine that it did not, unfortunately, live up to. Perhaps if I had paired this wine with a juicy steak or a pasta dish instead of pizza it would have been smoother, but I suspect the food wouldn’t have changed much of the finish on this wine. If you prefer a rough finish to your wine and a heavy aroma of alcohol, then this is for you, but if you’re like me and prefer something a bit smoother, especially when that’s what you’re lead to believe you’ll be having, then you should probably pass on this wine.
Special thanks go out to the International Wine of the Month Club.
With summer upon us, Whole Foods Market is rolling out a selection of wines for summer that are priced to make their way into your home for parties, cookouts, or just for a night with a special someone. Starting at just $9, these whites and reds should be a welcome addition to any home.
Whites
Presto Prosecco - Brighten up your summer brunch with the fruity effervescence of this popular Italian Sparkler. Crisp, clean and refreshing with flavors of tropical fruit, it’s content on its own, in mimosas or as a cheerful contrast to hollandaise-topped egg dishes, stone- and tree-fruit salads, light fish or the rich and buttery Fromager D’Affinois.
Rudolf Müller “Bunny” Riesling - Floral, fruity and flirtatious with crisp peach, pear and light acidity, this drier-style Riesling is a splendid apéritif and the perfect match with lighter seafood and salads, Asian spiced cuisine or firmer cheeses such as Hirtenkase Aged. Read the rest of this entry »
Target Wine Cubes
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz (50% Cabernet Sauvignon/50% Shiraz)
Region: California – USA/Australia
Cost: $15.99
Fruit forward Cabernet Sauvignon has a hint of pepper from the Shiraz on the finish. Dark berry flavors present a very mild red wine with low tannins. Will pair well with sauce heavy pastas or as a contrast to heavily seasoned red meats.
Recommendation: For now I’m going to ignore the pros and cons of boxed wine (that will be another post at date soon to come) and look more at the wine. The Target Wine Cube Cab/Shiraz blend is very fruit forward, enough so that if I didn’t know it was a 50/50 split on the blend I would think it was more Cabernet than Shiraz. This wine came camping with my wife and some friends, and for enjoying in the great outdoors with some food cooked over an open flame, it was more than adequate.
I’m not going to delude myself into thinking that Target is now the purveyor of some amazing wine, but for anybody looking for a basic table wine, you really can’t argue against what they’re offering, especially when you consider it’s 4 bottles of wine for under $20. I wouldn’t serve this at a dinner party, but it’s certainly worth keeping on hand for anybody that just drinks wine by the glass.
