~$20US, 100% Shiraz, Eden Valley, Australia

I’ve been eager to try more new(er) world wines that are less spoofalated, and was recommended this boutique Shiraz from the Eden Valley. Torzi Matthews does a good job of keeping things natural - hands-on in the vineyards and hands-off in the winery - Relying on low watering, composting,  natural ground cover,  some whole bunches in the fermentation, and natural yeasts.  I personally appreciate these aspects of wine-growing - this kind of care tends to connect the growers more closely to their craft.

The Schist Rock poured a rich royal purple. The nose lept from the glass with mulling spices - cinnamon, clove, with green olives and blackberries. Plums and prunes.  Very perfumed - almost noxiously so at first. A quick sip displayed some serious power here - and a slightly soft, but well-balanced structure to support the fruit and spice.

I let it decant for a few hours and came back to it with some braised short ribs.  It had settled down beautifully - and showed much more integration and harmony. The perfume and fruit had subsided just a hair, bringing in some secondary leather and subtle ham-smoke flavors. The fruit here is quite ripe - and played into my sweet tooth with a serious yum factor - but the alcohol (reported @14%ABV) was kept very well contained - and I tend to be more sensitive there.  The wine kept improving with air and began showing off a great minerality with thyme and bay leaf in the finish. Schisty indeed.

The highlight was the chewey last sip, and checking out the decanter afterward - I swear there was enough sediment to rebuild an entire cluster of grapes. I saw an actual stem. Awesome.

This is a bunch of wine for the money - big, brutish and powerful -  a little rusticity but there is an air of elegance (the proverbial football player taking the ballet classes).  Not over the top, a la Molleydooker but right at the top. There is enough stuff here to please the geekiest wine geeks - but the accessibility makes this a real winner and big value at the top end of the value Shirazi.

~$23US, 100% Syrah, Santa Barbera, California

A jammy-jam-fruit-monster done right. This is goodtime wine. Pop this, kick back, watch some Family Guy, eat some snacks and enjoy life. Don’t overthink it, like I did:

Black with magenta leggings, and explosively aromatic with smokey black and blue fruits with a little bay leaf and coconut. Thick velvety palate, chewey and sweet. Very long herby finish. Definitely Shiraz-like and very extracted. On the second day, the fruitiness was reigned in and a little acidic lift help balance. Fine-grained and sweet tannins. Some alcoholic heat and spiciness, but alltogether well-contained within the framework of the wine.  I had no luck pairing this with food - it’s just didn’t have the freshness and complimentary nature to really set anything off. Maybe Rochefort?

These two beautiful off-the-path wines kept us warm and cozy through the first snowy weekend of the season. Both of them kicked their game up when paired with foods - becoming like an ingredient or component to the dishes.

Etxegaraya, Cuvée Lehengoa 2006, Irouleguy, France

This dark and rich Tannat blend (from 150 yr old vines!?) offered aromas of black cherries with a dollup of savory goodness (peppers, meatiness, tomato?) - almost Chinon-like, but bolder. The palate was large-scaled, but wonderfully fresh - the tannins present, but much more integrated that I’d expected. An interesting orange-zest and clove note came through on the finish. With time, this wine rounded out and softened - just a joy to drink. This just rocked the house with a rustic beef stew and boiled parsley potatoes.

Domaine du Clos d’Alari, Grand Clos 2004, Cotes du Provence, France

This Syrah/Grenache blend exhibited a gemlike deep ruby color, and a mix of ripe plums, red cherries and peppery-herby aromas. Medium bodied and drinking just-right now -  there was some honest structure and soul to this bottle. Black pepper and a rustic meatiness came through on the palate. Towards the finish, some Cabernet notes emerged (currant and peppers, with a dusty tannic edge) bringing some complexity to this Southern-Rhone ringer. It was maybe a tad too hefty for the pasta dish, but from a flavor standpoint, it married so well with the proscuitto, basil, and oregano flavors.

~$40US, 100% Syrah, DuBrul Vineyard Yakima Valley, Washington

Luxurious and rich reddish purple. Massive red and black berries on the nose, some ripe plum. A curious lanolin ointment and dried mint components underlying. Mouth-filling body, very round and weighty with an unconscious balance of tannins and acidity. The alcohol nips a little in the midpalate, but the wine is extraordinarily lengthy in the finish.  A slight maple-syrup edge speaks of the oak, which adds to the overall delicious impression.

A generous and satisfying wine, hitting that great sweet spot of complexity and accessibility. This wine makes a great case for Washington’s Syrah potential, and portents great things in the next decade as the vines age and mature. Drink now and through the next 2-3 years to enjoy the freshness and poise.

~$13US, 100% Cabernet Franc, Saumur, Loire Valley, France

Wine Blogging Wednesday 47 is upon us, and this month the theme is simply the letter ‘S’. Slim pickins in the Bestdrinkever HQ cellar - It was either this Saumur, a Spatburgunder (which just felt wrong), or a choice of Syrahs (too ordinary).  My daughter thought this one looked cool, especially the kitschy alligator-skin capsule that just screamed ‘drink me’.

The Saumur Rouge (Saumur also produces Blancs with Chenin Blanc) poured a deep magenta purple, and had an unmistakable pickled jalepeno pepper spice on the nose. There was something ‘twiggy’ or ‘leafy’ about this wine on the nose and palate - a crispy vegetal/earthiness that overwhelmed any fruit character. A big bolt of acidity and astringent tannins on the backend gave the wine an overall inaccessibility. Food pairing is a must - Just not sure what exactly…maybe rabbit or game with a mushroom ragout? Cheeses? Twigs?

While I routinely enjoy old-world old-school wines, and I prize acidity and earthiness quite a bit - this  didn’t really tickle me as much as I’d expected. Maybe more time in the bottle would help the mid-palate fatten up - but more time in the glass just made it skew more tart and thin. I respect the Chateau’s natural winemaking techniques, non-filtration, and low yields, but I’m just not feeling this particular bottle.

~$25US, approx 80% Grenache, 20% Syrah, Gigondas, Southern Rhone, France.

I had fun with this one…Saw the single ‘99 sitting in a bin-end & having read great things about Barruol and the Gigondas appellation but never having the opportunity to try either, I bit. I had intended to pick up a Chateauneuf, but I couldn’t miss an opportunity to try something new.

Popped and decanted on Saturday. Had a sip and it tasted good - but the fruit, alcohol and herbiness seemed out of wack. Ended up drinking beer…Put it back in the bottle after 3-4 hrs in the decanter, recorked and threw it in the fridge.

Sunday afternoon, I took it out of the fridge and let it warm up a touch. Beautiful. The time had softened the wine considerably - to almost Pinot-Noir suppleness. Really exciting stuff coming into play. The Thyme/Sage herbal flavors really locked themselves into sweet strawberry and red cherry juice. Great acidity and medium body. Firm and lengthy finish; after all this playing around, the end-grip balanced the fruit’s fullness perfectly.

After nearly a decade, this wine was showing all kinds of beautiful, and had the cojones to go another 10 in bottle. This is a tough wine, but kinda  tough in it’s principals and resolve more than brute force or brawn.

While Chateauneuf-du-Pape is getting expensive and trendy (though always near and dear),  I’ll be buying up all the older Gigondas that I see, thank you very much. And playing with wine for a day or two can be really rewarding.

Domine du Haut Châssis Croze-Hermitage ‘Les Galets’ 2005: A tiny bit of cork taint mars the nose and palate. Still,  lots of fruit, good balance and firm backend structure. Quite a bit of vanilla coming through on the finish.  If I had another bottle of this 100% Syrah, I’d give it 3-5 years, when it would have more to offer.

Domaine De La Butte ‘Perrieres’ 2006: Midnight Black in the glass. Wild ride of a Cab-Franc. Massively funk-da-fied; barn straw vs. crude oil, raspberries, dried leaves. Big palate, bursting with fruit and funk, held together with an assertive tannic backbone. It truly took 24 hours to integrate and reveal more secrets and typical flavors like fresh herbs, tomato, and black currant. Very cool…maybe too funky for some, but full of life and energy.

~US$30, 100% Syrah, Corbieres France

Months ago, I tried the Ligneres Aric, a blended wine from Southern France that brought serious barnyard funk at a fairly steep price. When I saw the estates’s top wine on sale, the Notre Dame (100% Syrah) I figured the domaine was worth another try. Glad I did.

The 2002 vintage is generally considered a poor one in Southern France, especially parts of Bordeaux and the Rhone (Burgundy and the Loire seemed to avoid the rains of doom, somehow) - but you wouldn’t know it by tasting the Notre Dame. The nose speaks of big red fruit blended with dried herbs, pepper, and leather. A sexy balance of old and new-world styles and flavors. The palate is very polished and lush - it’s one of those wines that just hit on all the cylinders and its hard to find fault with. The finish shows a good bit of oak spice, but a pleasant bitterness lifts what could’ve been a too saccharine finish. 13.5% ABV = Thank you very much. Perfectly integrated tannins make for a big, delicious and balanced Syrah - the bottle was gone before I could dive any deeper into the flavors. I’d put this up against any similarly priced California Syrah, especially in terms of distinctiveness, balance, and palate.

~$US35, 85% Grenache, remainder Mourvedre, Syrah, etc. Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Southern Rhone, FranceLess opaque than expected, but a nice garnet hue. Killer nose that just gave and gave and gave. The kind of wine you could just sniff and be satisfied for the evening. Explosive red cherries, serious cigar box (like Cuban Bolivars in a cedar cabinet), some herbal tones of basil and fennel and anise. Rich, but not reductive or jammy. The palate showed signs of serious craftsmanship and longevity for a wine in this price range. Medium-bodied, but deeply flavorful and dry, but not tannic. While enjoyable shortly after opening, the wine still was tight after 6 hours of decanting - not tight in a bad way because the flavors were all there the whole time. The wine simple put itself together continuously organizing the tannins, fruit, herbs, wood, acidity, etc in a way that become more and more harmonious.An excellent wine all said and done - one that you might pair with a good dry-aged steak. I think you’d have to enjoy a flavor-profile that favors herbs and cedar with fruit 2nd (I do!) to really enjoy this. This definitely has a long lifespan ahead, and if I get another bottle, I’ll wait till 2010. This is one of those wines, that despite all the recent popularity and hoopla, shows me why C-d-P is so near and dear to my heart. Big thanks to the 3 Wine Guys for the heads up on this bottle.

 ~US$20, 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Syrah and 25% Merlot

  Dark plum. Densely aromatic nose, with earthy currant, tobacco, cocoa, and black cherries.  Medium-full bodied presenting good structure in the palate - with Tuscany’s firm acidity and integrated tannins being proportionate and in balance - but the wine falls apart halfway through. It disintegrates into bitter green peppery flavors and a awkward oakiness as it moves towards the finish. Not terribly “clean” or pure. Despite the flaw, I can see it pairing well with a pasta bolognese or other rich meat sauces or braises. In sum, great aromas but a letdown on the palate. This may be way too young  - I could imagine the wine putting itself together a little more in the cellar, because from a winemaking standpoint, everything seemed right - except for the spike of bitterness. A decent cabernet blend for the price, but I probably wont be buying again - I’d rather be drinking one of Italy’s more interesting indigenous varieties (Barbera, Sangiovese, Corvina, Negroamaro, Primitivo, etc).