2007 Yangarra Shiraz
August 25, 2009 by quake · 3 Comments
Man I love Australian wines! I have a hard time remembering the last time I had one I didn’t like. This one’s no exception. It has a real Goth feel to it – dark garnet – the color you wouldn’t want your daughter to wear when she goes out. Smells like you built a bonfire in a meadow – toasted wood and violets tease you into your first sip.
Then you take a taste – POW! It smacks you in the face with its intense, hearty dark fruits. Then as if you said the safe word, it backs off and finishes with a smooth mellow velvety texture.
The girl next to me took my advice and tried some too. She said, “The finish on this wine feels like silk lingerie slipping over my thighs”. You bet I gave her my card. Someone who enjoys wine as much as I do? And owns lingerie? And has thighs?
2006 Craggy Range Te Kahu
August 19, 2009 by dave · Leave a Comment
A Bordeaux blend, Merlot 58%, Cabernet Sauvignon 22%, Cabernet Franc 15% and Malbec 5%, from Craggy Range Vineyards, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand. All the grapes were sourced from a single vineyard (Gimblett Gravels Vineyard).
I picked up this wine for $14.99, but on checking prices on the web I saw the Te Kahu going for as much $30. This wine would have benefitted from decanting, the nose was a little tight, though I did get dark fruit with a hint of barnyard . The color is a dark ruby red, very pretty. It tasted of intense dark berries, the tannins were kept in check and while it was aged 16 months in oak,the oak was nicely balanced. This is a wine that would improve with cellaring and with it’s elegant structure, could be put down for a decade or so. Not your typical cheapwinefinder wine.
Not a pop the top and drink it down wine. But if you have the will power to lay this wine down for a few years, you will be rewarded with an excellent wine at a very nice price.
2008 Woop Woop Shiraz
August 10, 2009 by quake · 3 Comments
One of my favorite entry-level (read: cheap, as in under $10 in some places) red wines that hits you up front with intense dark fruit, mellows mid-sip into a nice black licorice, then finishes with a black peppery and spicy bang. Think Pam Grier in Foxy Brown. And just like Foxy, this wine’s almost too hot to mess with – coming in at 15% alcohol content! Take that beer drinkers who think drinking wine is wimpy.
Woop Woop is Outback slang for “the middle of nowhere”. So next time you’re looking for some bang for your buck out in the middle of BFE, I mean Woop Woop, stick with this and you won’t mind so much.
