August Wine Night - Syrah/Shiraz

Host

Selina

Date

August 13, 2010

Bottles

2005 Little Boomey - Tim
2006 Oak Cask - Nicole
2007 Bogle Petite Sirah - Evan & Jess
2007 Boxcar Wine Company - Kevin & Matt
2007 Ravenswood - Sean & Tara
2008 Fat Bastard - Alissa & Brian
2008 Oxford Landing - Katie & Brett
2008 Rosemount Estate - Selina
2009 Steeple Jack - Derek & Joe

Syrah/Shiraz


Syrah or Shiraz is a dark-skinned grape grown throughout the world and used primarily to produce powerful red wines. Whether sold as Syrah or Shiraz, these wines enjoy great popularity.

Syrah is used as a varietal and is also blended. Following several years of strong planting, Syrah was estimated in 2004 to be the world's 7th most grown grape at 142,600 hectares (352,000 acres).

DNA profiling in 1999 found Syrah to be the offspring of two obscure grapes from southeastern France, Dureza and Mondeuse Blanche. It should not be confused with Petite Sirah, a synonym for Durif, a cross of Syrah with Peloursin dating from 1880.


The Results

WINNER: 2008 Rosemount Estate - 94.5 points out of 130
Producer: Rosemount Estate
Vineyard: Rosemount Estate
Country/State/Region: Nuriootpa, Australia
Price: $11.99
Aroma: Spice
Appearance: Ruby
Body: Medium
Nose: Black pepper, Blackberry, Fig
Taste: Black pepper, Raspberry, Blackberry, Fig, Cranberry
Finish: Long
Individual Points: 9, 8, 6, 8, 6, 10, 6, 6, 6, 8, 8, 6, 7.5



2007 Bogle Vineyards Petite Sirah - 86 points out of 130
Producer: Bogle Vineyards
Vineyard: Bogle Vineyards
Country/State/Region: Graton, California
Price: $13.99
Aroma: Oak
Appearance: Ruby
Body: Light - Medium
Nose: Vanilla, Raspberry, Cherry
Taste: Oak, Vanilla, Strawberry, Cherry
Finish: Short
Individual Points: 7.5, 4, 7, 4, 4, 5, 6, 5, 7, 7, 8, 10, 8, 5, 9.5

2008 Fat Bastard Wine Company - 84 points out of 130
Producer: The Fat Bastard Wine Company
Vineyard: The Fat Bastard Wine Company
Country/State/Region: Languedoc - Roussillon, France
Price: $10.99
Aroma: Spice, Oak
Appearance: Ruby
Body: Light
Nose: Cherry, Rhubarb, Blackberry
Taste: Oak, Blackberry, Black pepper, Cherry
Finish: Long
Individual Points: 7, 4, 8, 7, 8, 5, 2, 8.5, 4, 3, 7.5, 8, 7.5



2008 Oxford Landing Vineyard - 80 points out of 130
Producer: Oxford Landing Vineyard
Vineyard: Oxford Landing Vineyard
Country/State/Region: Adelaide, Australia
Price: $10.99
Aroma: Spice
Appearance: Ruby
Body: Medium
Nose: Vanilla, Blackberry
Taste: Raspberry, Vanilla, Cranberry, Oak, Black pepper, Cherry, Liquorice
Finish: Long
Individual Points: 6, 6, 5, 5, 4, 6, 5, 6, 7.5, 7.5, 7, 7, 8

2007 Boxcar Wine Company - 77.5 points out of 130

Producer: Boxcar Wine Company

Vineyard: Boxcar Wine Company

Country/State/Region: Sonoma Coast, California

Price: $22.99

Aroma: Spice, Oak

Appearance: Ruby

Body: Medium

Nose: Cherry, Vanilla

Taste: Cranberry, Blackberry, Black pepper, Vanilla

Finish: Long

Individual Points: 5, 8.5, 8, 8, 6, 5, 8, 5, 5, 4, 5, 5

2007 Ravenswood Winery - 72.5 points out of 130

Producer: Ravenswood Winery

Vineyard: Ravenswood Winery

Country/State/Region: Sonoma, California

Price: $13.99

Aroma: Spice, Oak

Appearance: Ruby

Body: Full

Nose: Vanilla, Cherry, Raspberry, Pepper

Taste: Sugar, Black pepper, Blackberry

Finish: Long

Individual Points: 3, 6, 4, 3, 3, 6, 5.5, 6, 6, 7, 7.5, 6, 5

2009 Steeple Jack - 69.5 points out of 130

Producer: Ballast Stone Estate Wines

Vineyard: Ballast Stone Estate Wines

Country/State/Region: Currency Creek, Australia

Price: $8.99

Aroma: Spice, Floral

Appearance: Ruby

Body: Light

Nose: Cranberry, Raspberry, Cherry, Rose, Pepper

Taste: Blackberry, Rose, Fig

Finish: Short

Individual Points: 3, 4, 5, 7, 6, 3, 4, 4, 6, 4, 9, 5, 9.5

2006 Oak Cask - 64 points out of 130

Producer: Bodegas Trapiche

Vineyard: Bodegas Trapiche

Country/State/Region: Mendoza, Argentina

Price: $12.99

Aroma: Spice, Oak

Appearance: Ruby

Body: Full

Nose: Tobacco, Mold, Red pepper, Blackberry

Taste: Cedar, Red pepper, Raspberry, Cranberry

Finish: Long

Individual Points: 4, 5, 3, 3, 6, 8, 4, 7, 4, 5, 6, 5, 4

2005 Little Boomey Wines - 24.5 points out of 130

Producer: Little Boomey Wines

Vineyard: Little Boomey Wines

Country/State/Region: Adelaide, Australia

Price: $7.99

Aroma: Turned

Appearance: Ruby

Body: Light

Nose: Turned

Taste: Fig, Cedar, Mold

Finish: Long

Individual Points: 8, 4, 1, .5, 1, 0, 2, 3, .5, 0, 0, .5, 4

Comments

Until we realized that the numbers had been counted wrong and that Selina was the official winner of July's wine night, there was some major debate as to who won. Evan and Jess thought they had won with their bottle of Petite Sirah and some of us (ehm, see Tara's photo above) thought the bottle didn't even qualify to play. Sort of like Jesse's grape juice last month, but you know. Actually alcoholic. The Petite Sirah definitely ISN'T a Syrah/Shiraz, though it is related.

Still - it's a super good wine.

Oh, wine night controversies. How I love you.

Announcement for September Wine Night

For September's Wine Night:

Theme: Malbec
Date: September 10, 2010
Time: 8:00
Location: Sean & Tara's

You are all invited to Sean and Tara's house on the aforementioned date and time for our tenth wine club gathering. The night's theme will be MALBEC, a robust RED wine that has become uniquely identified with Argentina despite being produced throughout the world. As such, every couple/uncoupled individual is responsible for bringing a bottle of MALBEC, which you can find at any liquor store for under $25, to the tasting. Sean and Tara will be providing food pairings to accompany the wine.

GET EXCITED FOR ROUND 10 YOU CRAZY WINOS!!!

Don't forget to RSVP to the Facebook invite!

Meet This Crazy Wino - Selina

Name: Selina
Alias: Belina, Bean, Beanie
Occupation: Occu-what? Well, I am a sociology graduate student if that counts.

When you brag, you brag about: My family is very unique (well, mostly my father) in that we have an organic "farm" with chickens and fresh fruits/vegetables, and we also make our own wine (and it's all so good). Although I admittedly never help on the farm and I'm hardly on Long Island to partake in the wine making, I think all of it is pretty awesome and I feel super lucky to be able to reap the benefits.

What would you do if money was no issue? I would absolutely travel the world, I would actually get those front row center tickets to Radiohead next time around, buy a big boat, a house in New York and another home in Florence, Italy.

Favorite Vintage: 2009 Labriola - Zinfandel (red) OK, so we didn't even personally grow those grapes, but that's the answer I'm giving.
Why? I helped make it!

Your First Wine Experience: I have a terrible memory, so this was definitely not my first wine experience, but it's the earliest one I can vividly remember. It was Valentine's day my freshman year of college and my boyfriend at the time asked someone with a fake ID to buy us a bottle of red wine (how romantic). He wound up bringing us a bottle of Kelly's Revenge Shiraz. We sat down on my bedroom floor where we had set up an indoor dinner picnic of sorts (who knows why) and realized we didn't have a corkscrew to open the bottle. Ultimately we pushed the cork all the way down inside and every time we poured ourselves a glass the cork would obstruct the flow and red wine would spray out everywhere. I'm pretty sure I ruined my shirt, and probably the carpet.

What makes you a crazy wino? I think I read somewhere, "You know you're a wino when you brush your teeth and you spit out purple." True story.

Favorite Quote: "I saw this wino, he was eating grapes. I was like, 'Dude, you have to wait!'" - Mitch Hedberg.

Personal Motto: As the respected philosopher and great friend Darafucious always says, "You must be like the jello mold... just jiggle with it."

Top 3 items on your Bucket List: Get married, explore all 50 states, create a bucket list.

Top Choice Actor to play you for Our Monthly Wine Club - The Movie: Snooki