There are a ton of great wine values out in the market today but I’m always pleased to find wines that considerably outperform their price. And tonight I have such an example. As I’ve blogged recently, Syrah has been a tough sale here in the U.S. I think it’s due to a few factors that’s out of the control of domestic producers looking to find a market for their wines here in the $30+ a bottle market. When you get there, and slightly above, you can get Rhône wines that deliver the goods so why go domestic?
But in the under $10 a bottle market things are different. Here you find the tanker ship Shiraz from down-under and any number of other domestic choices. Usually they are serviceable but not very notable, with the folks at Columbia Crest probably being the standard bearer. A few others make some decent wines such as Don Sebastiani and Sons but nothing really gets close to wines costing over $25.
Or so I thought before picking up this wine at Bottle Barn in Santa Rosa recently. Not only does it deliver the Syrah goods at a steal, it does so with the unforgiving acidity it should.
Tasting Notes:
Chono, Syrah Reserva, Elqui Valley, Chile 2008 ($9) – Inky dark purple-black in color with aromas of blackcurrant, blueberry, bacon, eucalyptus and green olive. Ripe black raspberry fruit flavors with kirsch and white pepper finishing with moderate tannins, good acidity and a nice mineral streak. Delicious and completely unexpected at less than $10 a bottle. My new “Tuesday-Thursday” wine if I can find it in Minnesota.
13.5% ABV
Natural cork closure
[rating:4/5]
Score: 91