Syrah - Shiraz

Notes and impressions from a Syrah/Shiraz tasting - Saturday, June 3, 2000, at the Wine Exchange in Orange, CA. Eighteen wines were poured for a tasting fee of $23.

The wines, in the order tasted:

1998 Chateau Grande Cassagne Cuvee Hippolyte. $11.99. Dark ruby garnet color. Dense, jammy and floral nose, with notes of blackberry, and shoe polish wax. Cool off-sweet fruit and mouthfeel. Toasty oak and somewhat chalky tannins last through slightly bitter finish.
Aroma score: B+ Taste score: B Overall score: B

1997 Domaine Clavel La Copa Santa . $14.99. Medium ruby garnet color. Gamey, leathery and herbaceous nose, with blackberry and blueberry fruit, hardwoods, and stemmy violet-like floral notes. Slightly sweet and toasty blackberry/raspberry fruit, medium body and mouthfeel, long finish.
Aroma score: B+ Taste score: B Overall score: B

1998 Domaine du Pavillion-Mercurol Crozes Hermitage. $15.99. Medium violet ruby color. Effusive floral aromas with stemmy and fruity background notes. Slightly sweet-sour mouthfeel, medium-full body, smooth long finish.
Aroma score: B+ Taste score: B Overall score: B

1998 Bernard Bergaud Cote Rotie. $26.99. Medium dark violet ruby color. Slightly restrained nose of stems, floral notes, leather, toast, and sweet-smelling sawdust. Off-sweet mouthfeel, mouth-filling blueberry/blackberry fruit that seems just a tad tart, very long finish.
Aroma score: B Taste score: B+ Overall score: B+

1997 Cave de Tain L' Hermitage. $29.99. Medium dark ruby/rose color. Huge, dense, complex melange of berries, fruit, toast, rose petal, and a hint of stems. Slightly sweet fruit, chewy mouthfeel, smooth texture and taste that lasts through long toasty finish.
Aroma score: B+ Taste score: B+ Overall score: B+

1996 Verset Cornas. $26.99. Medium dark ruby garnet color. Herbaceous nose of blueberry, stems, and cardboard, with a very gamey and floral quality. Tart-sour blueberry/blackberry fruit, medium mouthfeel, the fruit falls off quickly, leaving the acids to carry it through a medium-long finish.
Aroma score: B Taste score: B Overall score: B

1997 Saxenburg Shiraz Private Collection - Stellenbosch. $19.99. Dark ruby violet color. Nose of off-sweet fruit, toast, vinyl, and Dirty diapers! Off-sweet mouthfeel, slightly under-ripe fruit, good concentration, long toasty finish. I suppose "barnyard" may be a more apt description of some of this wine's nuances, but dirty diapers says it best. Makes me wonder what the Regular Collection is like.
Aroma score: B- Taste score: B Overall score: B

1998 Kevin Arnold Shiraz - Stellenbosch. $24.99. Medium dark ruby rose color. Somewhat herbaceous and stemmy nose, with aromas of newsprint, toast, beet, and chocolate mocha. Off-sweet toasty fruit, smooth long finish. Slightly more interesting in the nose, than it is in the mouth.
Aroma score: B Taste score: B Overall score: B

1998 Jaffurs Syrah - Santa Barbara County. $22.99. Medium dark ruby violet color. Sweet blueberry/blackberry nose, with floral and beet notes. Sweet mouthfeel, seems easy feeling on the palate, but also thick, rich and chewy. Long toasty fruity finish. Fruit, though satisfying, seems a bit under ripe.
Aroma score: B+ Taste score: B+ Overall score: B+

1996 Terre Rouge Syrah - Sentinental Oak Vnyd, Pyramid Block, Amador County. $23.99. Medium dark ruby rose color. Sweet toasty blackberry and spices, with hint of stems. Slightly coarse and young-tasting mouthfeel, with good body, slightly tart fruit, and smooth finish.
Aroma score: B+ Taste score: B Overall score: B

1997 Selby Syrah - Sonoma County. $21.99. Medium ruby rose color. Slightly stemmy and toasty fruit, with floral notes, spice, smoked woods, tar and a hint of game. Sweet, medium-full body, though slightly thin on fruit. A satisfying complex quaffer.
Aroma score: B Taste score: B Overall score: B

1998 Neyers Syrah - Hudson Vnyd, Napa Valley. $49.99. Dark ruby violet color. Very dense and integrated nose of blackberry, toast and ink, with floral and stemmy notes. Gobs of thick, chewy off-sweet fruit. Very long fruity and toasty finish, with lots of sweet blueberry and blackberry flavors.
Aroma score: A- Taste score: A- Overall score: A-

1998 Barossa Valley Estate Shiraz - Barossa Valley. $9.99. Medium dark ruby violet color. Nose of blackberry, stems, shoe polish, vanilla, with herbaceous and floral notes. Off-sweet peppery mouthfeel, with moderate fruit, and an oaky but fruity finish. Somewhat less sweet and ripe than most Aussies, but it isn't priced like most Aussies either.
Aroma score: B Taste score: B Overall score: B

1998 Plantagenet Shiraz Omrah - (53% West.Aus; 47% McLaren Vale). $13.99. Dark ruby garnet color. Nose of very ripe burnished aromas of blackberry jam, toast and vanilla. Starts to approach Porty in its ripeness, but not unduly so. Definite less-than-ripe quality to the blueberry fruit, with a toasty herbaceous and peppery finish. Minor letdown on the palate, given the very interesting nose.
Aroma score: B+ Taste score: B Overall score: B

1997 Majella Shiraz - Coonawara. $24.99. Dark ruby color. Dense nose of toasty sweet blackberry fruit, with vanilla and spice notes. Beautiful! Big and toasty mouthfeel of spiced blueberry/blackberry fruit, and very long fruit-filled finish.
Aroma score: A- Taste score: B+ Overall score: B+

1998 Clos Clare Shiraz - Clare Valley. $27.99. Dark ruby color. Full and dense nose of toasty ripe burnished blackberry. Fleshy mouthfeel of tasty, toasty blackberry/blueberry fruit, with a long toasty and fruity finish. Nice stuff - did I mention it's toasty?
Aroma score: A- Taste score: B+ Overall score: B+

1996 Thalgara Shiraz Show Reserve - Hunter Valley. $36.99. Dark ruby garnet color. Toasty , smoky raspberry/blackberry fruit, that is ripe and slightly burnished in smell. Raspberry and blackberry flavors at entry, with lots of blackberry and and a bit of plum in the latter palate and long finish.
Aroma score: B Taste score: B Overall score: B

1997 Glaetzer Shiraz - Barossa Valley. $49.99. Dark ruby violet color. Herbaceous fruit, with aromas of rubber, cardboard, newsprint, ink, toast and brown sugar. Toasty blueberry flavors, good body, smooth and a bit less in-your-face than most Aussies. Excellent balance, and very long toasty and fruity finish.
Aroma score: A- Taste score: A- Overall score: A-

___________________

Overall impressions: there are still a lot of good Aussie wines out there - and it's beginning to look like an endless supply. Several in this tasting were very good, enough to comprise 4 of my top 5 favorites in the flight. The Neyers Hudson was about the only thing to give them a run for their money. The Jaffurs show very nicely, for a non-vnyd bottling. And, the Selby was nice, but was just overcome by the much bigger and fruitier wines.

There were two South African wines in the flight, both of which show promise for the appellation. However, neither were "contenders," and from a price standpoint, still have a long way to go to deliver anything worth a second look.
___________________

Here is my relative ranking, by tier and in order of preference,of the wines tasted.

1997 Glaetzer Shiraz - Barossa Valley. $49.99.
1996 Thalgara Shiraz Show Reserve - Hunter Valley. $36.99.
1998 Neyers Syrah - Hudson Vnyd, Napa Valley. $49.99.
---------------
1998 Clos Clare Shiraz - Clare Valley. $27.99.
1997 Majella Shiraz - Coonawara. $24.99.
1997 Cave de Tain L' Hermitage. $29.99.
1998 Domaine du Pavillion-Mercurol Crozes Hermitage. $15.99.
1998 Jaffurs Syrah - Santa Barbara County. $22.99.
1998 Bernard Bergaud Cote Rotie. $26.99.
---------------
1997 Domaine Clavel La Copa Santa . $14.99.
1998 Chateau Grande Cassagne Cuvee Hippolyte. $11.99.
1996 Terre Rouge Syrah - Sentinental Oak Vnyd, Pyramid Block, Amador County. $23.99.
1998 Plantagenet Shiraz Omrah - (53% West.Aus; 47% McLaren Vale). $13.99.
1997 Selby Syrah - Sonoma County. $21.99.
1998 Barossa Valley Estate Shiraz - Barossa Valley. $9.99.
1998 Kevin Arnold Shiraz - Stellenbosch. $24.99.
1996 Verset Cornas. $26.99.
---------------
1997 Saxenburg Shiraz Private Collection - Stellenbosch. $19.99.


Site Contents | Top of page | Recent Tastings

Copyright © 1993 - 2004, Eric Anderson - All rights reserved
No original material may be reproduced without written consent
Mail & Comments
- Eric Anderson