Another good shiraz

Tyrrell's Wines - Shriaz 2005
$9.99 at Total wine
Perfect balance of fruit and spice

Little Penguin Pinot Noir

I tried this cheap guy and will pass. Just grape juice. Nothing to it. I am tending to prefer Shiraz these days. This just pushes me toward it even more.

At a restaurant the other day, I had a glass of Green Point Shiraz from Australia. It was really pretty good. It looks like the bottle price is just under $20.

Spanish Wine

I keep hearing about good Spanish wines, but haven't really tried any. I limped in with this one:

2004 Osborne Solaz Shiraz/Tempranillo

It is a 50/50 blend. Not much aroma for this dark wine. Not a lot of fruit flavor. Spicy ending. The strangest part is that the flavor disappears quickly, but still feels wet on the tongue. I can't call it dry.

Not bad, but would rather have an Aussie Shiraz. I will try another Spanish one soon. Any suggestions for an Under10?

Notes from our holiday party

At our work holiday party, I was in charge of buying wine from a variety of countries. A fun task to say the least. Trying to be a good corporate citizen, I tried to spend less than $10 per bottle and try some new wines at the same time. Only 1 stood out that I would want again:

Twin Wells Shiraz Reserve (Australia)

One that I bought that was gone pretty quick was a local wine I have had before.

Williamsburg (VA) Winery - Governor's White

This is an expensive, Virginia white. Sweet, fruity, easy to drink. Not to complex, but excellent wine for parties or just to sit around and drink.

Tonight was a perfect night to crack open a bottle. I made Jambalaya with Andouille sausage, so I chose a red. I chilled it for 20 minutes and let it breathe a minute.

Wine #13 - 2003 Twinwells Shiraz Reserve - Southeastern Australia.

The aroma is a nice mix of sweet blackberry, with that hint of spice you usually get from a Shiraz. The taste is a nice follow because it lives up to the aroma. The initial taste is sweet. The finish is short, but you get the spice at the end. It is fairly dry for as sweet at it tastes at first.

Overall, I give it a thumbs up. It isn't too much, but it isn't super light either. It is a good medium body wine with nice flavor. This would work well without food, but I highly suggest chilling it for that initial 20 minutes to take a little of the bite out of it.

Total Wine Price - $9.99

Happy Easter

I hope everyone had a great Easter. I got to spend time with my extended family, so that was very nice. Tonight, we had a pork tenderloin marinated in a peppercorn dressing. It was great. So the wine choice became clear: A nice spicy red.

Wine #10 - 2002 Thierry and Guy Fat Bastard Shiraz- Fat Bastard Wine Company, France.

Yes, I bought it because of its name. And the fact that it was $8.99.

At the wine class, we learned the 20 minute rule: Pull a white out of the fridge 20 minutes before you want to serve it, put a red in for 20, then open and serve. So, I put in the wine for 20 minutes to get it the right temperature. This wine had a fairly light aroma, a little spicy and a little fruity. The taste matches up fairly well. I got more fruit in the taste when I had it with the pork. The finish is short with not a whole lot of action. This wine is fairly easy drinking. Not a bad wine to pair up with food, but I am not sure I would want to drink several glasses without a meal.

I had a glass of Blackwing from last week to compare. My initial review holds true. To be honest, the aroma kills it before you even take a sip. I would choose Fat Bastard over Blackwing without hesitation.

Today's Tasting

Just an aside from the last posting - I did finish that bottle with no problem, and damn was it good.

There is place near me called finewine.com. You would think that this is just a website, but they have two brick and mortar locations in the DC area. They were having a tasting today where you paid $5 to get in, but you got it back with any wine purchase. Overall, the tasting was ok. I definitely tried more wines that I didn't like. I was also disappointed that most of the wines were over $10. Yes, most wines are, but that isn't what this site is about.

I did buy two wines (neither of which I tried while there.)

Wine #8 - 2002 Blackwing Shiraz - Step Rd Winery, Australia.

I discovered Shiraz at the Washington Wine Festival. I tried 3 and liked them all. This one I am not a fan of. There is no real fruit in the aroma. It is more spicy. You get that spice in the finish too, and in my opinion, too much. The spice sticks around.

I will continue to look at different Shiraz. Anyone know how to say the plural?