you say Syrah, I say Shiraz

another day, another wine...

todays self-taught lesson is: DON'T BE INFLUENCED BY THE LABEL.

That is to say, don't be influenced by a $50 label, a $9 label, a well known winery or someone you've never heard of. And so, today I bought a BC bottled Shiraz @ $8.50 and an Argentinian Syrah @ $18 (both tasted blind: DJ, Will, Sebastian, and any other sommelier reading this)

A
clear wine, light ruby color
intense nose, aroma of leather, smoke, oak & even a bit of cedar
0 dryness, moderate- acid, moderate+ tannin, fruit forward flavors with apple, smoke & caramel, long finish

This is an easy drinking wine, without a great deal of structure. It drinks like a Syrah should, but doesn't have much in the way of complexity

B
clear wine, deep ruby color
mild nose, aromas of chocolate, cherry and oak
00 dryness, moderate+ acid, moderate+ tannin, intense flavors immediately of cherry, blackberry and black peppercorn, long finish

This is not an easy drinking wine. I wish the nose matched the mouth a bit more, but was overwhelmed with the rich flavors.

WINE A $8.50, non-vintage , Copper Moon (cellared in BC) Shiraz
WINE B $18 , 2006 Riservado, Don Miguel Gascon (Mendoza, Argentina) Syrah

And so I learned two lessons today. The first lesson was learned before, but worth revisiting: just because a wine is $8, that doesn't mean it can't be a decent drink (the inverse is also true). The second lesson is that at this point I really enjoy easy drinking wines.

There is nothing wrong with this! As my Dad says, "there are hamburger wines and steak wines". At this point, I can really enjoy, and even savor, a well-made hamburger wine. What I want, is to be able to do the same with a steak wine. An osso bucco wine. A venison occo bucco topped with black tuffle wine.

That's why I'm in school. Wish me luck!