{"id":22,"date":"2008-02-27T16:32:54","date_gmt":"2008-02-27T16:32:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kenswineguide.com\/blog\/?p=22"},"modified":"2008-02-27T18:21:51","modified_gmt":"2008-02-27T18:21:51","slug":"many-winners-in-syrah-and-shiraz-blind-tasting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/?p=22","title":{"rendered":"Many Winners in Syrah and Shiraz Blind Tasting"},"content":{"rendered":"

The KensWineGuide.com Tasting Panel recently\u00c2\u00a0tasted 19 Syrah and Shiraz wines. The tasting was blind and we had 11 panelists including Kara Kukall, Beverage Manager from Legal Sea Foods. In the end, the panel recommended 15 of 19 of the wines submitted. Of the 15 recommended, 5 scored over 89 points and received a Very Good + <\/strong>score from the panel. \"EarthquakeOverall, this evening was one of the best tastings of the year based upon the quality of the wines. In a secondary tasting a week later a small panel reviewed 7 additional Syrahs, recommending 3 of them.<\/p>\n

The winning wine rocked our panel! It was the Michael and David Phillips 2005 \u201cEarthquake\u201d\u009d Syrah<\/strong><\/a>\u00c2\u00a0$28\u00c2\u00a0from Lodi, CA. This wine won the tasting with a 90.19 score.\u00c2\u00a0The wine was full bodied,\u00c2\u00a0well balanced, had a dry mouth feel, and displayed juicy blackberry flavors along with some anise, chocolate covered raisins, and honey.\u00c2\u00a0 Overall the panel was quite impressed with this wine and a little surprised when it was unveiled. Hats off to the folks at Michael & David. They have been producing lots of Very Good to Excellent wines for the last few years.<\/p>\n

\"SpringOur runner up was one of my favorite Syrahs\u00c2\u00a0for\u00c2\u00a0the last few vintages. The 2004 Spring Mountain Syrah<\/strong><\/a>\u00c2\u00a0$50 is a stunning wine. This wine finished with a score of 89.62.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u00c2\u00a0opens with a wonderfully inviting jammy boysenberry bouquet with scents of pipe tobacco and smoked wood.\u00c2\u00a0 I could smell this wine all night.\u00c2\u00a0 This wine is a very big Syrah and would appeal mostly to\u00c2\u00a0those who like and enjoy an extracted style.\u00c2\u00a0 Our third place wine came from down under. The 2005 De Lesio \u201cKristina\u201d\u009d Shiraz<\/strong> <\/a>\u00c2\u00a0$50 scored an 89.54.\u00c2\u00a0 This wine was smooth as silk, well balanced, packed with juicy blackberry and grape flavors with a dash of black pepper.\u00c2\u00a0 This well made wine from the McLaren Vale, in Australia is worth the investment and the panel thought it would\u00c2\u00a0pair nicely with with a filet mignon from Grill 23.\u00c2\u00a0 Our 4th place wine was a bit of a shocker. The 2003 Zaca Mesa Syrah from Santa Ynez, CA<\/strong><\/a>\u00c2\u00a0$22 was showing very nicely and scored 89.50. This wine was\u00c2\u00a0smooth and juicy.\u00c2\u00a0 It was very well liked by the panel. It\u00c2\u00a0is quite a bargain and it showed up its big brother on this evening.\u00c2\u00a0 In 5th place we return to down under. This time the Barossa Valley chimes in with the value priced 2006 Charles Cimicky \u201cTrumps\u201d\u009d Shiraz <\/strong><\/a>\u00c2\u00a0$20. This wine seems to show very well every year. The panel scored this wine a 89.33.\u00c2\u00a0 It has tasty jammy black cherry flavors with hints of chocolate and clove.\u00c2\u00a0 Even better is that there is a lot of it and it’s a bargain for $20.<\/p>\n

\"StonehedgeThe next 10 wines all scored a Very Good from that panel and included some real bargains. The 6th place finisher is from a winery that has been performing pretty well over the last year. The 2003 Stonehedge \u201cTerroir Select\u201d\u009d<\/strong><\/a> $18 from Mendocino finished with an 88.79.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 This medium bodied wine\u00c2\u00a0has delicate blackberry flavors.\u00c2\u00a0 The panel thought this would pair nicely with a hearty beef stew.\u00c2\u00a0 Kara pegged it for\u00c2\u00a0the \u00c2\u00a0“Everything Tuna” from Legal Sea Foods.\u00c2\u00a0 The next wine was probably the best deal of the evening.\u00c2\u00a0 The 2004 Renwood “Red Label” Syrah<\/strong> <\/a>is an absolute steal at $12 per bottle.\u00c2\u00a0 We immediately added it to our “Practical Party Case<\/a><\/strong>” list on the website.<\/p>\n

The remainder of our recommendations is as follows:
\n#8 2005\u00c2\u00a0Tintara\u00c2\u00a0Shiraz <\/strong><\/a>from McLaren Vale,\u00c2\u00a0Aust. $18 (88.50)
\n#9 2005 Kaesler “Stonehorse” Shiraz<\/strong><\/a>\u00c2\u00a0from Barrosa Valley, Aust. $30 (88.50)
\n#10 2005 Passing Cloud “Reserve” Shiraz <\/strong><\/a>from Bendigo, Aust. $30 (88.31)
\n#11 2004 Columbia Winery Syrah<\/strong><\/a> from Columbia Valley, WA $15 (88.06)
\n#12 2005 Water Wheel Shiraz<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong>from Bendigo, Aust. $18 (88.00)
\n#13 2006 Epsilon Shiraz <\/strong><\/a>from Barossa Valley, Aust. $25 (87.75)
\n#14 2005 Rudi Schultz Syrah<\/strong><\/a>\u00c2\u00a0from Stellenbosch, S. Africa $37 (87.56)
\n#15 2004 Zaca Mesa “Black Bear Block” Syrah<\/a><\/strong> from Santa Ynez, CA $55 (87.0)<\/p>\n

\"OpoloIn the Second Tasting we recommended the 3 wines listed below.\u00c2\u00a0 The 2004 Opolo stood out as the best\u00c2\u00a0option receiving\u00c2\u00a0a Very Good + score from the Panel.<\/p>\n

#1\u00c2\u00a02004 Opolo Syrah<\/strong><\/a>\u00c2\u00a0from Paso Robles, CA $24 (89.50)
\n#2 2006 Langmeil “Valley Floor” Shiraz<\/strong><\/a>\u00c2\u00a0from Barossa Valley, Aust. $26 (88.25)
\n#3 2005 Ventana Vineyards Syrah<\/strong><\/a>\u00c2\u00a0from Arroyo Seco, CA $18 (88.0)<\/p>\n

\"BlackFinally, there is one other wine I want to mention.\u00c2\u00a0 This wine was not included because it included a little Viognier.\u00c2\u00a0 I personally love that style and really enjoyed this wine.\u00c2\u00a0 You should definitely go out of your way to try the 2006 Black Chook <\/strong><\/a>\u00c2\u00a0from South Australia.\u00c2\u00a0 For $18 I think the wine is a steal.\u00c2\u00a0 I scored it Very Good +<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0 As you can see there are lots of great Syrah and Shiraz offering on the Market.\u00c2\u00a0 Many good deals as well.\u00c2\u00a0 Have fun enjoying them!!\u00c2\u00a0 We did.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0Cheers, Ken & the KWG Tasting Panel<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The KensWineGuide.com Tasting Panel recently\u00c2\u00a0tasted 19 Syrah and Shiraz wines. The tasting was blind and we had 11 panelists including Kara Kukall, Beverage Manager from Legal Sea Foods. In the end, the panel recommended 15 of 19 of the wines submitted. Of the 15 recommended, 5 scored over 89 points and received a Very Good […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,42,43,8,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kens-wine-guide-tasting-panel","category-shiraz","category-syrah","category-wine-recommendations","category-wine-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}