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Cork: Authentic
Name: Kinton Syrah
Type: Syrah
Vintage: 2005
Region: Santa Barbara County
Country: USA
Producer: Kinton Vineyards, Santa Maria, CA
Price: ’twas a gift
Purchased at: Wine.com
Date: 2/2/08
Served With: Colby Jack Cheese & Townhouse Buttery Crackers (this is the ‘Redneck’ wine review!)
Appearance: Deep, dark & luscious maroon. Very leggy.
Aroma: Hints of American oak and white pepper.
Taste: Initial flavors of tobacco and some other woody characteristics. A middle palate reminiscent of greeny things like hay, straw or maybe even grass. Finishes nicely with hints of anise.
Comments: Here’s a wine that happens to pair very well with the appetizer. It gives a nice contrast to the cheese and helps to cleanse the palate between bites. It’s full-bodied but not overwhelming and while I’m not necessarily a huge fan of the anise-type finish I would definitely drink this wine again.

Incidentally, I heard through the grapevine that this wine was recently added to the wine list at the world-famous, 5 Star hotel in Colorado Springs called the Broadmoor. It should sell well!

It arrived today. The famous case of wine from the California Wine Hiker. One week after winning the award I have 12 fabulous bottles of wine to share with you all!

I know you would like to know what the inventory consists of. I know because if I were you I would want to know!

Before I reveal what this great case of wine consists of I want to whet your palate a bit. I know that wine ratings aren’t everything but this is, after all, a wine review blog and it’s worth noting that not a single rated bottle of wine in this case came in less than 90. There is one bottle that is not rated but after seeing everything else in the case I thoroughly trust the Wine Hiker.

Additionally, It seems to me that Russ put a lot of thought into choosing each bottle. I can’t say enough how appreciative I am of not only the wine but the thought that went into it. From Malbec to Muscat and Rose to G.A.M. the list doesn’t disappoint!

Now, let met pimp another site for just one second as I tell you that I have compiled the list of wines at wine.com. They allow you to create multiple wine lists, wish lists, etc. and also tell you the rating of each wine from various reviewers, whether or not it is an organic wine, a collectible wine and lots of other cool features as well.

So, without listing each wine here and without further adieu here’s the list of awarded wines from the Wine Hiker. Incidentally, each wine will be reviewed here!

Cork:Synthetic
Name: Judd (Judd’s Hill)
Type: Syrah
Vintage: 2002
Region: Napa Valley
Country: USA
Producer: Finkelstein Vineyards
Price: $18.99
Purchased at: Vintage’s Wine & Spirits
Date: 07/10/07
Served With: Hershey’s Extra Creamy Milk Chocolate w/Toffee & Almonds
Appearance: I can’t see through it! That’s usually a good thing. Very deep, dark purple.
Aroma: Black berry, black currant (cassis)
Taste: Very fruity on the front end and slightly tart on the finish. A bit alcoholy on the long finish. It’s a little lite on the tannins for my tastes.
Comments: Very thick. Very Rich. Very intense. 14.2% Alcohol. Too fruity for me. I bought this on a recommendation from the store owner. I told her I like smooth syrahs that aren’t to alcoholy and I like some fruity taste. She translated that into a silky, aged, intensely fruity wine. This was not her fault at all, I simply expressed myself incorrectly. Also, to be fair this wine is probably better served with an entre.

While the wine is OK I will finish the bottle but I won’t buy it again for 2 reasons: 1. It’s nearly twice as much as I normally like to pay for a bottle of wine and 2. I think I’ve just discovered that I prefer a more earthy taste to a fruity taste. I guess I’ve known that for a while now I just didn’t know how to express it. Maybe I’m getting better at it now.

I find it interesting that as I drink more wine and study it a bit more than I used to - and the slap upside the head from the Spectacular Shiraz that has caused me to go outside my comfort zone to find something similar - my vocabulary expands and I yearn for a way to express what I see, smell and taste in a wine because I want to drink what I enjoy. Most people who drink wine and aren’t connoisseurs don’t have the knowledge to express what they like in a wine other than “fruity”, “dry”, “sweet” and the like; this, I believe, is the biggest hurdle the wine industry constantly struggles with.

–update–

After a day in the bottle this wine has decanted very nicely. It’s still not one of my favorites but I’m getting very strong strawberry jam tastes coming through. It is enjoyable!

–end update–

I love the weekends because I can and frequently do drink lots of wine with no regrets (unlike those 3 bottle events on Tuesday nights when the roosters crow too damn early the next morning). This weekend was a great one for discovering 3 new, excellent wines one of which is fantastic.

The first excellent wine came during dinner on Saturday night. We were out to eat with some friends to celebrate - kinda (more details later in post). One of my wine buddies (read: wino) ordered a bottle of Liberty School Syrah (tried to find another blog to give some link-love to for this wine and couldn’t!). We each had different dinners so there was only one thing we had in common that we all liked very much and that was the wine. I didn’t have the facilities to do an official review and I don’t like to do reviews from memory but just know that this wine will probably hit the < $11 List when I do buy and review it.

I also had a glass of Peirano Estate Lodi - The Other Red 2005. I found it very satisfying and my wino buddies were jealous that I always seem to pick the wine that they should have ordered. I’m really in to Syrah/Shiraz lately. We jokingly call it a “phase” but unlike the Merlot “phase” which I don’t think I will ever drink again, I can easily add Syrah/Shiraz to my repertoire and still drink Cabs, Zins, etc. Again, I couldn’t do an official review of this one but I hope to in the future. For now check out this review on Peirano Estate Lodi - The Other Red 2005.

Not to be outdone by Saturday night, Sunday night had the debut for me of a truly spectacular wine. I will be doing an official review on it this week but as a teaser - suffice it to say that this wine has me questioning the ratings on all my previous reviews. It too is a Shiraz and I think will be seen as a milestone in my wine education when I look back a few years from now in much the same way that the Le Volte Meritage was for me nearly 2 years ago.

Last week I told you about 4 wines I was going to review. I did review 3 of them but the 4th will go un-reviewed. Reason being that we are right in the middle of moving and all we had to drink wine out of last week were plastic cups. I’m usually not snooty and would normally get off on doing a review of a wine from a Dixie cup instead of some fancy, really expensive glass. However, in keeping to true and honest, usable reviews I couldn’t bring myself to slam the PETS Petite Syrah as a wine that tastes like the purple stuff you get at church, or grape juice with a kick or any other non-flattering correlation. I’ll try it again some other time in a real wine glass and see if it’s any different.

Anyway, to finish up the celebratory remark early on we are relocating back across the country to Colorado Springs, CO. As I said earlier all of our stuff is packed up, living in a PODS box currently being transported to our new residence there. We are currently staying with a wino buddy and she has an excellent selection of wines - one of which is the forthcoming review of the spectacular Shiraz. We’ll be hitting the road on Friday morning and I should be back up and blogging by Sunday night if not sooner. The celebration was a send off by all of our friends here in San Antonio, TX. For those that were there - Thanks for a great night!!

In the meantime keep a close eye here this week for several new reviews including the spectacular Shiraz and the first review on this blog of a Barbera.