2005 Gravity Hills Base Camp Syrah
Update 2008-Oct-07 - Trader Joe’s has reduced the price on this bottling to $2.99
Price: $4.99 @ Trader Joe’s
What They Said:
Per the winery “Take a sip, and the velvety-smooth body caresses your palate as flavors tumble over one another in succession – strawberry, black cherry, plum, blueberries, licorice, white pepper, leather – continuing on to an extra-long finish. Down, boy! Base Camp Syrah goes out of its way to make friends with all kinds of food. With its mineral-fresh, lively acidity, it plays well with creamy cheese, pasta, roasted chicken, red meat and exotic, spicy dishes, like a Moroccan lamb stew.”
What I Think:
As mentioned with the Zinfandel it again appears Trader Joe’s is selling at $15 bottle of wine for $5. Unlike the Zin, this one seems to be worth the price of admission!
The start was a bit rocky as the nose was muted to non-existent on night one. From there it was all upside. Nice dark fruit as it enters the mouth intermingled with earthy notes. As a bonus, I was even able to find varietal characteristics as it showed some mint mid-palate. That gives way to spice that lingers on through a velvety finish. A pleasant surprise, as the Zin drastically lowered my expectations. I’ll be grabbing another bottle or two of this one.
Rating: Buy It
How do you rate it?
(4 votes, average: 4.25 out of 5)
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May 18th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Just bought it last night! Looking forward to it!
October 5th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
Trader Joe’s dropped the price on this one to $2.99. Buy it up while you can find it!
October 6th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
I tried this after picking it out at random one day at TJs. Loved it so much (all the flavors and the long finish) I searched and hit your blog.
I’m thinking TJs marked it down because it is starting to turn. Any “experts” out there who can tell me how long they think this one can be kept? Generally speaking - drink up now, should be still OK for the year-end holidays, OK to next spring, … !?