Jason’s Wine Blog

Price: $5.99 @ Trader Joe’s

What They Said:

A multitude of opinions on this one in the blogsphere but no luck finding any information from the winemaker here…All I can tell you as they seem to be negociant as they appear to be located in Healdsburg but make Syrah in the Central Coast and Zinfandel from Lodi.

What I Think:

After reading this post I added this one to my shopping list and looked forward to giving it a try. Upon opening it you were greeted with a spicy nose, heavy in tannins. On the palate black fruit was apparent early but quickly disappeared and left you with a mineralish finish again heavy in tannins. Think they did some work on this one in the lab. I certainly can’t recommend it, especially with this Gravity Hills Syrah available.

Rating: Skip It

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

Price: $4.99 @ Trader Joe’s

What They Said:

Per the winery “Our Avila Syrah is a deep, dark, dense, and chewy wine with an abundant mouthful of blueberry, black plum, and black currant fruit flavors. Generous in the nose, this Syrah is approachable with plush fruit flavors layered with Asian spice, fig, black pepper, and orange peel. A versatile number, this wine can hold it’s own with a wide range of cuisine from spicy buffalo wings to black pepper steak or a midnight snack of cherry, chocolate brownies.”

What I Think:

At $5 with a Santa Barbara designation I was willing to give this one a try. Coming from here I was expecting a big jelly jar effort and that is more or less what I received. Certainly dense and chewy with heavy fruit flavors that muted the tannins and finished with a minty spice. That said the finish ends abruptly and it lacks complexity. I know I expect a lot for a fiver! If you were thinking about grabbing this one feel free to do so. At worst you will come away indifferent. I am more likely to work back through some of the efforts from Columbia Crest that I have enjoyed in the past.

Rating: 12th Bottle

Price: $5.99 @ Trader Joe’s

What They Said:

Per quaffability “Ever drive by a vineyard late in the season - I mean really late, after the kids have finished off the last of their Halloween candy - and seen vines still laden with fruit, even though the autumn colors of the leaves are fading to brown. And yet you still see a full crop of red grapes hanging from these vines, and if you look closely, you’ll see that the fruit is losing its plumpness, shriveling, and turning into raisins. What the heck are they making here? Late-harvest zin? Maybe, but more likely they’re going for a super-ripe style like this wine, which I found last week on a big end-of-aisle display at Trader Joes?

So how is it? Kinda like liquid Raisinettes. Never had them? Well, if you like wines that taste like chocolate raisin juice mixed generously with toasted oak, then this is the swill for you.”

What I Think:

After seeing the write up above I am actually visibly upset that this wine has ended up in my house. Funny how these things work, you know how often that movie all your friends bag on thus lowering your expectations tends to lead to you being pleasantly surprised? That is what happened here. Rich in fruit and heavy in alcohol this wine makes itself known. Not that I thought it was great but it was decent, though tasted of being created in the winery rather than in the fields. Give it a try if you feel the need. At this price point I’ll be looking elsewhere.

Rating: Skip It

Price: $25.00 direct from the winery

What They Said:

Per the winery “This wine was aged in barrels specially designed for Syrah, this opaque-purple wine is incredibly complex and enticing with aromatics and flavors of smoky blackberry, white pepper and herbes de Provence, wrapped in a blanket of cassis with hints of anise.

Pair this sumptuous Syrah with marinated, grilled elk tenderloin, duck à l’orange ora hearty cassoulet.”

What I Think:

As dinner took a bit longer than expected this wine helped fill the gap between appetizers (2006 Rosenblum Rust Ridge Napa Valley Chardonnay) and the main course (2005 Ridge York Creek Zinfandel) on New Year’s Eve. As the second Rosenblum of the evening it had some ground to make up as its sibling disappointed. For a while I have been thinking of redeploying my wine club money elsewhere, perhaps Ridge or Martin Family Vineyards. Most likely know that Rosenblum is widely known for Zinfandel’s so I was curious to what this Syrah would deliver. With the pressure on this one answered the bell though in a very typical fashion. When I open their wines I know what I am going to get and that is what happened here. The wine was heavy in the mouth with lush dark fruits and some spice to finish it off. Again, a nice effort but at $25 there isn’t anything that stands up and makes you take notice here. At $15 it would have been acceptable but given how rarely I spend this kind of money Rosenblum is officially on probation.

Rating: Pricey

Price: $12.99 @ K&L Wines

What They Said:

Per K&L Wines “Cory Holbrook, former winemaker and proprietor of Bridlewood Winery, makes this intense, richly fruited syrah. Full of freshly picked boyenberry, slathered in vanilla-y oak and spiced lightly with just the slighest pinch of lavender this is a wine for any fan of domestic or Australian Syrah. (Bryan Brick, K&L) 90 points

“Smart Buy” in Wine Spectator: “A forward, ripe and fleshy style, compelling for its supple mix of wild berry, boysenberry and blackberry fruit and pretty toasty oak shadings. Drink now through 2011.” (3/31/07)”

What I Think:

So K&L convinced me to buy this one when they highlighted it in their monthly news letter. I had never heard of the winemaker nor the winery mentioned so what was it that drew me to this one? Two things, I always want to try (and further more) to like wines from the Central Coast and two, I really want to like Syrah. Hmm, looks like it is pretty easy to catch my eye. So we cracked open the screwtop on this one and were hit by loads of light fruit on the nose with some woody overtones adding some spice and tannins to the bouquet. In the mouth it showed a nice, polished round structure balancing the fruit and tannins of the barrel nicely and lingering on the tongue through the finish. Finished with it that night we twisted the screwcap back on and let it sit for a few days. Wow! By day three this showed great layers of complexity! I was amazed by how a good wine had become so much more. Does it need to aged? Or does it just be open for a while? For the next three days I had small sips of this lamenting the day when they would come to an end…I even shared the last sip with a friend who likes to spend money on his wines and he was a bit surprised as he does not tend to care for syrah. Sadly that night the bottle ended.

I would love to compare this to the Columbia Crest Syrah they had at TJ’s a while back for $6.99 that I enjoyed so much. I am pretty sure this would blow it out of the water but it is always nice to have it side by side with something you consider your base line. Wish there was a way you could easily save taste of these wines so I could pull it out of the cabinet and have them side by side now….

Not sure if I will really buy this one as it is at a tricky price point for me but if the stars align I certainly wouldn’t mind finding it in the rack again…

Rating: Wow!

Price: $4.52 @ BevMo (retails at $8.99 a bottle)

What They Said:

Per BevMo “A soft-spoken Syrah, the ‘05 Pepperwood Grove is fine example of this varietal; grapey and easy on the palate; perky yet smooth in the aftertaste; a fine choice with hamburgers.”

What I Think:

This is the second bottle of this wine from the 5c sale. It showed me more this time around. It could be that it was a good bottle of red wine for under $5. Seems like lately most that I have had under ten have left me waiting for more. After these more expensive efforts failed me I found myself more impressed with this one given the price point. Still your typical red wine flavor profile, quick red fruit that holds a bit before fading to a tannin/pepper filled finish. Saw they mentioned cloves, I’ll have to work on seperating that from pepper. The perfect scenario for this bottle is that you have one nice glass leftover from last night to have with dinner. When dinner is over you find yourself wanting one more glass but don’t want to open anything nice. Grab this.

Rating: 12th Bottle

Price: $4.52 @ BevMo (retails at $8.99 a bottle)

What They Said:

Per BevMo “A soft-spoken Syrah, the ‘05 Pepperwood Grove is fine example of this varietal; grapey and easy on the palate; perky yet smooth in the aftertaste; a fine choice with hamburgers.”

What I Think:

Another from the 5c sale. Pepperwood Grove always hasa soft spot in my heart from their days of Zinfandel at TJ’s for 3.99. This one disappoints, couldn’t imagine paying full price. Maybe the second bottle will show me something, my expectations will certainly be lower.  At full retail prices this wine wouldn’t be worth having again.

Rating: 12th Bottle