Even More Washington Syrah

Tonight! From the Red Mountain area of Washington, a 2006 Efeste Ceidleigh Syrah. $25 at LA Wine Co, and $30-32 elsewhere. First of all, "Ceidleigh" is pronounced Kay-Lee. Second of all, 54% of the fruit in this is sourced from the Ciel du Cheval vineyard, which generally produces damn good stuff. And Wine Spectator (aka "wine speculator") gave this 93 points. If you care.

Very few wines I experimentally buy from LA Wine Co. disappoint, and this is no exception. Big, bold and tasty, however I thought a bit alcoholic. (At 15.2%, no shock there.) Quite a bit of spice, very juicy, and even a bit of a candied quality. Overall pretty dang good. Nice length. I'd like to see how this develops in about 5 years. Don't think I'd say 93 points, but good none the less.

Priorat, better than it sounds

So Priorat is a region in Spain that really has helped in Spain's resurgence into quality wines. It was a forgotten wine growing region that was rediscovered as recently as the early 90's (I hope I recall that correctly.) And, boy, am I happy they planted there. Very consistent wine out of that area. The wines shipped to the US are generally in the $35-80 range, so to find one for $17 was an exciting and rare thing. And this one once again proved why Priorat is a wonderful area for wine producing.

This was a 2006 Viticultors del Priorat Vega Escal ($17 at LA Wine Company). Blend of 60% Carignan, 30% Grenache, 10% Syrah - blends are normal for wines from Priorat. Really good stuff - lots of oomf, but not overwhelming. Nice darker fruit, with a nice amount of blueberry, which is common for Priorat wines. Very nice length and complexity.

We will definitely buy some more - really liked this stuff. If you can find it, grab it.

Tamarack Syrah

For our Saturday evening wine, to pair with our ribs, we opened a 2002 Tamarack Cellars Columbia Valley Syrah, $22 at K&L Wines.

We LOVED the "Firehouse Red" blend they have (see previous blogs) and have basically made it our house wine. So, we figured this was worth a try.

And it was pretty good... nicely balanced... bold, but not overwhelming... paired with the ribs well... overall very nice. Great flavors and seemed to open up over time. Only complaints were that it didn't have a lot of length and wasn't super complex. Also, it didn't help Rachel's back, which is causing her much pain.

But Tamarack continues to impress. Yay Washington State wines!

Genuine Tasty

This evening we imbibed a 2005 Genuine Risk Cabernet Sauvignon. On sale for $18 at K&L Wines. I like the label lots. For full disclosure, this is made by my friend Amy Christine and her man Peter Hunken. But I will compliment it none-the-less. They also make a Syrah we like called Hocus Pocus.

Really nice Cabernet Sauvignon, and not at all typical of some of the other Santa Barbara wines I've had. Very balanced and low key. Still had some nice oomph, but not overwhelming. Went well with our steak, but drank well on it's own too. It was a little alcohol-y when I opened it, but settled down quickly.

Very nice. We have happy tongues and bellies now.

Another White!

First of all, it turns out Tony Franklin was the bass player on the first album by the awesome heavy metal band "Blue Murder." I totally got that wrong this evening.

Well it is rare that we both love a white wine, but this one is wonderful... and inexpensive. A 2007 Burgans Albarino, $11 at LA Wine Company, and I think widely available. Easy drinking, refreshing, wonderful acidity. From Rias Baixas, Spain. It is made in a town famous for seafood and this wine is made to pair seamlessly with it. It certainly would, but we drank it on it's own and it was quite nice on a hot July day.

Go buy this. Drink it. Tell me I'm wrong. Like I was about Tony Franklin.

Hello Again, Hello

No, I'm not a Lionel Ritchie Fan. I was just saying hi.

Tonight, in this corner, with a total capacity of 750ml, is the 2006 Penley Estate Phoenix Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon. We drank this with a marinated tri-tip (thanks for inspiring us Sandy!) $15 at K&L Wines.

I've found many of the lower priced Aussie cabs and shirazes (anyone know the plural of shiraz?) are overdone and have residual sugar. This had none of that. A lovely wine - all of the great cab character and none of that "fakeness." Not the most complex stuff, but very good and easy to drink. The 15% alcohol was apparent on the nose, but not on the palate.

For those that care, this gets solid 90's by several major reviewers. Very much recommend you try it.

Sorry for the delay in blogging - you deserve better. I will make no promise that I will improve, but I will try. So there.