Searching for "syrah"


Nov
2017

Flora Springs 2013 Ghost Winery Red Blend

categories: Booze, Wine

¡Feliz Dia de los Muertos!

Flora Springs creates beautifully balanced red blends that could knock the socks off of even the most discerning wine drinker. But the winery also knows how to have some fun. Each year, the winemaking team creates a unique Halloween-themed wine in honor of their “Ghost Winery” in St. Helena. Apparently the historic stone cellar, built in 1885, has a few — shall we say — lingering guests.

The Flora Springs 2013 Ghost Winery Red Blend, available through the winery’s website, comes in three different labels, designed by Virginia-based artist Wes Freed. While technically “Halloween-themed,” something about Freed’s artwork this year just said “Dia de los Muertos” to me so…

¡Feliz Dia de los Muertos!

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Oct
2017

JN Wines Skull Ring Red Blend

categories: Booze, Wine

Happy Halloween!

Nat Komes, General Manager of Flora Springs (and son of founder John Komes), and I have a few things in common — a love of Halloween and a love of good wine. Nat put his hands together when he created the Skull Ring Red Blend under Flora Spring’s sister label JN Wines. You may see the label and think “gimmicky;” you may read the blend — Syrah and Petite Verdot — and think “scary.” But I tell you to cast these assumptions aside because if there’s anything I know, it’s that Flora Springs crafts excellently balanced wines, especially when it comes to their red blends. And this crazy Skull Ring is no exception…

Happy Halloween!

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Oct
2017

Tercero Wines 2016 Cinsault

categories: Booze, Wine

Hello Cinsault, you are usually blended with Grenache, Syrah, and/or Mourvèdre. Because of your light skin, you’re a fun grape to blend into a Rhône-style rosé (often using the saignée method), adding a bit of funky-perfume to the mix. Hello Cinsault, meet Mr. Larry Schaffer of Tercero Wines — he loves you just as you are.

“I refer to this wine as my ‘MTV Unplugged’ wine,” says Larry, “It’s like a young singer sitting in the corner playing acoustic guitar and singing unmiced, more of a ‘whisper’ of a wine – it does not scream like so many other red wines do.” So…let’s jam shall we?

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Oct
2017

Hahn 2016 Central Coast GSM Red Blend

categories: Booze, Wine

When I opened my friendly wine delivery from Hahn Family Wines, I was pleasantly surprised to find a GSM in the mix. I’m so used to their Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays, that I didn’t even notice the estate offers this classic Rhone-style blend. No Rhone Ranger, they don’t seem to have single-varietal Grenache, Syrah, or Mourvedre (that I could find). But using multiple vineyards from along the California Central Coast, Hahn indeed produces a beautiful expressions of all those grapes, blended in a most friendly, yet refined way… (more…)


Oct
2017

Hahn SLH 2015 Chardonnay

categories: Booze, Wine

The Santa Lucia Highlands can create some interesting wines — from almost meaty Pinot Noir, to downright angry Syrah. The Hahn SLH Chardonnay hails from higher elevation vineyards that reach, at top level, 1,200 feet and are planted atop sandy loam soils. Sitting neatly above the fog line and amongst the well-draining soil, the Chardonnay receives ample amount of sunlight and receive just enough water to force the vines to work. The result is good, fully ripened fruit bursting at the seams to become wine. But the expression in that wine, well, that depends on the winemaker…

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