Alcohol By Volume
Updated July 28, 2010An epic BYOB wine dinner held the evening of Friday July 23 marked the first anniversary of what has become a semi-regular and highly anticipated wine tasting. Over the course of the last year, a group PAWineTalk readers and contributors from the western part of the state got together ten times to enjoy good wine and great company.
For "Round Ten," our host was Dontime and the theme was new world Syrah/Shiraz. The venue was Palazzo Ristorante in Washington, PA. Dontime previously hosted Round 6 aka "Cab-in Fever" in February, also at Palazzo, but a snow storm kept half of the expected attendees away. And while the wines shared at that tasting were first rate, there was still a feeling of "what if" had everyone been able to make it.
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Round ten made up for the disappointment in multiple ways. There were sixteen people present, making it the second-largest gathering to date. After setting aside not one but two upstairs rooms, Palazzo got the turnout they were counting on, and everyone got the opportunity to enjoy a wonderful dining experience and wine tasting in a relaxed setting.
As at the first Palazzo dinner, there was an excellent appetizer plate of various meats, cheeses, and vegetables ready and waiting in a separate room. Several people volunteered to bring wines for accompaniment, and those included Larkmead Sauvignon Blanc, Joseph Drouhin Saint-Veran 2008, Ramey Chardonnay Hudson Hyde Vineyard 2006, and Domaine Carneros Pinot Noir The Famous Gate 2006. There was also a small amount of Two Hands Shiraz Lily’s Garden 2007 which someone had left over from the previous day and brought along.
Dontime declared that for this event a wine had to be at least 70% Syrah/Shiraz to qualify, although Jonradus was given special dispensation for his Mollydooker Enchanted Path which was a 50/50 blend of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon.
There were seventeen wines included in the actual tasting, not counting those available with the appetizers or a tawny port which appeared at the end of the evening. While the majority of wines were from Australia, there were also domestic Syrahs from California and Washington, plus a lone representative of Stellenbosch in South Africa. Several people reported that they had decanted their wines earlier in the day.
The tasting was not done blind. Following the successful format of the Rhone tasting earlier in the year, wines were arranged into mini-flights, with two bottles being passed starting at each end of the U-shaped table at the same time. Everyone was provided with two stems so they could take their time and compare the two. After sampling the first two, everyone either drank up or dumped, then repeated with the two wines coming in the other direction.
The full list of wines was as follows:
- 2006 Two Hands Shiraz Ares
- 2007 Two Hands Shiraz Bella's Garden
- 2006 Glaetzer Shiraz Amon-Ra
- 2006 Glaetzer Wallace Shiraz Grenache
- 2006 Mollydooker Shiraz The Boxer
- 2005 Mollydooker Enchanted Path Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon
- 2007 Mollydooker Shiraz Blue Eyed Boy
- 2002 K Vintners Syrah The Beautiful
- 2002 K Vintners Syrah Morrison Lane
- 2008 Carlisle Syrah Papa’s Block
- 2007 Carlisle Syrah Cardiac Hill
- 2004 Wolf Blass Shiraz Platinum Label
- 1998 Rosemount Estate Balmoral Syrah
- 2006 Sine Qua Non Syrah Raven
- 2004 Rustenberg Syrah Stellenbosch
- 2005 Colonial Estate Explorateur Old Vine Shiraz
- 2005 d’Arenberg Shiraz The Dead Arm
Syrah/Shiraz wines are typically high in alcohol, and those from Australia even more so. Every wine tasted was above 14% alcohol by volume, with several as high as 16%. The Mollydooker Blue Eyed Boy took the prize at 16.5%. Tasters' comments for it included "Big big big" and – no lie - "Yum yum yum."
As a group we learned that these types of wines can indeed age well, as evidenced by the smooth-but-not-yet-fading twelve year old Balmoral. We also learned that J2K is capable of making excellent game-time decisions, as evidenced by his last minute inclusion of the terrific d'Arenberg The Dead Arm.
There seemed to be little consensus concerning favorites, and sometimes even within each mini-flight. At times, tasters were as divided as the U.S. Senate, with a typical exchange as follows:
- tonypoli: I think the K Vintners "Morrison Lane" is better than "The Beautiful."
- jlburd: You’re wrong!
As such, and to keep things from turning ugly(!), there was no voting done at the end of the evening.
Tonypoli agreed to organize the next round, which will be themed around Zinfandel. A date was not set but he was targeting September. Keep watching the Forum for details.
Comments
1. Tantore on July 25, 2010 at 22:12
Nice write up! The Ramey was the Hyde vineyard though :) Great time, I here's to looking forwards to next time.
2. jlburd on July 25, 2010 at 23:36
Without question the most informative of all the events. I confess to coming into it with less enthusiasm because of my preconceptions about New World (meaning Aussie) Shiraz. My experience couldn't have been more eye-opening. While the Molly Dookers and Two Hands were how I remembered this grape there were others that blow my narrow stereotype away. The K wines, Glaetzer Amon-Ra & Wallace, the Deam Arm tasted nothing like the others & were food friendly, even subtle in a couple of occasions. And the Carlisles at the end of the evening seemed almost Zin-like. Obviously I have been missing out by having a Syrah gap in the cellar. Again, there's nothing like tasting the full expression of a varietal in the hands of good vintners. If you have thought about coming to one of these (or any other) tastings & bagged the idea I would encourage you to come around. Great friggin' evening.
3. bigred on July 26, 2010 at 21:34
This was a great evening, with good friends and some fabulous wine. This one will be tough to match but I know we’ll try. Terrific set-up dontime; Mrs. bigred and I really enjoyed the restaurant.
4. Hawk on July 27, 2010 at 08:33
Thanks to Dontime for setting up such a terrific evening. Palazzo's did a great job & I'll be going back. Like jlburd, I was impressed by both the quality and the differences in the wines. The Raven, 2 KVinters, Amon Ra & Dead Arm were the top of my list. Personally found the 3 Mollydooker's too hot. I also thought the Ares and 2 Carlisles would improve with more time in the cellar. Perhaps that's why I liked the older (2002) KVintners so much. Thanks to everyone for bringing such fabulous wines. Look forward to our next one.