See below for what happened.........

2007 National Tasting Project: “Sensuous Syrah”

Come and join us in the National Tasting Project--”Sensous Syrah”. Six Syrah wines from across the world will be blind tasted. 

More importantly, the full range of intense Syrah flavors will be exhibited based on the region grown--including pepper, spice, wild herbs and berry flavors (blackberry, black raspberry, blueberry, black currant, and dark cherry).  Other flavors that you may encounter include: licorice, chocolate, espresso, and jammy notes.  Two of the wines have been aged enough that the earthy character of Syrah may have emerged--truffle, cedar, leather, meat (bacon), and cigar box.

Each attendee will be provided the 20 point American Wine Evaluation Sheet to score each wine. Your results will be anonymously recorded and forwarded to AWS National for inclusion with all of the Chapters across the United States and Canada. Results will be available at the Fall AWS National Conference as well as a future AWS Journal publication.

  Aperitif

2006 La Rosa Pinot Grigio

The Wines

Six Syrah wines from Australia, France and the United States

Cheese and Bread will accompany the wines. Coffee and Dessert will follow the tasting.  Please bring your own glasses & pens. No smoking or strong fragrances. Attendees recognize they will consume alcohol and assume responsibility of having done so.

Members  $18.00            Guests   $23.00

What Happened.........

The National Tasting Project was organized and carried out by Frank and Jackie Carson.

The wines selected for the tasting were:

2004 Smoking Loon

2005 Thierry and Guy Fat Bastard

2003 Jacobs Creek Reserve

2003 Columbia Crest 2 Vines

2003 E. Guigal Cotes du Rhone

NV   Hardy’s Sparkling Shiraz

Frank conducted the blind tasting, which was done in flights of three. The first two wines were in the fruity category, the next was grassy, vegetative, and the next two were earthy and floral.  The last was a sparkler.

The decided favorite was the 2003 Jacobs Creek Reserve.  The ratings were as follows:

2003 Jacobs Creek Reserve 16.4

2003 Columbia Crest 2 Vines 15.3

2003 E. Guigal Cotes du Rhone 13.9

2004 Smoking Loon   13.7

NV   Hardy’s Sparkling Shiraz 12.8

2005 Thierry and Guy Fat Bastard 11.2

Jackie selected three cheeses for sampling between the flights.  They were locatelli romano, fontinella, and a Greek cheese, kefalograviera.

Our tasters did very well in judging, and enjoyed the program.

We closed with coffee and Jackie’s Lemon Bars and Milk Chocolate Chip Pecan bars.