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Liquid Refreshment

25

Sep

E-mail from The States

Jacob Gaffney  in Red Wines, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz/Syrah , , , , , ,

Got an e-mail from the States:

“Got 2 new bottles. Sweet Bitch from California ($9.99) and Justin Vineyards Syrah Paso Robles ($25.99) Both 2004. The Sweet Bitch claims “slightly sweet” however, they meant to say “sugary sweet”. Almost undrinkable. We may just decide to cook with it.”

Don’t do that, the dish you prepare will taste like the crappy wine. Unless you plan to make a coulis, mixed with pureed raspberry, for a cheesecake, or mix it with olive oil to make dressing for a bitter leaf salad.

He continues:

“I am looking forward to the Justin. Our local merchant tells me it’s his best selling Syrah. Have you heard anything about it? I am always leery of spending $25 on an unknown. Especially one from California.”

My reader was unimpressed with both choices in the end:

“That Justin Syrah 04 was similar to Coppola just twice the price. So I think we shall stick with Coppola.”

Almost 35 bucks down the hole. This is especially aggravating because the reader was sold on the bottle by the merchant. Come to think of it why is American wine so expensive? Especially the more popular ones?

At any rate, next time try the Justin ‘Isosceles’… it’s a Meritage, rhymes with ‘heritage,’ the pretty Californian name for a wine made with the three main grapes of Bordeaux: Cabernets Sauvignon and Franc and Merlot. Never had a bad bottle of the stuff, or a single bottle, for that matter. Only ever tried it at wine tastings.

Reading that the wine was too sweet brought a grimace to my face. Sugary sweetness is unpleasant in Noble varieties; it works with Native American grapes, but not European. At any rate, that frown was turned upside down when that image of Tattoo popped back into my mind.

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