Tag Archives: Syrah

Fronton, Gaillac, Madiran: Red Wines of Toulouse, France: Day 98 EU Austerity Drinking Tour

Posted on March 24, 2014 by waywardwine

This Monday’s EU Austerity Drinking Tour finds us 98 days into our alcohol-on-a-dime traipse through Europe’s famed regions. We leave glitzy but wet Bordeaux for southern France. Our hub will be Toulouse: a city surrounded by ignored but extreme value wine regions.

We leave Bordeaux still drenching in Atlantic rain.

But as the TGV speeds East, the sun emerges, mossy trees trade fade to gnarly shrubs, and the world becomes dry, calm, and continental in climate. Here the mellow Mediterranean holds more sway than the wet churn of the Atlantic. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Chateau Bellevue la Forêt, DURAS, Fer, France, Fronton, Gaillac, Jacobin Church, Madiran, St Thomas Aquinas, Syrah, Tannat, Toulouse | 3 Comments

Thirsty Thursday: Château La Roque, Pic Saint Loup, Languedoc, France 2010

Posted on February 27, 2014 by waywardwine

Thursday: it is neither Wednesday nor Friday.

For the employed, work still binds your thoughts. A distant weekend glows but faintly. Internet cat porn provides a fleeting, albeit empty distraction

Such a lost weekday deserves a decent drink: something real but not demanding.

Enter Château La Roque. Winter still grips us, so my palate races to the Mediterranean: specifically Pic Saint Loup in the Languedoc:

Vines surround its eponymous mowhawk-mountain, Pic Sanit-Loup. The warm sea and cool plateau inland traps this region in a sort of goldilockian limbo. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged biodynamic, Grenache, herbs de provence, Jack Boutin, Jacques Figuette, Languedoc, Mourvèdre, Pic Saint Loup, Syrah, viticulture | 3 Comments

Torbreck, Cuvée Juveniles, Barossa Valley, Australia 2010

Posted on January 30, 2014 by waywardwine

Forget Yellowtail. Forget Crocodile Dundee. Forget everything you know about Australia.

Instead, put your mind in Paris. Get off at the Pyramide Metro, not far from the Louvre. Wiggle your way to 47 rue de Richelieu, and then, behold: Juveniles:

Now think of Scotland. Because inside you will find fantastic British farmhouse cheese, charcuterie, and Haggis always on the menu. Tim Johnston, a Scot ex-pat, founded it decades ago.

But now, turn to South East France, because Juveniles is a wine bar, and gained its cult following for pouring the Rhône Valley’s best wines. But then, Tim shocked Paris. He poured Australian Shiraz.

Your head may be spinning, but follow the thread. Australia grows Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre, and other varietals typical of the Rhône Valley. Many vines predate the French (thanks to dodging phyloxera). And what would pair better with haggis for cult Rhône drinkers than Shiraz. Continue reading →

Posted in EMPTIED BOTTLES, Grenache | Tagged Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley, Craig Isbel, Dave Powell, David Powell, Grenache, haggis, Juveniles, Juveniles Bar, Mouvedre, Paris, Shiraz, Syrah, Tim Johnston, Torbreck | 1 Comment

A FOODLESS WINE FEAST OF PENFOLDS #MWWC5

Posted on November 14, 2013 by waywardwine

No greater feast of wine befits this Monthly Wine Writing Challenge (MWWC5):

It is 7:48 am. I should be in bed. Instead, work has me walking into a conference room. No one told me why. My waxen eyes fall on some bottles:

“Hmm, eight Penfolds for breakfast. Nothing like big, Australian reds instead of waffles. Sorry liver.”

But beyond this glass regiment, at the table’s end, sits a decanter and a bottle.

Grange. Bin 95. 2008.

Oh yes.

But before Penfolds’ big turkey, an hour of lecture drags on like the NFL Pre-Game Show: informative but missing the point of turkey day. Finally, the feast begins with “appetizers”: Continue reading →

Posted in EMPTIED BOTTLES, Red, Syrah | Tagged 2008, Australia, Bin 407, Bin 707, Bin 95, Cabernet Sauvignon, Corn Bread, cranberry sauce, gluhwein, Grange, NFL, NFL pregame show, Oak, Penfold, Penfolds, rwt, Shiraz, South Australia, St Henri, Syrah, Thanksgiving, turkey, wine, Wine Advocate, Wine Spectator | 13 Comments

QUADY NORTH, SYRAH, 4-2, A, ROGUE VALLEY, OREGON 2008 $25

Posted on October 17, 2013 by waywardwine

I met Herb last week. He stood behind a table, in a black shirt and cap. His wines lined up in front of him. Nothing else. Flanking him towered suit and tie representatives from Oregon’s famed Pinot Noir producers. They had flyers, business cards, banners, and slideshows of vineyard porn on small screens.

I tried their wines, heard their soliloquies, but kept returning to Herb. His black, cracked hands poured each bottle. He said even less. I felt that he itched to return to his vines, tanks, and family in Southern, Oregon. Continue reading →