Most of the wines that I describe on these pages are really everday wines. My biggest pleasure in wine is seeking out those wines that nobody else has discovered. As the holiday season gets closer, I find the price that I pay for wine creeps up a bit. This wine is more expensive than what I consider a price for everyday wine -- I am not sure exactly how much it is as I had a single glass in a restaurant. (I usually try to keep my everyday wines under $10.)
Tonight I ordered a glass of Trentadue Petite Syrah. It came in a big round glass and I remembered to systematically go through the steps that when remembered, give you the best enjoyment from wine -- See, Sniff, Sip, Swallow, Summarize! As I swirled it around the glass admiring its nice dark color, I began to wish I had better glasses at home. The sniff was good -- a nice clean earthy smell. This wine is obviously pretty high in alcohol, but I did not see the bottle. As I sipped, it seemed to be rustic in the best sense of the word -- certainly not smooth. The tannin was pretty obvious, but it was not unpleasant although I wondered whether a few years in the bottle would help. Leather, chocolate, coffee also came to mind. The dark berry fruit combined with the oak completed the taste. I would love to come back for more!
I often wonder why this grape is called Petite Syrah -- the bigness of these wines suggests "Grande!"
I paid $9 for the glass at the Iron Bridge Wine Company near Columbia, MD, a fabulous restaurant that I will write about in a future posting.
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