A sparkling Shiraz that Moxie and I opened on a Friday night while cooking up some Scallops. I tried a further experiment by pouring myself a flute and a wide brimmed glass. The results were quiet enlightening. I will start with the flute.
A concentrated nose of red currants, black berry and cola. The mousse was dark purple when I poured the glass. On the palate there was black cherry, black berries and some cola with a mid palate addition of some bubbly blueberry pie. The wine shows some tannins, very strange in a sparkler but hides the whopping 15% alcohol very well. The finish is long with a drying mouthfeel and trace of oak- very interesting.
The wide mouthed glass was a different beast altogether. The nose was very subdued, given the shape of the rim. The effervescence is wasted on this glass as I got almost nothing even after swirling the heck out of it. On the palate, a whole different story. The glass shape allows the wine to really open up and bring black fruits, blue berries and a raft of differing plums to the palate with a good dose of cola and some vanilla. The mousse was not as tasty in this glass but the overall flavors were much more pronounced.
Between the two I would sniff from the flute and drink from the wide rimmed glass. I am going to balance the results and go with 90 points. This is an interesting take on sparkling wine. If you have never had a sparkling red, this is the one you should try. For $25 this will be a treat for your palate. 4 Stars for a really tasty yet different effort. PS. I ended the tasting with a bit of cheese, the perfect combo if I might add. I had some Cypress Grove Chèvre ‘Humbolt Fog’ goat cheese. Perhaps one of the most intricate, complex and creamiest cheeses I have ever tasted. The Shiraz was the perfect accompaniment to the acidic blue nature of this gamey, earthy yet really creamy concoction. An amazing cheese, really. Salut….
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