2005 Turchi Syrah

The Core Wine Co. is located in Santa Barbara County in the Cayuma Valley. Their Alta Mesa Vineyards are about 3200 meters in elevation and are planted primarily with Mourvedre, Grenache and Syrah. They make several different wines including Hard Core, Core and Turchi Syrah. The wines are small production wines and have been receiving many positive reviews. I recently purchased a few of their wines and have begun tasting them.

I have started with their 2005 Turchi Syrah ($20), their lowest end wine. Their goal with this wine was to make a reasonably priced wine that would pair well with many different foods. The wine is a blend of 83% Syrah, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8% Malbec. It is supposed to be inspired by northern Rhone wines. Only 1800 cases were made.

This is a dark colored wine with a fruity aroma. On the palate, you get the full flavor of blackberries and blueberries with a touch of spice. It is a smooth wine with mild tannins. It has a medium length finish with some pepper on the end. It has some complexity though is not overly so. It is more of an everyday drinking wine. The wine paired well with a bacon cheeseburger calzone. I did like this wine and felt it was different from the typical Australian Shiraz. It was a nice change and I would recommend this as a Drink & Buy.

I look forward to trying the Core and Hardcore.

I should note as well that Core Wine Co. considers wine bloggers to have a lot of positive impact on their sales, behind only the impact of Robert Parker.