A couple weeks ago, I reviewed the 2004 Curran Sangiovese. This evening, I decided to try another Curran wine, the 2004 Curran Syrah ($30). You can read more about the Curran winery in my prior review.This Syrah is from Black Oak Vineyard, a new vineyard of three blocks of Syrah planted to four different clones. It is located in the warmer regions of the Santa Ynez Valley. Kris Curran ensures only the best grapes make it to her wine. The Syrah spends about two years in French oak barrels, about 50% which are new. The wine also does not see fining or filtration. It has an alcohol content of 14.6%.
This wine has an inky dark color and a nose of blueberries and a bit of spice. On the palate, it is full bodied and has a taste of lush blueberries, smoke and dark spices. It has a long finish, the smokiness lingering on your palate. It is not an Australian fruit-bomb Shiraz. It is more a dark berry and smoky wine with complexity. It is a well balanced wine with strong tannins which would benefit from drinking with food. It would stand up to a juicy, rare roast and might even go well with chocolate.
Like the Curran Sangiovese, I very much enjoyed this wine and would recommend it as a Drink & Buy. If you can not find it locally, you might be able to order it from Domaine547, where I ordered the wine.
happy to hear that you liked it! I had it recently myself, with a group of people who started out with lighter reds and finished off the evening with the Curran. It turned out to be the newest world wine of the bunch, with gobs of vanilla on it -- at least relative to the Trinoro Passopisciaro which we started with. I will have to taste on its own, and then I think I'll get to experience the more subtle aspects of this wine.
ReplyDeleteI do look forward to trying the Curran Grenache Blanc. I am very picky with my whites so I am curious whether I will like it or not. As I said with the Curran Sangiovese, feel free to quote my review on your site if you wish.
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