My friend Beth was throwing one of her fabulous wine and cheese parties the other night where everyone was required to bring a bottle of Syrah, Riesling or a dessert wine along with cheese or dessert. But she specified that as much as we all love Two-Buck Chuck that we should try to go for a different brand here.
So I marched over to good ol’ Wine House in West L.A. since they have an awesome selection. But after standing in front of the Shiraz/Syrah section for many minutes, I started to feel overwhelmed. Only a few wines had helpful little review cards attached to them but those bottles cost more than I wanted to spend.
Finally a salesperson asked me if I needed help. “I want a good, reasonably priced Syrah.” The 2003 Footbolt Old Vine Shiraz I held in my hands cost $15.99 and I told the wine guy that I would like to spend less if possible. “The [Footbolt] is all right and Rock Rabbit [$9.99] is OK but the Barrel 27 up by the registers is really good.”
Sure enough, when I went to pay for the bottle of 2004 Barrel 27 Syrah ($14.99) the cashier reaffirmed my choice with “This is a really good one.” Yay!
At the party, out of the six or so other Syrahs being poured, my Barrel 27 was the room favorite. Someone (not me) even hid the bottle so that the select few of us could bogart it. Another party-goer, a salesman for a wine distributor, gave his thumbs-up saying it was an excellent choice.
Compared to the other Syrahs it was full-bodied and not as tannic so that it didn’t leave a bitter taste on the back of my tongue but went down easy. Soo good, I might just go back to the store for another bottle.
FYI, I had asked the salesman which cheese would complement this wine and he suggested I go with a Stilton bleu cheese.
2311 Cotner Avenue
Los Angeles, California 90064
(310) 231-0316