Booze Review: McGuigans Bin 2000 Shiraz

[solipsistnation]

Yup, pretty good. More like a standard red-- dry, a little tannic, sharper-- than your standard spicy and fruity (...the way I like my women...) shiraz.

I can see why Wine Spectator liked this one, considering that they seem to really like big reds. This one seems somewhere between, say, a cabernet and the more typical shiraz.

I like it, but not in the same way as, say, the Taltarni from a couple of weeks ago. This is a good respectable red, if not particularly distinctive.

I discovered last night that Trader Joe's sells Jacob's Creek 2000 Reserve Shiraz. I picked up a bottle, and eventually I'll see if that's any good. I suspect it will be, although it seems like any random spare grapes can get called "reserve" these days, and I'm not sure if I really trust Trader Joe's for wine-- the 2-buck Chuck is kind of an omninous portent.

I also saw that this week's Wine Spectator has a big feature on Syrah (which is non-Australian for Shiraz), meaning that my favorite cheap booze has been noticed by the masses, and may suddenly become expensive. If so, I may have to find something else obscure to drink my way through. Shoot, I might have to start paying more than 8 or 9 bucks a bottle for my favorite things! Man.

Hooray for cheese.

EDIT:

I like this wine more and more as I go on, and it's not just because I'm becoming slowly and pleasantly drunk from it. As it breathes, it opens up and develops a really smooth mouth feel and pleasant and subtle spicy flavor. This is a good wine for savoring over time, and goes well with cheeses and other fatty foods.

I recommend this. Very nice.

Comments

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

I haven't been disappointed by TJ wine. I even got a case of their house label cabernet franc for my birthday party; it's pretty decent and only $5.

TBC is a great value at $2 and it's certainly drinkable.

While Syrah and Shiraz are the same grape, California Syrah and Aussie Shiraz are pretty dissimilar... i'm not fond of most Cal syrahs but i like most of the shirazes i've had. And then there's French syrah which is somewhere in between. French grenache is also mellower than Cal grenache. And Chilean cabernet sauvignon is mellower than Cal cabsauv... you see a trend here.

[solipsistnation.livejournal.com]

Thus, Syrah is non-Australian for Shiraz, as I wrote. 8)

[blarglefiend.livejournal.com]

Have you tried a good grenache? No idea if those have been noticed much in the States yet, but they can be very nice. Quite peppery.

My favourite is a Tim Adams' Clare Valley from a while back, though all of those I've tried have been pretty good.

In defense of Mr. Chuck

[mangosteen]

Two-Buck Chuck has a place in the universe, that being "reasonable table wine". That is to say, not having to think about whether it's a truly special occasion or not to uncork a $10 bottle of vino.

The TBC 2002 Chardonnay isn't half-bad, actually.

All that being said...
Peaches, topped with heavy cream, with a Chateau Ste. Michelle 2002 Gewurztraminer = yum.

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

I've had D'Arenberg's "D'Arry's Original" shiraz/grenache blend. It rocks.