Que Syrah – Taft Street 2006

Taft Street SyrahSince I wasn’t crazy about either of the Syrah wines I had for Wine Blogging Wednesday #55, I decided to open a third. I was hopeful to end the night on a positive note, so I opened up a Dry Creek Valley wine, since I would soon be there. The Taft Street Syrah 2006,  about $20 retail, got the call and I chose to save the Longboard for my return from California. The question is, did I pick the right wine to end the night?

The video below has all of my tasting notes on this wine, so please take some time to watch. However, I’ll give you the tasting note highlights here, and you can watch the video for more in-depth comments. The bouquet on the Taft Street Syrah was pretty intense and inviting, with a lot of strong fruit aroma wafting up from the glass. There was little to no complexity on the nose, just straight dark fruit.   I figured with a bright bouquet like that, I was in for a treat!

At first, I really thought the Taft Street Syrah’s palate was nice, with a bit of fruit forward, followed by a wave of pepper that went down quite noticeably. It was similar to the Bridgeman reviewed earlier in the night in respect to the pepper. The oak was quite noticeable on the palate, and that started to take away from it’s flavor profile.  Additionally, the more I tasted and though about the wine, I felt the wine was really more mellow and subdued than my first taste.

While not a bad wine, I don’t think it had enough to it for me. And at $20, there are probably a few more wines to go to first before picking up this one. I am sure Taft Street makes some great wines, and I will definitely be open to trying some of them in the future. However, the night sort of fizzed out wine wise. Robin and I finished our dinners, packed our bags, and went to bed dreaming about the wines we’d enjoy on our upcoming trip to Sonoma for the Barrel Tasting.  And enjoy we did! Wait until you see the posts reviewing and discussing the wines we bought, and even the ones we didnt! We sure did have a good time with wine!