Wine Blogging Wednesday 30: a local (for me) premium syrah...

Warning! The following contains many shameless local plugs...

So, I've been hearing about wine blogging wednesday from Tim Elliot on his podcast for some time now. But, I've never joined in so here goes:

When I heard that this month's theme would be new world syrah, I thought, 'I know a great one to try (again)!'. It started last year at the The Russian River Wine Road Association's annual Barrel Tasting event held every March here in Sonoma County. I finally got to go to Siduri Wine  after hearing so much about them. Well, the place was packed. I love all of the mom and pop winery's around here that aren't too crowded on event days but this was out-of-control crowded! But, if you have a great reputation...

Adam and Diana Lee and their family run Novy Family Wines in addition to Siduri. Everything that isn't Pinot Noir goes under the Novy label. So, at the event, they had a some of the Novy stuff to try. During the event that had a bunch of their grape producers there and one of them was Sharon Chistiansen. Her family has a few blocks of grapes that Novy buys for their Christiansen Vineyard Syrah. I had a little taste of what Sharon was pouring and thought it had promise.

We live about a mile from the vineyard and a quarter mile from Siduri. So, every time I drove by the vineyard it reminded me to try that Syrah. The '04 syrah was finally released in September of '06. So, the time had come. And with wine blogging wednesday to push me to it, I went to the Siduri warehouse to pick up a bottle.

Ann and Jody were working the tastings yesterday and I showed up at 2pm to taste with some other folks trolling the valley. One nice bloke was there from Melbourne, Australia and knew of Siduri from their rep and had to check it out! We sampled some great, diverse Pinot from the stable and a couple of Novy Syrah's - all very nice. But, I had come for the Christiansen and plunked down the plastic and brought it home (with some other goodies, of course).

I've waited a day to try it. So, it's been open for about an hour. Although a Rhone varietal, the aroma's are of a nice Bordeaux blend or cab but turned down a notch or two with a hint or earth. On first sip, the pepper hits you just a nibble under 'hard'. I can imagine how this would compliment a good, peppery steak! People have described this wine as having a big start (pepper) but no finish. I tend to disagree - it's finish is very mellow and smooth and at the end: oak. Very nice.

Okay, now the big test: I've ordered a nice Napoletana from Mary's Pizza Shack. Roma tomatoes, mozzerella, garlic, olive oil and a dry salami calzone. It's very nice with the pizza but this wine is made for the calzone! Awesome. This Syrah has made my meal. I was expecting it to go well with the pizza but with the dry salami - well, what can I say? Pure heaven (in a culinary sense, of course!). I'm not well versed enough to have a rating system but I do know that this particular wine made my meal tonight

Again, sorry for all of the shameless local plugs, but it's very special living in Sonoma County and I' m proud to live among some great artisans!