Drink This

2001 Rosenblum, Feather Foot Man Shiraz, McLaren Vale, South Australia

Rosenblum is known for their fine California Zinfandels. Apparently, they went out and bought a parcel of land in Australia and decided to give a go at making Shiraz. This is such a neat wine! If you like what Rosenblum does with Zinfandel, I suspect you'll love what they do with Shiraz.

It was pretty easy to peg this as a wine from Rosenblum. There's something about the rich oakiness and the deep, dark, forward fruit that says Rosenblum whether the speaker is Zin' or Shiraz. I tried this wine for the first time two weekends ago, and haven't been able to get the flavor out of my mind since. I bought another bottle, and I'm just waiting for the right meal to drink it with. This is a deep rich wine. The labels points out, "rich blackberry with spicy, brambly characteristics, with evident vanilla, Asian spice, and currants." I noticed the currants as well as deep black cherry flavors with perhaps a bit of cola. The spiciness and brambly characteristics are a subtle undertone that help carry the fruit throughout. The vanilla and other typical flavors for oak are bold and unmistakable. I think these are the flavors that I am identifying as characteristic of the maker. I wonder if they use the same cooper for their stateside and Australian barrels?

I'm tempted to buy a larger quantity. However, I just ordered two cases of the 2001 Dei, Rosso di Montepulciano. At under $15 a bottle (case price), this is a great goes-with-any-food wine. Pizza, pasta, lean pockets, soup, cheese and crackers, Xbox - this wine can go with any of it. It has a nice tannin structure with lots of food friendly flavors and neither too much acid nor too much forward fruit. I'm excited to have found something that I can buy a bunch of just to have around for any old occasion.

The Rosenblum is probably the better wine, but it is not as versatile.

Jonathan 2/29/2004 12:31:00 PM