Friday, June 08, 2007

CAMERON HUGHES LOT 31 SYRAH - 2005

This wine was just released in May. The grapes are from Sonoma County and the final blend is 89% Syrah and 11% Mourvedre with 14.2% alcohol.

TASTING NOTES:

Dark red color with fresh blackberry, white pepper and hint of chemicals on the nose. Plum flavors dominate the rough mid-palate before transitioning to a black pepper finish that still has a bit of heat.

SCORE & RECOMMENDATION:

86 PTS
I left this bottle open for 24 hours and tasted it again on the second day. It showed some solid improvement. The wine is a little rough but has some nice ripe fruit and reminds me of a Cotes du Rhone. The finish is very tart and off-balance and there's still some alcohol burn even after considerable breathing. Overall a decent but flawed wine that retails for an inexpensive $12 making it a questionable buy since their are lots of Cotes du Rhone alternatives in the same price range.

posted by Winecentric at 11:14 AM

2 Comments:

  • This is massive for a $10(Costco) Syrah. I needs a minimum 3-4 months to settle down, and probably one to three years to start really showing its subtleties. Right now it just tastes huge and flat. In the wine business this is called the "dummy phase".

    If you can't tell that this wine is suffering from bottle shock and extreme youth, you really aren't in a position to be reviewing wines or writing a wine blog.

    By Blogger Ryan, at Wednesday, June 20, 2007 2:59:00 AM  

  • The average consumer buying a $10 bottle at Costco is not going to put it in their cellar for 3 years to drink later. They are going to drink it now. CHWines aim to make approachable, QPR wines. The consumer expectation is that most buyers will open this bottle soon after buying. I'm also not in agreement with you that this wine is in a "dummy phase" that classic Bordeaux might go through. While it has some potential to improve in bottle, I stand by my score. And again for 10 or 12 bucks you can get much better Cotes du Rhones that will sing as soon as you pop them.

    By Blogger Winecentric, at Wednesday, June 20, 2007 11:06:00 AM  

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