WTN: Graham Beck Shiraz-Cabernet Sauvignon 2003

Western Cape, South Africa. Fifty-seven per cent Shiraz, 43 Cabernet.

Decanted.

Very dark purple color.

Odd nose of cigarette ash (and I don't smoke).

Rich cherry and raspberry fruit, peppery, chocolate, black licorice, fairly soft tannins providing a nice edge.

As we made our way through the decanter, drying tannin and woodiness became much more dominant and the fruit began to fade.

With further time, the cherry fruit came back somewhat, but the wine was still quite dry, lean and dusty.

Interesting.

Good buy at $12.95 Canadian.

[Jenise]

General question for you, Bruce: do you think that combining Cab and Syrah makes a more interesting wine than either varietal would be alone?

[James Roscoe]

Jenise,
Whenever I am tasting Australian wines, the blends always seem to come across better than the varietals. I especially enjoy the Rhone style GSM blends, but the cab-shiraz blends are okay. Having said that, I have none in my very small cellar.
Cheers!
James

[Jenise]

James, you seemed to have intuited what I was really thinking: that this blend (think Penfolds 389) seems to work so well in Australia, somehow getting the best of both, where I'll be darned if I've ever found an American blend of same that I didn't suffer from indistinction.

Bruce, that truly sounds like a wine up my alley. Well, minus the stinky tobacco thing. But it did blow off after a while, did it?

The drying tannins and apparent gutsiness of the wine - not to mention the great price - are making me want to give it a try.

Bruce, that truly sounds like a wine up my alley. Well, minus the stinky tobacco thing. But it did blow off after a while, did it?

The drying tannins and apparent gutsiness of the wine - not to mention the great price - are making me want to give it a try.

Paul:

The wine was released on Jan. 21, 2006. Took a quick look at the LCBO search engine and it appears there are still a couple of dozen wines kicking around the province.

Good luck.

By the way, no the tobacco ash smell on the nose didn't blow off. It was very, very mild and only appeared later in the evening. Strangely enough, the wine had no nose for most of the night.

General question for you, Bruce: do you think that combining Cab and Syrah makes a more interesting wine than either varietal would be alone?

Not sure I have an opinion on your question Jenise. I don't think I have tried enough Syrah-Cab blends to make a pronouncement. I know I do like Ozzie Shiraz-Grenache blends.

I bought this wine not based on the wine blend but based on the producer. I had previously bought some Graham Beck The Ridge Shiraz and was quite impressed.

[James Roscoe]

Jenise - I can't say that I've tried many American rhone blends. I know that they are made (Steve Edmunds for example), but I just don't see them here in the DC area. Maybe because they're not that exciting, I don't jump at them. In any event, I don't recall an American Cab.-Syrah blend. You'd think with all the juice they're squeezing, someone would have tried this in California. It would probably be a darn site better than a lot of the stuff they pass for cab. or syrah varietals. I suspect the general public would like them better too. That's my two cents.
Cheers!
James

[Jenise]

James, Washington state's making a number of cab-syrah blends, and living here I get to try a few. Haven't had one that justified not bottling/vinifying them separately.