What's in my Glass Wednesdays! 2010 Shiraz by Shoofly

I've been on this Syrah/Shiraz kick lately... someone talked me into buying a lot of Syrah at the wine store apparently!  For this bottle, I was TOTALLY drawn in by the label, the bottle decor, and the name... I should've known better...

2010 Shiraz by Shoofly Wines

(Photos by author)

The D-2010 Scale 

2010 Shiraz by Shoofly Wines (Australia)

Appearance (10 points possible): ruby red colors with bright red edges - 10 points

Aroma/Bouquet (20 points possible): Red fruit and lots of alcohol.  Aroma is really subdued - 12 points

Taste (10 points possible):  Medium-bodied Shiraz, like usual.  I think there's a lot of oak with this wine because it's fairly astringent.  But the dominating characteristic of this wine is the alcohol.  It subdues all the flavor, causes the finish to be harsh, alcoholic, and bitter.  A bit disappointing.  - 5 points

Balance (5 points possible): Very disintegrated... - 2 points

Finish (5 points possible): The finish lingers with something... but the alcohol dominates.  In this case, the higher alcohol percentage (14.5%) really takes away from this wine.  It leaves an alcoholic and bitter flavor in the back of the palate that is not preferred. - 3 points

Packaging *Introduction to the D-2010 Scale*

Quality of Package (5 points possible):  A nice bottle with particular care taken towards the label and closures.  Screw cap. - 5 points

Label Marketability (10 points possible):  Again, this is the reason I bought this wine.  The label and name were attractive to me... something I never heard of before. - 10 points

Other (5 points possible):  Loved the little fly sticker on the bottle, above the label and the fly icon on the closure.  :) - 5 points

Total Points: 82 points

Overall Thought: I guess what I learned from this bottle is that good marketing does not make good wine.  A wine can be good and well marketed, but in this case, I was disappointed.  I didn't get any of the aromas or flavors as described by the winemaker, here.  I think the alcohol was just dominating this wine.  Syrah typically has a higher alcohol level, but in this wine, the flavors were so subdued that it made the wine boring for me.  That being said, there was nothing wrong with it... no wine defects or anything like that.  I'm sure many people would argue with me that this is a good value wine.

Food Pairings:  I could see this wine with steak fajitas and a side of yellow rice!  Yummmm...

Cost: $9.99

Splurge Factor (out of 4): 1... Again, it's a $10.00 wine... but, I'd probably prefer to, personally, purchase a different $10 wine of more flavor.

Where to buy:  I'm pretty sure you could find this wine through most distributors.  For more information on this wine and its producer, please visit the website here.  They've got a pretty cool website.