First Drop "Mother's Milk" Shiraz 2020

First Drop "Mother's Milk" Shiraz 2020

For a Sunday night dinner we ordered in pizza and opened this Barossa Valley Shiraz. We picked up this bottle from the email promotion from Wine Disount Center, vinchicago.com - easy and simple since they deliver curbside pickup just down the road from our house. 

From the vinchicago promotion mailer: "Recently named "Value Pick of the Week" by Wine Spectator, the 2020 Mother’s Milk is not just bold, but also impressively elegant. From 1998 through 2006-ish, Australian Shiraz was the hottest category in wine. This one shows that they still deserve your attention. There is so much to like about this wine. You will find yourself quickly pouring a second glass!"

This is from producer First Drop, founded in 2004, they produce single vineyard shiraz's sourced from distinct vineyard sites in the Adelaide Hills, McLaren Vale and Barossa.

They operate out of the First Drop Wines Cellar Door & Tapas Bar at The Home Of The Brave, housed within the walls of the historic striking 1930’s built distillery on the Provenance Barossa Precinct (previously the site of Penfold’s winery).

They have a broad portfolio, perhaps best known for their premium "Eden Valley" series sourced from the higher elevation above the Barossa Valley that "embrace the funk to make even more diverse expressions of Syrah that speak of their unique sites", and their ultra-super premium "Fat of the Land" series of Shiraz' that "showcase the sub regions of the Barossa, and the contrasting styles of Shiraz that can be made (t) here. One can make such varied expressions of Shiraz, due to the different meso-climates of each subregion, the elevation range, and the myriad of soil types that are to be found throughout the Barossa." 

They also produce some super ultra-premium labels of Cabernet Sauvignons from McLaren Vale, 'Dragon's Blood' and 'Votum', they cite as an ode to the Penfolds style, rich, intensely structured McLaren Vale Cabernet Sauvignon, both promoted with a release price of $350AU. 

First Drop "Mother's Milk" Barossa Valley Shiraz 2020 

This release was awarded 94 Points by James Suckling and 92 Points by Wine Spectator

Nice easy sipping with pizza, I wouldn't save it for a grilled beefsteak dinner lacking elegance and polish. But hey, screw top simple and enjoyable pleasant sipping with a great QPR - Quality Price Ratio!

Dark garnet purple colored, medium full bodied, full round, dark plum, blackberry and black raspberry fruits with bramble, pepper, earthy spice, black tea and what Suckling describes as slate, with tangy acidity on a moderate firm tannin laced lingering finish.

 RM 89 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3996033

https://www.firstdropwines.com/

https://twitter.com/firstdropwines

@firstdropwines

Borsao Syrah Campo de Borja Zarihs

Bodegas Borsao Syrah Campo de Borja Zarihs/Shiraz - a collaboration of Spain and Australia Borossa 

We spent a getaway weekend in the City (Chicago) and stopped in VinChicago, a family-run wine merchant since 1934. I wrote recently that they offer and alternative to the mega-merchants with carefully selected producer's and labels at competitive prices for high QPR (quality-price-ratio) values. Their extremely knowledgeable staff consists of certified Sommelier and Advanced Sommelier. While they closed their local Naperville store location, (they still operate three Chicagoland locations), we keep in touch via their newletters and on-line presence. They deliver wine purchases or conduct curbside pick-ups at location that is conveniently near our home.

 

Visiting their retail location, we picked up several odd lot labels no longer listed on their web, and several other labels to 'try before we buy' (for cellaring). 

 

Bodegas Borsao Syrah Campo de Borja Zarihs/Shiraz 2016

 

We picked up this interesting label,

Label REVERSED
(flipped horizontally).

Zarihs (Shiraz spelled backwards!?! with a hint of the backwards "R" on the label), a collaboration between Spanish producer José Luis Chueca of Campo de Borja and Australian producer/winemaker Chris Ringland, known for Barossa Shiraz/Syrah. This is 100% single varietal Shiraz sourced from the Spanish estate. 

 

Vivino called this the Best Syrah in Spain and one of the Top 10 Syrah du Monde in 2017.

 

This the first Syrah to be planted in 2002 in the foothills of the Moncayo in the Campo de Borja, a Spanish DOP (Denominación de Origen Protegida) appellation which is located in the northwest of the province of Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain). 

Aragon sits adjacent France, in the northeast corner of Spain, home to many rivers including the Ebro, Spain's largest river in volume, which runs west–east across the entire region through the province of Zaragoza. It is also home to the highest mountains of the Pyrenees. The Aragon region is the transition zone between the plains of the River Ebro and the mountains.  Borja is one of 16 municipalities in the The DOP wine region. 

 

The Moncayo mountain is the dominant feature of the DOP and creates a terroir and microclimate well suited to the Shiraz varietal to develop wines with a special character. The climate is continental, with Atlantic influences during the winter, notably a cold, dry wind from the northwest. In summer, there is a Mediterranean influence with temperatures varying a great deal, both on a daily and on a seasonal basis, with very low annual rainfall. The vineyards are planted on a series of high plateaus at heights ranging between 350 m and 750 m above sea level. 

 

The Shiraz vines are selected for the terroir, planted planted to take advantage of the soil, sun and the uniqueness of the Cierzo (a brisk wind that blows down from the northwest over 200+ days of the year), which freshens the grapes from bloom to peak maturity. The vineyard´s altitude and limestone soil give the Syrah a pleasant acidity. 

 

Zarihs is a 100% Syrah/Shiraz single-varietal, aged for 12 months in 40% American oak barrels, and 60% in stainless steel tanks.

 

This label was ranked #28 on Wine Spectator's Top 100 Wines of 2020 with 93 pts., and was awarded 91 pts. by James Suckling and 90 pts. by Vinous.

Wine Advocate called it “Borja wine with an Australian accent”, and Heraldo de Aragón, "A Borsao with French stile (sic)”.   

VinChicago tasting notes:

• Appearance: opaque red-black. Crimson-purple rim.
• Aroma: powerful impression of blackberries, with a hint of wood smoke and sweet vanilla.
• The nose begins to open up and develops notes of dark chocolate.
• Palate: the initial impact is very full bodied, with a plush, soft structure.
• Flavours of dark berries dominate; wild blackberries and dried plums, with notes of espresso coffee.

Winemaker notes on this release, "An opaque red-black color with a crimson-purple rim. On the nose, a powerful impression of blackberries, with a hint of wood smoke and sweet vanilla. The nose begins to open up and develops notes of dark chocolate. The initial impact is very full bodied, with a plush, soft structure. Flavors of dark berries dominate; wild blackberries and dried plums, with notes of espresso coffee."

 

Dark blackish garnet colored, full bodied, brambly concentrated blackberry and dark cherries, notes of creosote and tar with spice, smoke and savory soy laced black olive and bitter dark-chocolate with wisps of black pepper notes on a lingering tangy acidic finish.

 

RM 90 points. 

 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3616184

https://bodegasborsao.com/

https://www.vinchicago.com/

 

https://twitter.com/vin_chicago