Philly Wine Finder

Two From Testarossa

Testarossa Winery, located 60 miles south of San Francisco, was started by a husband and wife team who left tech careers and started making wine in their garage.  Today they make about 15,000 cases a year.

We picked up two of their wines, a Pinot Noir and a Syrah, during the PLCB's monster clearance sale back in October.  The Pinot had a pretty ruby color,  a slight nose of pre-moldy raspberrys, a silky mouthfeel, and a spicy, oaky/smoky finish.   The oak may put some off, but if you like that style of Pinot you will like this.

The shocker was the Syrah, which felt perfectly balanced, spicy, yet elegant and restrained.  Our first thought upon tasting it was to wonder what we paid for it because it tasted like an expensive wine.  We went back and checked and were astounded it was only $6.99.   The Testarossa web site suggests a price of $34 a bottle, only 975 cases were made.  Apparently that price didn't work out for them, but $6.99 is an insane value for this wine.

We will be looking for more from Testarossa.

Testarossa Pinot Noir Palazzio Central Coast 2007
PLCB Code: 20590
Size: 750ML
Price: Was 24.99 Now 14.99
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WineSearcher $30-$41

Testarossa Syrah Subasio Vineyard 2006
Code: 14783
Size: 750 ML
Price: $6.99
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Wine Review Chateau Maris La Touge Syrah

If you are new to wine, you pretty much have to buy this and try it.  Why? Because it's Syrah/Shiraz, one of what Andrea Immer Robinson calls the big six grapes of the wine world. If you know these grapes, Andrea claims, you will know a lot about wine. Second,  Syrah (French version) and Shiraz (Australian version) are known for being great wine values. You may be more familiar with Aussie Shiraz which is more fruity, but you may be less familiar with French Syrah, which can be less fruity and more earthy or bitter.  Last, a lot of wine critics are trying and recommending this wine, so you can compare your tasting notes to theirs.

But is it any good?  Yeah it's good.  It reminds us of the type of wine they sell at Moore Brothers--old world, subtle, yet full and expressive.  This wine has a gorgeous garnet color and a wonderfully fragrant nose.  On the first night we got a bunch of cow pasture or earth or funk or whatever you want to call it, which many people like. By night two this had disappeared and we picked up the dark fruit and spices. For a Syrah we thought it was more medium bodied than full bodied, and noted some bitterness on the finish.  Highly rated by Wine Advocate and Jancis Robinson.

As for food, the books recommend pairing Syrah with wild game, but we didn't have any wild boar on hand so we settled for Bulgoki beef on night 2.  This will be a good wine for the coming fall and winter months  in Philadelphia. Serve at about 65-70 degrees.

Available at 19th and Chestnut and 12th and Chestnut.

Chateau Maris La Touge Syrah Minervois 2006
Chairman's Selection
PLCB Code: 30928
Size: 750ML
Price: $14.99

PAWineTalk
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Craig Laban on this wine in Philadelphia Inquirer
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