I grabbed this on New Years eve to head to a low key party, and I wanted to bring something to sip and drink with some folks. I had some bottles of this stuff from Garagiste, and it seemed like a good opportunity to try it.
As it worked out, Jeff was already done with his drinking and nobody else was looking to get hammered, so I basically was the only one partaking. And as normally happens in these situations, I ended up finishing the bottle off myself (probably drank 3/4 of it). This is not a boast of some magical drinking prowess (most bottles I drink are equivalent to about a six pack, which is not much at all) but rather a setup for an interesting attribute of this wine - drinking the better part of a bottle of it will not yield you a hangover.
In terms of taste, it did have a slightly different (although not bad) flavor compared to other Shiraz that I normally drink. Definitely less ‘jammy’, which is great for some folks. Not sure how aging would affect this stuff, because the tannins were not over the top and it was not very sweet. At the price point I got it (about $15 or so) it is probably not heavily designed to be cellared anyway.
Overall, this is good table wine and not bad stuff to drink at a party. I like having a variety of stuff to drink now and then, and this stuff fits the bill well.
