...a bottle of wine and thou

Thirsty Lizard White Shiraz

Price: around $10 per bottle
Type: White Shiraz
Cork: Plain Jane artificial
Rating: 10
Purchased: Jungle Jim's

I bought this Australian wine at Jungle Jim's International Market a little over a month ago, so I don't remember the exact purchase price. I remember my husband and I were looking for $10 bottles of wine and this one had a disgustingly cute label, so if you tell me your local Wine-O-Rama is charging something far from that range, I'll be shocked. Then I might make an extra trip to Jungle Jim's in the near future.

So who cares where I got it, what about the wine?

This is my first experience with a White Shiraz. Like a White Zinfandel, this is a blush version of a red wine. As such, it's best served chilled.

I gave this a nine out of ten because - damn, it's tasty! Seriously, it's a good sipping wine, something you don't need a hearty medium-rare steak in front of you to appreciate. If you're looking for something to serve with appetizers, or just looking for something to sip without food, I'd recommend it.

It tastes pleasantly sweet as it hits the tongue, then finishes up with a hint of tannins as it glides smoothly down your throat. I think it tastes a little like berries, which means professional wine tasters probably say it tastes like asphalt. This actually embodies my mental picture of "fruity finish" whereas most bottles with that on the label make me really worry about the quality of fruit these reviewers eat.

I marked it from a 10 down to a 9 because the bottle is needlessly difficult to open. My foil cutter did no good (never a problem before) and I had to resort to a knife. Then, my nice rabbit corkscrew had a devil of a time penetrating the very dense artificial cork.

I quite like artificial corks. They eliminate the problem of cork rot, and if you've ever had a bottle of wine where the cork's gone bad, you know exactly how awful it can be. I would be thrilled if every vintner moved to artificial corks, so I consider this a plus. Well, as long as you can still get into the bottle.

That said, this is one I'll definitely pick up again.

posted by Chris Rachael Oseland at 11:35 PM