Chateau Ste. Michelle Syrah

Just the other day, I picked up a bottle of the 2005 Chateau Ste. Michelle Syrah. They're Washington State's oldest winery, and they produce some outstanding wines at tremendous value prices. I've recently enjoyed their Cabernet, and their Riesling as well. Chateau Ste. Michelle is also a big supporter of the Susan Komen Race for the Cure, donating $1 for every bottle sold during an October promotion at Joe Canal's in Lawrenceville.

The Syrah had a nose of lush, ripe fruit, with touches of sweet plum and cherry. There was an enjoyable burst of jamminess, and the fruit stayed on for the finish. With a retail price of around $11, the wine was a very nice choice. It would be a great choice for a party wine, because it should please both Cab drinkers and someone who is relatively new to wine.

In addition to their great wines, the Chateau Ste. Michelle web site has a great feature they call My Cellar. It's a password-protected space where you can store information about any wine you've tasted. It's a great way to keep track (especially via mobile device) of wines you've enjoyed while out somewhere, without worrying about whether there's enough light to take a cell phone picture. Check My Cellar out at http://mycellar.ste-michelle.com/my_cellar_login.php

Cork or Screw Top?

I recently saw an industry statistic that indicated that up to 7% of all bottled wines are lost annually due to problems associated with the use of cork. That's a whole lotta wine. During his visit to the Joe Canal's in Lawrenceville, winemaker Sean Larkin told us about potential problems with screw-tops, which are often the result of mis-matched parts. But there are lots of outstanding wines that are bottled with screw-tops, so what's a wine lover to do?

Number 61 on the Wine Spectator Top 100 wines of 2009 is a 90-point Italian red blend, Monte Antico, and it's in a screw-top. People are very interested in the wine, especially when Joe Canal's has it on sale for less than $9.00, but some are resistant when they see the screw-top.

One of my favorite wines (The Lucky Country Shiraz) is bottled with a screw-top. And Australia is a leader in the use of screw-tops, which are good economically and environmentally. Yesterday, a customer came in for a particular bottle of Two Hands wine, which was priced around $80, and it was a screw-top. So I struck up a conversation with him about the whole issue, and about the bottle of Monte Antico. He knew he was buying a great bottle of Two Hands wine, and he was totally unfazed by the screw-top. He added three bottles of that Monte Antico to his one bottle of Two Hands, based on the Wine Spectator ratings.