Bogle - Phantom

Price: $19

Region: California

Year: 2005

I had another wine in between my last review (Terra-Barossa) and this wine, but it was just a run of the mill Cabernet I'll make an effort to review one of these days. This wine however, was the last wine from a wine tasting I attended last month, that I've been looking forward to tasting. Now, I kind of cheated on this since I did try it at the wine tasting, but this is the first time I've sat down and had a couple of full glasses with dinner. This special wine from Bogle, is a blend of Petit Sirah, Old Vine Zinfandel, and Old Vine Mourvedre, that only comes around at certain times of the year. It seems to be in stock locally around the October/November time frame. If you read some of my previous reviews, you'll recall that Bogle Petit Shiraz is a fairly common wine in my house, so I was interested in how this would compare.

Based on the wines used to make this wine, I don't think it is a big surprise that the color was a deep, dark red. It wasn't quite as dark purple as the Petit Shiraz is, and I noticed a hint of red, that gave it a little sparkle. I was also a bit surprised to find that the smell was a touch faint, but it was very nice, with definite earthy undertones. No complaints so far. As always, the color and smell add to the experience, but for me, taste rules. So, when I finally sat down to take a sip, I enjoyed it as much as I did when I only had an once or so back in October. This time, I was very happy to have a full glass. The mixture of Zinfandel, and Mourvedre, with the Petit Sirah, gives this wine a wonderful, interesting flavor. It was definitely a little unique, and am already looking forward to next year's selection. I think it is quite a coincidence that two reviews in a row have made it on to my top 5. This one as a tie, but definitely deserves to be on the list. Plus, it has a cool name :)

Rating: 4.0 (A bit more $, but a nice treat)