Oracle of the Sun - Shiraz

Price: $8.99
Region: South Africa
Year: 2008

Well, March was not a such great month for keeping up with my reviews. That's not to say I didn't have my fair share of good (and not so good) wines. Between being away for a week for Spring Break with my family, and a crazy work schedule, I just haven't made the time to sit down and write a review. I try to keep those periods to a minimum for sure, but sometimes it can't be helped. The good news is, I have a whole lot of reviews to catch-up on, so no time like the present to get started. I bought this wine on my way home from work one Friday evening in early March. Didn't really have a particular wine in mind, but also didn't have a lot of time to walk up and down the aisle. This usually means I head to the Shiraz aisle first, as I can almost always rely on the fact something will grab my attention. The interesting thing about this particular wine is that sometimes I am in the mood for a South African wine, but they are usually in a different section of the store. At my previous job, I became friends with a couple of colleagues from South Africa, and met up with one of them on a business trip, and the wines he brought over from South Africa that we shared were excellent. Every once in a while I try to find something as good as those wines were, but haven't had much luck. So, when I was in the Shiraz aisle, and saw this wine, I was hoping my luck had changed.

I can't recall what we were having for dinner that night, but if I had to guess it was probably pizza, which seems to becoming a Friday night staple. When I was ready to sit down, I poured a glass, and was a bit surprised at the color. It was much more shallow then I was expecting for a Shiraz. Not the end of the world, but wasn't impressed. Not sure if I said this in one of my other recent postings, but I read recently that when you smell wine, you should take multiple short sniffs, as opposed to one long one. I really can tell the difference when you do this, so I would recommend it. The comment said to think of a hound dog following a scent. Anyway, this isn't a wine I went back to sniff again. It wasn't horrible, but definitely a bit off. Just not overly pleasant. This was going to have to finish with a phenomenal taste to win me over for sure. I took my first sip, and my impression was average. It didn't have those good chewy tannins that I love to find in a Shiraz, and it definitely wasn't a big bold wine, but it wasn't horrible. I paid $9 for this wine, which is too much. I just saw online while looking for the picture that it can be had for $6. It might be worth a try at that price, but I just have to say there are much better wines out there for the price.

Rating: 2.5 (I'd skip it)