Hello friends and wine lovers!

Have you ever had so much to say about a certain thing, that you could say nothing at all? Like when someone angers you by saying something cutting down, for example, your favorite band, and you wish to correct them by listing the all virtues and benefits of said band, and how they changed your life for the better, but it just comes out as “Gaghhh. . .” with a pointed finger. That’s how it is with me and Syrah, my favorite wine varietal.

“So, Mike. Tell us about Syrah!”

“Gaghhh. . .” (With a pointed finger)

You see, there’s a walnut tree nearby the shop. It’s about 2 blocks away, and this time of year it drops all kinds of nuts everywhere. These nuts are very popular with the crows, and there seem to be quite a lot of crows in the neighborhood, possibly due to the nuts. Anyway, these crows are fairly intelligent, for birds. They can’t crack into the walnuts to get the meaty, tasty centers by themselves, so they rely on the easily understandable law of gravity. I see them perching on the power lines overhead and dropping these nuts onto the sidewalk. They also seem to wait for some human to be walking nearby to drop their nuts leading to the “What the. . .Who’s throwing. . .huh?” reaction which, I imagine, amuses these birds to no end. I’ve almost been hit quite a few times by these falling walnuts. Perhaps they hope we might throw them back, so they don’t have to swoop back down for another go at it.

So what’s the connection with this little anecdote, you may wonder?

Uh. . .crows and Syrah are. . uh. . .much the same color. Dark, and purple glistening in the sun. And Syrah can sometimes have a nutty flavor. And as the most important rule of matching food and wine, drink what you like. Syrah is my favorite, and I would readily drink it with a meal of walnuts (ick) or roast crow (double-ick).

(Hey. . .at least I didn’t stoop to the old Que Syrah Shiraz pun everyone else does.. .)

Tomorrow, Friday the 17th of October, from 4:30-9:00,
I will be pouring for you and all of your friends (hint, hint):

Maryhill 2000 Syrah, Washington
Chameleon 2000 Syrah, California
Redbank 2000 Fighting Flat Shiraz, Australia
Peachy Canyon 2000 Syrah, California
Mystic 2001 Syrah, Oregon

And the Extra 2:
Justin 2000 Estate Bottled Syrah, California
and the original, Northern Rhone version:
Offerus 2000 St. Joseph, Northern Rhone, France

Quite a bargain at $10 for the first 5, and $6 for the Extra 2.

I’m really excited about this one. It’ll be pretty awesome.

Feel free to bring crackers and cheese and salamis and proscuitto and olives and little pickles and those baby corn things and bottles of capers but probably not pepperocinis. Bread will be available.

Hope to see you here!
Seize the Wine!
(And watch your head!)
M

Next week is Italian Tuscan wines!