Weekly Wine Review - Australian Shiraz - 2011 Shoofly Shiraz

Shoofly wines are crafted by Australian winemaker Ben Riggs, who honed his skills also making wine in the Napa Valley, Bordeaux, Greece, Italy and the South of France. He consults on the winemaking at other labels including Penny’s Hill, The Black Chook, Woop Woop, Pertaringa, Geoff Hardy, Zonte’s Footstep, Jip Jip Rocks, Journey’s End and Tatiarra.  With that kind of experience you would expect him to focus on crafting more expensive wines, but Shoofly makes a total of four wines, all for about the same very reasonable retail price. They make two whites (a white blend and a Chardonnay), plus three reds (Shiraz, a red blend, and a Pinot Noir) - that all retail for the same price. So enough with the background, let's shoo the flies away and try some Shiraz!

Wine: 2011 Shoofly Shiraz

Region: South Australia.  Grapes can be from anywhere in South Australia (home to epic wine regions like Barossa and Clare Valley).
Grape Varieties: Shiraz (Syrah)

Obtained from: Purchased at Total Wine & More

Price: $9.00

Wino4Life Category: Everyday Wine

Aeration before tasting: Just a swirl or two, no special aeration.

Cork Condition: Screw Top - no defects or issues.

Appearance: Wine is clear with dark purple core and a water white rim.

Aroma: Very nice red fruit like cherries along with a nice spice aroma with white pepper, but with other spices I can't quite identify - perhaps nutmeg. The label mentions mint, but I'm not able to smell anything minty.

Taste: Really nice bold fruit taste with lingering spice on the aftertaste. A surprising long and pleasant finish - how much did this bottle cost again?

The Grade: I give this one an A+.  Cue the music and drop the confetti. As elusive as a good clear picture of Bigfoot or Nessie, we have before us a super bottle of wine for less than $10.  I have historically had a good bit of luck in the $10 to $15 range for red wines - but for less than $10 I have seldom found any keepers. I am going to see if the other Shoofly wines are available - since they all look like they cost exactly the same.  Stay tuned!