Varda Vineyards Syrah, 2016 (California)

"Sophisticated AF"

Price at Purchase: Gift

Location: Haight Street Market

This was the wine that judged me for doing these tastings all wrong. This was the wine that scoffed about how I wasn’t looking at the 4 “C’s” of wine: color, clarity… oh wait. That’s for diamonds.

Instead, wine tasting has 4 “S’s”: Seeing, Swirling, Smelling, & Sipping. So here goes:

Seeing: Yes, this is in fact a red wine.

Swirling: I am able to swirl it in my glass. Must be a wine.

So far, so good. I can feel myself becoming a connoisseur as I’m typing this.

Smelling: Confirming it smells like wine.

Sipping: Yup. It’s a red wine, alright!

All jokes aside, this bottle is a bit on sweeter side, and had a jammy essence to it. But it’s not too overwhelming where I feel the need to spread this on some toast (no judgement if you do). I was surprised that by the second glass, I picked up mineral-y and deep strawberry notes and lots of fun, fruity flavor. Once the bottle opens up a bit, that’s when I really noticed the acidity and sourness, which complemented the fruity flavor. So it’s ideal for appetizers and deep conversation about it’s such a shame how you just don’t think you’ll get to the Hamptons as much this summer.

TL;DR: This is a great bottle to bring over to your parents for Sunday dinner. Fair warning, once you start drinking this wine, you may be more inclined to talk about the stock market as your dad searches his cabinet to find the nice napkins for dinner (true story).