Lot 925 2021 California Rhone Blend
When we get our hands on a downright delicious Red Blend, it gets us extremely excited. After all, the art of blending is the secret behind some of the world’s greatest red wines—Bordeaux and Châteauneuf-du-Pape come immediately to mind.
We can’t wait for you to get your hands on this Lot 925 2021 California Rhone Blend because it fits right into that savvy red blend category, and its parts definitely make for a more expressive, cohesive whole.
Patterned after the best southern Rhône reds, Lot 925 marries Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre (the classic GSM Rhône blend!) into a ripe, juicy, complex sipper that leverages the various micro- and meso-climates across California, where each of the varieties ripens optimally (areas like Sonoma, and Contra Costa County). Not only that, but the winemaking was in impeccable hands: this Lot’s source winery is a long-time family producer that set up shop in the early 1980s and has been a leader among the “Rhone Rangers” movement in California ever since. Over the decades, they’ve racked up dozens and dozens of 90+ critic scores, along with Gold Medals and Best-In-Class awards from numerous wine competitions.
In Lot 925, the Syrah brings spiciness and blue fruit deliciousness, Grenache supplies rich fruit weight and floral magic, and Mourvèdre layers in warm baking spice aromas and structure. We are keeping a case around because it’s one of our favorite dinner-prep sippers (plenty of sipping in between dicing carrots, onions, and potatoes, and several more sips after the roast chicken goes in the oven). At only $13 per bottle, this is a screaming deal to have stocked up in your cellar for whenever you need a food-friendly red.
Watch as Katy Long, Director of International Wines for VWE walks us through a tasting of this California Rhone Blend.
Tasting Video Highlights:
- 00:00 Intro
- 00:12 Lot 925 Info
- 00:32 The Color
- 00:47 GSM Rhone Blend
- 00:57 On the Nose
- 01:25 The Taste
- 02:02 Wine Pairing
Video Transcript:
Katy Long
Welcome back to the CH Wine tasting room. I’m Katy Long, and today I have a beautiful Red Blend from California. This one is lot 925. It feels a little bit like the East Bay and that’s a bit of a California reference for some of my friends out there. This wine is a blend and it is coming from across California where we have these beautiful, diverse microclimates, these massive climates where all of these grape varieties ripen optimally.Take a look at that color. It’s purple, it’s ruby, and it’s inky in the glass, kind of staining the glass a little bit. So I love this blend. It is comprised of Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre so greater than the sum of their parts. Each of these grape varieties is contributing something to this particular blend and it is awesome.
So Syrah is kind of known for those dark, maybe blue fruits like blueberry, maybe a hint of leather, perhaps in black pepper. Grenache, on the other hand, brings these really beautiful, lifted red fruit flavors. So I’m thinking strawberry, maybe even some raspberry. And then Mourvèdre provides not only that tannin that structure, but also a hint of earthiness and maybe some cocoa or mocha in the scent.
Let’s give it a taste. Mm. That wine is juicy and mouthwatering all at the same time. Wow. There’s so much going on in there. The fruit is really ripe. It’s that blue fruit, that raspberry and blackberry hint that plum. The tannins are firm and definitely present, but they’re smooth and really integrated. So it’s a really well balanced wine.
And what I love about blends is that it’s almost like there’s something in there for everybody. So whether you’re having folks over for dinner or if you’re popping over to their house, this is one you’re going to want to have by the case. I know I say this all the time. I say to get a case of wine stock up.
But with this one, I think you should get two cases. And there’s a reason for that. This wine is so versatile. You’re going to want to have a bottle whether people show up unexpectedly, if it’s a Tuesday night in this wine is going to go not only with whatever cuisine you can throw at it, but whatever occasion you’re going to want to serve it.
So having a couple extra bottles on hand, you’re going to definitely be thanking me later. And I invite you to drop a note in the comments and tell me so tell me what you enjoy it with. And in the meantime, I’m going to say cheers.
Lot 914 2021 Australia Shiraz
You’ve heard it all before… Australian Shiraz is over-the-top; it’s a “one-note” red that isn’t complex enough for discerning palates. Well, let us tell you – Lot 914 2021 Australia Shiraz is here to defy your preconceived expectations. Dark, layered, and lingering – it’s a wine that will leave you begging for more.
Lot 914 2021 Australia Shiraz is a symphony in the glass. Its overture is a glass-staining, inky dark, beautiful ruby color. Things get complex very, very quickly with aromas of pepper, dried herbs, fennel, cardamom, and spearmint all soaring and diving in fantastic harmony. The main theme is a bold statement of ripe red fruit flavor that crescendos into a savory, juicy, and emphatic climax. The finish sails gently on lingering notes of black tea and eucalyptus spices. It’s a wine that will defy your expectations of Shiraz and put it on the top of your shopping list.
This red’s awesomeness wouldn’t be a surprise if we could tell about its pedigree. Let’s just say that it comes from a major Australian family-owned producer that’s been in the game for over five decades. They’ve got plenty of Best-In-Class wine competition awards in their trophy case to prove that they know what they’re doing. You’re not going to be disappointed with this Lot (unless you buy too few bottles, that is).
Watch as Chris Lafleur, Sommeliers Creed for Cameron Hughes walks us through a tasting of this Australian Shiraz.
Video Topics Include:
- 00:00 Intro
- 00:15 About Australian Shiraz
- 01:00 Color and Legs
- 01:18 On the Nose
- 02:05 Taste of the Shiraz
- 03:05 In your cellar?
Video Transcript:
Chris Lafleur says:
Hi, everyone. Welcome back to the CH Wine tasting room. I’m Chris Lafleur, friendly neighborhood sommelier, ready to talk about Shiraz with you today. We have lot 914 Shiraz from Australia. Now, there’s lots of places in Australia that make Shiraz and very good quality Shiraz. One is probably better known above others, but since it’s not on the label, I can’t tell you which one.
But go ahead and look at the shelves in your local liquor store. You might be able to pick out which one is popping up more than others. So Shiraz, of course. Shiraz. Or is it Syrah? Huh? It is the same grape. In fact, you find Syrah in France and you find Shiraz in Australia. If you want to do a deeper dive on that, we actually talk about this in one of our Q&A videos.
I’m going to tell you to go back over there. But after you finish enjoying this one, because you’re going to want to have a glass of wine in hand while you watch these videos. They’re super fun. So let’s talk about this one. This is Shiraz. You can see from the color it is a little bit darker than some Pinot Noir that you might notice, but not quite as heavy and dark as some of the Cabernet.
So when you are Malbec, maybe, but it still has a great depth of color to it. Ruby, at its core for sure, with a nice pink note to the edges here on the nose. Oh, boy. On the nose on the nose. Okay, so here’s what I’m getting. There’s a lot to unpack with this one. There’s lots here. Here’s what I’m getting.
There’s some raspberry, there’s some bramble, there’s some blackberry, there’s some black currant, and it’s all in a very ripe expression. So it’s standing out pretty dramatically. But around that, I think I’m getting like a note of black tea, a little bit of black pepper, which is a key note for Shiraz. You normally find some black pepper here in a compound called Rotundone.
And I’m also getting a little bit of eucalyptus or spearmint with maybe a little bit of fennel and some cardamom hanging around the edges here. So what is starting off as a straightforward Shiraz is turning into a very complex wine. The more we dig into it, let’s taste it and see how complex it gets over there too. I decided to swallow it last minute.
Decided to do it. Sorry, I didn’t mean to tease you there. If you’re about to spit your wine at the same time as me, which I know a lot of people like to do now, you can’t. So sorry about that. It’s really good. Really, really good. That’s. That’s not my whole review, but let’s start. There was great ripeness of fruit on the palate here.
There’s a really nice expression of tea in Rotundone a black pepper is also a touch of eucalyptus that really lifts this from its spot in the Shiraz category. I think eucalyptus you can find generally in a lot of Cabernet Sauvignon in Shiraz from Australia. But when you do find it on expectedly in a nice high quality expression, it’s delightful, mind blowing, a little bit of fennel as well.
Like I said, you can feel on the palate. This has got great length to it. It keeps going and going and going. So much to unpack with this. So where does this fit in your cellar? Anywhere you want to put it. In fact, I think you probably want to get a couple of bottles of this minimum so you can taste it against other people that are so used to Shiraz being kind of one note and then you can show them this is exactly how complex it is.
Similar to Neo. You should find out how deep the rabbit hole goes. Yes, that is a matrix reference. I know John Wick is more popular, but let’s think about it because we like that movie. So get a couple of bottles for your cellar. Put it anywhere you want into the cellar and open it up when you want to have a casual drink with someone and surprise them with how cool this wine can be.
And I will see you at the next glass.
We hope you enjoy this wine and video as much as we do. Cheers!