Geyser Peak Winery Sonoma County 2007 Sparkling Shiraz 3-Pack
$69.99 (Normally $119.90) 42% off List Price
2007 Sparkling Shiraz Block Collection, Sonoma County
CT link above
Winter Precautions: Ships in 3-5 Business Days
Delivered in time for Valentine's Day

Winery website

I recently won a bottle of this Geyser Peak sparkling Shiraz for placing second in a local Gangnam Style dance-off. Much to my surprise, I fired up the laptop just before hitting the hay to rest up for the Superbowl Sunday festivities, and noticed it was being offered today.

To preface my comments, I am still learning in the world of sparklers and this was definitely my first taste of a sparkling shiraz. Not knowing what to expect, I paired it with a wok-fried steak in kung pao sauce and some crab Rangoon with sweet and sour sauce.

Upon first pour, nice light magenta foam. Nice fruity nose of dark cherries and blueberries. It shows a very nice range on the palate. It hits first with nice bright flavors of dark fruit, blueberries, black berries, dark cherries. Starts with a slight sweetness from the fruit, but quickly transforms with a little bit of spice and pepper and the fruit fades and is washed through with a good balancing acid, and the nice slight yeast flavor that pulls through a champagne. Nice, tight bubbles throughout and draws into a very pleasant, long finish that seems to just keep going (literally lingers for a good 30 or more seconds if allowed).

This paired very well with the kung pao due to the sweetness of the fruit (and I’m guessing the dosage?) cutting the heat, and the acid coming through to go well with the food in-general. Without seeing any stats, I would guess this to be a dry or off-dry. I get mostly fruit driven sweetness, but some may be from dosage. I would definitely not call this “sweet”, but appears to be fairly fruit driven. This was quite enjoyable both with the food and on its own, to end the evening. It was definitely easy drinking and I think would please a variety of palates. I think this would please both the sparkling crowd and the syrah/shiraz crowd. I would definitely buy this one again, I was pleasantly surprised.

North316 wrote:I recently won a bottle of this Geyser Peak sparkling Shiraz for placing second in a local Gangnam Style dance-off. Much to my surprise, I fired up the laptop just before hitting the hay to rest up for the Superbowl Sunday festivities, and noticed it was being offered today.

To preface my comments, I am still learning in the world of sparklers and this was definitely my first taste of a sparkling shiraz. Not knowing what to expect, I paired it with a wok-fried steak in kung pao sauce and some crab Rangoon with sweet and sour sauce.

Upon first pour, nice light magenta foam. Nice fruity nose of dark cherries and blueberries. It shows a very nice range on the palate. It hits first with nice bright flavors of dark fruit, blueberries, black berries, dark cherries. Starts with a slight sweetness from the fruit, but quickly transforms with a little bit of spice and pepper and the fruit fades and is washed through with a good balancing acid, and the nice slight yeast flavor that pulls through a champagne. Nice, tight bubbles throughout and draws into a very pleasant, long finish that seems to just keep going (literally lingers for a good 30 or more seconds if allowed).

This paired very well with the kung pao due to the sweetness of the fruit (and I’m guessing the dosage?) cutting the heat, and the acid coming through to go well with the food in-general. Without seeing any stats, I would guess this to be a dry or off-dry. I get mostly fruit driven sweetness, but some may be from dosage. I would definitely not call this “sweet”, but appears to be fairly fruit driven. This was quite enjoyable both with the food and on its own, to end the evening. It was definitely easy drinking and I think would please a variety of palates. I think this would please both the sparkling crowd and the syrah/shiraz crowd. I would definitely buy this one again, I was pleasantly surprised.

thanks for posting that! We first tried a sparkling Shiraz a few years ago at a restaurant, we loved it. Thinking about picking up this one.

Thank you Woot, you never cease to amaze me with your offerings. A sparkling Shiraz sounds intriguing. I have no room for 3 bottles, but would love 1 bottle if someone from Albuquerque would like to get rid of one, send me a message

North316: I'm quite impressed that you were able to fire off such a great and thorough review just 2 minutes into the offer! While I might be able to type that fast, I don't think I can compose a coherent review in 120 seconds.

Must have been an awesome array of bottles at that tasting in Austin, and great pre-composition of notes. This sounds really tasty.

Kyle was kind enough to share the 2nd half of his bottle with me so here are my notes posted into cellar tracker a few hours before this deal came up.


2/2/2013: Color is deep purple, black at the core. Small bubbles are present and upon a swirl it becomes almost frothy.
At fridge temp the wine is primarily blackberries with some cassis as the wine warms. On the tongue the carbination bites the tip of your tongue but evolves into a very smooth but tart medium finish.
At room temp it was very similar except the nose was less expressive. I did notice a bit more fruit on the palate which makes sense.

My wife noted some cherry and loved how light it was on the palate.

I have had a similar wine from a much smaller producer (municipal winemakers) and I preferred that wine to this but the geyser peak is also priced lower so I can take that into account as well. At the $34 winery sticker price this is a solid pass but in the $18-23 range I would pick a few up.

North316 wrote:I recently won a bottle of this Geyser Peak sparkling Shiraz for placing second in a local Gangnam Style dance-off. Much to my surprise, I fired up the laptop just before hitting the hay to rest up for the Superbowl Sunday festivities, and noticed it was being offered today.

I'll bet you never anticipated the day when your mad equestrian skillz would translate to the dance floor in the form of a Gangnam Style danceoff. But I am surprised you finished second, Psy himself must have been there to take RED STAPLER!

I am sold on wanting to try this sparkling Shiraz now all I have to do is move to another state so I can get it shipped to me, haha.

No love for Ohio the past 3 days, I'm starting to feel like a Virginian. Or a Massachusettsian.

chipgreen wrote:I'll bet you never anticipated the day when your mad equestrian skillz would translate to the dance floor in the form of a Gangnam Style danceoff. But I am surprised you finished second, Psy himself must have been there to take RED STAPLER!

I am sold on wanting to try this sparkling Shiraz now all I have to do is move to another state so I can get it shipped to me, haha.

No love for Ohio the past 3 days, I'm starting to feel like a Virginian. Or a Massachusettsian.

Haha, RED STAPLER?

Quite many years ago I learned that in the US they would call the grape Syrah exclusively and not Shiraz, but in Australia, Shiraz. This has been confirmed by various winemakers, wine sales reps, and other supposedly knowledgeable folks. So, why is this one referred to as "Shiraz" and what is the supposed exact difference to when they call the US sourced grape Syrah vs Shiraz? Wikipedia talks about "New World Style" as of now for US sourced "Shiraz" - but this is not exactly a very precise description without further information.

And why is it referred to as Shiraz in this case again?

A friend of mine gave this wine to me. He told me he was sending me a sparkling wine. I had no idea it was red!

Full disclosure: I have never had a sparklng red and was really skeptical.

Fridge temp PnP, reticent dark fruits and not much else. As it warmed up, it gained some tannins (not surprising for a red wine, but kind of a weird experience for bubbles) and smelled and tasted exactly like cranberry sauce to me.

Talking about this wine as a bubbles wine, I'd say the mousse was nice, although I'd have liked more acid. Talking about the wine as a red wine, I'd say the tannins were nice and balanced and the fruit upfront, but it lacked the secondary characteristics I like in a Syrah.

I'm not sure what to make of the wine, in all honesty. I didn't dislike it whatsoever, but I'm not sure I would buy it. I haven't looked at any notes and I have no idea of the price-point. I'd wouldn't be upset if I'd bought it to try at $15-$18.

I'm not buying wine this month (seriously this time!) so I'm not buying. I don't think I'd buy it if I were, but not because it's a bad wine in an yway; it's just not my style.

andreaserben wrote:Quite many years ago I learned that in the US they would call the grape Syrah exclusively and not Shiraz, but in Australia, Shiraz. This has been confirmed by various winemakers, wine sales reps, and other supposedly knowledgeable folks. So, why is this one referred to as "Shiraz" and what is the supposed exact difference to when they call the US sourced grape Syrah vs Shiraz? Wikipedia talks about "New World Style" as of now for US sourced "Shiraz" - but this is not exactly a very precise description without further information.

And why is it referred to as Shiraz in this case again?

It just has to do with the producer's preferred terminology. Syrah was used for years, as that is the French nomenclature, and California wineries traditionally emulated the French. As Southern Hemisphere Syrah/Shirazs have been popularized over the last couple of decades, more California wine makers are using the term "Shiraz." Also, Australian wineries were some of the first to produce sparkling wines from Shiraz.

kylemittskus wrote:A friend of mine gave this wine to me. He told me he was sending me a sparkling wine. I had no idea it was red! ...

So you don't think this is a normal Syrah that's undergone secondary fermentation, do you? We had a woot of a red fizzy last month that was like that.

hesnctrl wrote:North316: I'm quite impressed that you were able to fire off such a great and thorough review just 2 minutes into the offer! While I might be able to type that fast, I don't think I can compose a coherent review in 120 seconds.

I also once finished in second place in a speed editing competition....

nfurlong wrote:So you don't think this is a normal Syrah that's undergone secondary fermentation, do you? We had a woot of a red fizzy last month that was like that.

Actually it is, but in this case the secondary fermentation is done on purpose. And if you look at the bottle, it denotes the more costly
méthode champenoise, which means the secondary fermentation took place in the bottle, as in French Champagne and most serious sparklers.

nfurlong wrote:So you don't think this is a normal Syrah that's undergone secondary fermentation, do you? We had a woot of a red fizzy last month that was like that.

This, however is intentional and designed, not caused by unwanted events that led to the earlier flawed fizzy. I remain intrigued and tempted. If only Klez wasn't on a SIWBM and Bkarlan not in NM.

"Winter Precautions
Ships in 3-5 Business Days"

Don’t remember seeing this before. Might be quite helpful to know, but I can take it in three different ways.

1) A straightforward warning that it’s winter a darn cold, so watch out if your shipping long distances.
2) A warning that it will take 3-5 days to get to you once it has shipped, so hopefully the weather works when it does go.
3) It will ship out in 3-5 days, and then take its normal in transit time to get to you, so check the weather for that time period.

I’m guessing #3 but anyone know for sure?

Some additional thoughts, I don't drink much if any sparkling wine but I do drink and enjoy sparkling Shiraz several times a year. It's an excellent substitute to a traditional white sparkler for those who don't typically drink sparkling wine. What I typically enjoy is released young(er) and is more fruit forward than this offering. But this being slightly more restrained might be a great introduction to he type of wine.

I might add that the woot price is at the very top of what I would personally pay for this particular wine. I thought it was good and would happily split some with my wife over valentines day.

I would order some but I already have a bottle for that evening and gift certificate to get more.

Happy superbowlin everyone.

greeneggsandham wrote:"Winter Precautions
Ships in 3-5 Business Days"

Don’t remember seeing this before. Might be quite helpful to know, but I can take it in three different ways.

1) A straightforward warning that it’s winter a darn cold, so watch out if your shipping long distances.
2) A warning that it will take 3-5 days to get to you once it has shipped, so hopefully the weather works when it does go.
3) It will ship out in 3-5 days, and then take its normal in transit time to get to you, so check the weather for that time period.

I’m guessing #3 but anyone know for sure?

Let's think about this for a moment.

1. WD and WCC have to purchase the wine we buy here
   
2. it costs $$ to ship the wine we purchase
   
3. it costs 1 + 2 if there is a shipping issue that requires replacement of a bottle the incurred damage while in transit.

• We're going to look at forecast weather and ship when we believe it's got the best possibility to arrive safely, so you're not &*^%'d at us and it doesn't cost us more time and $$$ to repurchase and reship.

andreaserben wrote:Quite many years ago I learned that in the US they would call the grape Syrah exclusively and not Shiraz, but in Australia, Shiraz. This has been confirmed by various winemakers, wine sales reps, and other supposedly knowledgeable folks. So, why is this one referred to as "Shiraz" and what is the supposed exact difference to when they call the US sourced grape Syrah vs Shiraz? Wikipedia talks about "New World Style" as of now for US sourced "Shiraz" - but this is not exactly a very precise description without further information.

And why is it referred to as Shiraz in this case again?

Great question! It's Tanya here from Geyser Peak Winery. This wine came to be many years ago when our former winemaker (an Aussie) and his wife missed their red bubbles from home. So Sparkling Shiraz was born and is one of our most popular wines. In the Syrah finished wine: upfront bright fruit from reserve vineyard blocks, 15 months in oak. Once it goes the Methode Champenoise process (secondary fermentation), the tannins become fine-grained as they incorporate throughout the mousse. Take a listen to our current winemaker, Ondine Chattan's Vintner Voicemail...she gives a great description of the winemaking process. One of my fav food pairings is flank steak hot off the grill with Blue Castello melting into it--served with this Sparkling Shiraz...heaven!!

nfurlong wrote:So you don't think this is a normal Syrah that's undergone secondary fermentation, do you? We had a woot of a red fizzy last month that was like that.

Yep, that's exactly what ours is. Most of the better, high quality sparkling reds will go through the secondary fermentation process. It's the only way to fully integrate the flavors and achieve the fine mousse.

rjquillin wrote:This, however is intentional and designed, not caused by unwanted events that led to the earlier flawed fizzy. I remain intrigued and tempted. If only Klez wasn't on a SIWBM and Bkarlan not in NM.

Trying to tempt me on this one

I didn't win any dancing contests, but I did have the opportunity to try a bottle of this last night. SWMBO and I usually don't drink champagne, or similarly bubbly drinks, except for Prosecco. We do prefer reds.

Color: deep burgundy; foam from pouring a lighter beautiful shade.

Temp: refrig level

Opening: PnP

Nose: To us, very, very slight aromas of berries, blue and/or black

Taste: Refreshing blackberry and obvious syrah/shiraz in style; a little tart and definitely not sweet along with effervescence

Food pairing: although not planned as a pairing, we had spicy BBQ ribs, which paired just fine and handled the spiciness well

Finish: rather lengthy

Overall: we really liked this. I could see this being offered as an alternative wine for appetizers or Thanksgiving. For the price 3/$70, seems like a good value.

klezman wrote:Trying to tempt me on this one

Don't tempt him too much, since we still have the Sojourn bottles coming soon from BD. (This one sounds interesting, but we almost never drink sparklers....but)

time2testit wrote:Don't tempt him too much, since we still have the Sojourn bottles coming soon from BD. (This one sounds interesting, but we almost never drink sparklers....but)

While I have a few cases of sparklers, IH, R&R, Jana, only three list as red and I question CT's accuracy there. I could easily try one of these were there a couple others interested.

nfurlong wrote:So you don't think this is a normal Syrah that's undergone secondary fermentation, do you? We had a woot of a red fizzy last month that was like that.

Answered already. From a tasting perspective, though, the bubbles in this wine are far finer and much more prevalent. It's not kind of fizzy like an accidental secondary ferm. It tastes like a sparkling wine with a nice, mouth- filling mousse.

rjquillin wrote:Let's think about this for a moment.

1. WD and WCC have to purchase the wine we buy here
   
2. it costs $$ to ship the wine we purchase
   
3. it costs 1 + 2 if there is a shipping issue that requires replacement of a bottle the incurred damage while in transit.

How about we think of a more realistic shipping option:

• We're going to look at forecast weather and ship when we believe it's got the best possibility to arrive safely, so you're not &*^%'d at us and it doesn't cost us more time and $$$ to repurchase and reship.

Just sayin'

Agree that would be a good option.

Are you just sayin' that's what they SHOULD do, or what they ARE doing?

Just sayin'

I'd buy this if I knew the answer.

greeneggsandham wrote:Agree that would be a good option.

Are you just sayin' that's what they SHOULD do, or what they ARE doing?

Just sayin'

I'd buy this if I knew the answer.

Trust WD to do the right thing. If you want this, buy it.
IF there is a problem, rest assured it will be dealt with with integrity.

This is our favorite celebration wine. We also give it for presents and everyone is surprised and pleased. We belong to the Geyser Peak Wine Club and this is a better price than we get there. You can't go wrong with this wine.

Top 5 reasons to drink Geyser Peak Sparkling Shiraz
5. Ring in the New Year…again.
4. Legit excuse to say “G’day Mate” in worst Aussie accent. Admit it. You so want to.
3. Impress your boss’s wife… ergo impress your boss. Lightbulb!
2. Red bubbles are the new white bubbles, hadn’t you heard?
1. No reason. Pop, toast, enjoy!

time2testit wrote:Don't tempt him too much, since we still have the Sojourn bottles coming soon from BD. (This one sounds interesting, but we almost never drink sparklers....but)

Yeah...the 2 Sojourn and the 2 Jean Edwards from BD. The Ridge I just got from auction, and possibly more. Easy to talk myself out of this one. Who needs any bubbly other than Iron Horse anyway

rjquillin wrote:This, however is intentional and designed, not caused by unwanted events that led to the earlier flawed fizzy. I remain intrigued and tempted. If only Klez wasn't on a SIWBM and Bkarlan not in NM.

Ill takenon if you end up going in

losthighwayz wrote:Ill takenon if you end up going in

need one more and we're in then.